Public safety is a fundamental American value. Americans deserve to feel safe in their homes and as they go about their day to day lives, regardless of where they live. Civilization requires rule of law and equal enforcement of the rule of law. Trust in a system of justice, and in turn, a system of government, requires that laws be upheld. Living free includes living free from fear and knowing that your rights are protected. Today, too many communities across America are living in fear of rising crime rates and too many communities across America have lost faith in the American criminal justice system.
Violent crime rates are increasing after more than a decade of decline. Drug overdoses have long been at crisis levels. Criminals are taking advantage of vulnerable Americans, and law enforcement agencies across the country are struggling to fill their ranks to protect our neighborhoods as relationships between law enforcement and their communities become more and more strained. This is not the American way, and we must work diligently to return to our roots as the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Truly protecting public safety requires a three-pronged approach:
First, our laws must be upheld and enforced. We must arrest and prosecute those who commit crimes that harm our communities. This means we must properly invest in law enforcement so they can do the job they are tasked to do. Our police must be properly trained and supported to deliver public safety to their communities, and must be held to the highest professional standards. Once law enforcement has delivered on their job, prosecutors must be held accountable for securing convictions for those who commit crimes. Data shows that the majority of criminal cases in recent years are resolved by plea deals– which may seem great on its face, but is a black box that does nothing to promote transparency or trust in our criminal justice system. An overreliance on plea deals can be a result of many problematic factors, including lack of evidence or ability to secure a witness, and harms the system from both sides. Misuse of pleas can result in a defendant being convicted and punished for a lesser offense and getting a lighter punishment, or for a person who is in fact innocent pleading guilty to something they did not do leaving the true criminal out on the streets. Neither situation is true to a sincere “tough on crime” or “law and order” framework. A plea should never be offered because our criminal justice system is under-resourced to deliver a full and proper conviction, and the factors that are driving this overreliance on bargaining must be scrutinized and improved.
Second, we must properly punish those who break our laws so they learn their lesson and do not reoffend. The revolving door of our criminal justice system has been spinning for far too long, at too great a cost to our communities– both fiscally and functionally. Our jails and prisons need to deliver on the promise of their name– Departments of Correction. Evidence based programming – meaning treatment programs proven to work to prevent reoffending – should be the focus on taxpayer investments in incarceration so that we are not turning people out worse than they came in. Local jails and state prisons are becoming warehouses for people with mental illness or drug addiction– we must support treatment programs that will get people who are sick the treatment they need.
Third, we must hold our systems accountable for their effectiveness and performance. Laws that are not enforced and punishment that is not corrective in effect do not make us safer or protect our liberties. It is easy to live and die by the “tough on crime, smart on crime” moniker, but if we achieve neither, we are living on a false promise, and Americans deserve better. Accountability means we must catch and properly punish the bad guys without compromising the integrity of our criminal justice system. Over the past four decades, the rate of homicides police have solved nationally has decreased from about 71% in 1980 to an all-time low of just under 50% in 2020. In the latest FBI data, only 33% of rape cases were arrested, charged, and turned over for prosecution. The data for convictions and sentencing is even more somber. Tough on crime policies that don’t focus on higher conviction rates promote a false sense of security– we are not being tough on crime or enforcing law and order by failing to arrest and properly convict those who terrorize our streets. Stiffening penalties for violent crimes without increasing full convictions is in fact soft on criminals who escape punishment and ineffective in protecting public safety. Americans deserve better, and our law enforcement deserves to be properly resourced and supported to fulfill their duty and promise to their communities.
Policy Principles
- Strong and healthy law enforcement agencies are imperative to public safety. That means both well-trained, well-funded, well-prepared, and highly professional law enforcement officers, but also a relentless commitment to strong community relationships between those policing and their neighbors.
- Senator Scott’s JUSTICE Act is an excellent example of a federal standard for law enforcement.
- Law Enforcement agencies should embrace accountability mechanisms, such as body cameras, whenever possible to increase public trust in law enforcement, and to appropriately hold bad actors accountable to preserve the professionalism of law enforcement.
- Our criminal justice systems must be transparent and include performance measures that hold policing agencies and prosecutors responsible for results in protecting the public by reducing crime rates, solving crime, prosecuting and convicting criminals for the crimes they commit, reducing recidivism through effective response to crime, being responsive to the needs of crime victims, and being good stewards of taxpayer dollars.
- Violent and career criminals deserve swift and certain punishment for their actions, and those battling mental illness and drug addiction must have access to the treatment they need to pull their lives back together and get back on their feet as safe and productive members of society.
- A strong criminal justice system focuses on the ultimate performance measures- improving public safety by reducing crime and re-offending– by fostering strong relationships with families, neighborhoods, non-profits, treatment providers, faith-based organizations, and other community stakeholders. Prevention is the strongest solution.