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Drug Court
Tuesday, November 28, 2006 8:33 AM
HST
A crime
fighting strategy that works
Hawaii had the
second-highest overall crime rate in the country in 2003. It was
second in the nation for property crime overall, first in the rate
of larceny and third for motor vehicle theft.
Methamphetamine
has plagued Hawaii for two decades. Hawaii is in a tie for ninth as
the state with the highest rate of current use. Hawaii's police
responded with an explosion of methamphetamine arrests -- from 291
in 1995, to 1,627 in 2004, an increase of 560 percent.
Police
investigation of serious crimes is slackening. The rate at which
serious crimes were solved, that is, "cleared" by arrests has
declined to 11.4 percent of reported crime in 2004, the
second-lowest level in Hawaii's history; 963 robberies were
reported, but there were only 320 arrests. On the Big Island, rape
is at the highest rate in the island's modern history. 361 rapes
were reported statewide, but only 85 arrests were
made.
Even though Hawaii is
now near the top of the nation in property crime, the police are
making ever fewer arrests. Arrests for larceny plummeted from 7,935
in 1995 to 4,543 in 2004, a decline of 42.7 percent, even though
41,045 larcenies were reported in 2004.
Arrests for motor
vehicle theft have declined more dramatically. In 1995, motor
vehicle theft arrests were 1,934, and dropped to 1,508 in 2002 and
to 856 arrests in 2004, even though 8,627 vehicles were reported
stolen. This is a decline of 43.2 percent over two years, and 55.7
percent since 1995.
Arrests for burglary, the most serious
common property crime have plunged since 1997 from 1,519 to 641
arrests, a decline of 57.8 percent, even though 10,719 burglaries
were reported in 2004.
I do not know why Hawaii police are
making fewer arrests. But I have good news. The Big Island has an
effective drug court. The research shows that drug addicted
offenders can be effectively treated and removed from a career in
crime. For some offenders, the most effective treatment is the
discipline of drug court.
Drug court developed in Miami in the 1980s where
Janet Reno was the prosecutor. When she became U.S. Attorney General
in 1993, she brought national attention to the value of drug court.
The drug court is a collaboration of the judges, the prosecutors,
the public defender, the probation service and the police
department, to stop recidivism by drug abusing offenders. The number
of drug courts is now over 1,700.
On Aug. 16, I observed the
Big Island Drug Court in Kona where Chief Judge Ronald Ibarra was
presiding. Judge Ibarra recognized the failure of the traditional
system of probation and parole to stop recidivism and succeeded in
bringing drug court to the Big Island in October 2002. So far, none
of the "graduates" of the Big Island drug court has been arrested
for another crime.
What makes drug court different from usual
court?
First, there are no trials. The participants are
treated like they are guilty -- subject to intense supervision and
reporting, intense and comprehensive drug treatment, frequent drug
testing, and immediate punishment for violations. This is not like
an ordinary court with its conflict between prosecutors and defense
attorneys.
Whenever a drug court participant gets in trouble,
the judge is informed and immediately imposes a sanction. An
immediate response is the most effective one. In traditional
probation, misconduct is often not punished, or punished long after
it occurs, which is ineffective.
The sustained involvement of
the judge makes a powerful impression on the participants. Observing
the Big Island Drug Court, I saw Judge Ibarra question the
defendants to get them to understand and express the details of
their recovery. Every aspect of the participant's life is addressed
in treatment: family relationships, work performance, school
performance, financial management, even hobbies and
recreation.
The judge wants to know everything and he has
good advice. Judge Ibarra is stern and compassionate. For many of
the offenders, he is the teacher and father they never
had.
With no recidivism so far, the most promising attack on
crime on the Big Island is the drug court. But by itself, drug court
won't solve the Big Island's crime problems. Law enforcement and the
criminal justice system need to be smarter to be more effective. And
all of the community needs to be mobilized for the social reforms to
address the problems that lead young people to crime: inadequate
health care, stressed out and broken families, boring schools,
inadequate structured recreation, inadequate housing, and
disconnected religious institutions.
(Most of the data
presented here is from the Attorney General's web
site.)
Eric E. Sterling
President
The
Criminal Justice Policy Foundation
Silver Spring,
MD
Comments
There are 1 comments on this
story:
Aloha wrote on November 28, 2006 4:07 PM:"You say you don't know WHY cops are
making less headway in other crimes? May be because they spend so
much time woking on cleaning up CRACK HEADS"
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