- Originally published in the Star Telegram on October 17, 2004 [here
]
How about 'just the facts'?
By Richard Gonzales
Special to the Star-Telegram
Texas tall tales abound when it comes to fighting crime. Notions on how
to reduce criminality have held political sway in the Lone Star State
too long over scientific studies of "what works."
Politicians, who should know better, have pandered to fears that crime
runs amok in the streets. The results are counterproductive "get-tough"
policies that exacerbate crime, break up families and cost taxpayers
billions.
In a criminal justice policy brief that the Texas LULAC state executive
office released in August, researchers show that since the 1990s, Texas
has tripled the number of prisons and has a 51 percent higher
incarceration rate than any other state.
The Legislature gives the Texas Department of Criminal Justice about $5
billion each biennium. TDCJ spends 90 percent of the money on prison
beds and 10 percent on treatment and probation programs.
Part of the reason for the hefty spending is that Texas felony
sentences are double the national average. Yet 70 percent of the prison
admissions each year are for nonviolent crimes. About half of the
prisoners are serving time for drug convictions of possession of less
than one gram.
The interest of the League of United Latin American Citizens in Texas
crime and punishment stems partly from the over-representation of
Latinos and blacks in prison. The Justice Policy Institute found that
even though 40 percent of Texans in 2003 were black and Latino, 70
percent of the prison population was minority. LULAC projects that at
the current Latino imprisonment rate, one out of six Latino men born in
2001 will serve prison time.
LULAC cites studies claiming that racial profiling by police
departments and drug task forces results in more searches of Latinos
than whites. To accommodate the millennium prisoners, LULAC predicts,
there will be a need for 2,000 new prison beds each year.
Texas also has the distinction of having the largest on-probation
population in the United States, mainly because of its long probation
terms for nonviolent offenders.
The study found that probation officers have too large a caseload for
them to respond adequately to probationers' needs. Although
probationers can successfully meet the terms of probation for years,
one slip-up may land them back in prison.
The average prison term on a revoked probation is 4.3 years. In 2001, this cost the state $470 million.
Despite the money, probation terms and hard time, Texas crime didn't
decrease more than any other state's. Instead, the crime rate is 24
percent higher than the national average, according to 2003 TDCJ data.
Imprisonment of the heads of households also takes its toll on the family and community.
The LULAC study claims that the children of imprisoned parents tend to
make lower grades, drop out, become delinquent and increase their
chances of following their parents into prison. Removing the
significant male adult from a child's life leaves a void difficult for
the mom and grandparents to fill. The absence of fathers in a community
devalues the importance of males and places increased child-rearing
burdens on women.
The report also found that imprisoned parents owed $2.5 billion in
unpaid child support. A cycle of intergenerational poverty and crime is
set in motion, abetted by tough policies that punish criminals and
families.
LULAC says that "tough on crime punishments simply do not work on most offenders."
In a state looking for quick and easy solutions to crime, "lock-'em-up"
blocks our chances to teach nonviolent felons internal restraints and
different thinking patterns.
The U.S. Department of Justice found that punishment increased criminal
behavior; psychological treatment and cognitive skills programs
decreased criminal activity the most.
The study found that "what works" are job training, drug treatment, and
peer and family support. That kind of treatment is meant not to
mollycoddle criminals but to provide a way out of self-defeating
thoughts and actions.
LULAC is traveling across the state to raise awareness in communities
that evidence-based alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent
offenders save money, time, families and communities. It recommends
that the Legislature reduce nonviolent, small-quantity drug use from
felony to misdemeanor status.
Texas legislators should stop the bravado crime-fighter shtick that
does little to reduce crime and instead rely on "what works" studies.
Texas needs fewer Robocops and more Joe Fridays. "Just the facts" will do fine.