Police are not the solution to violent crime. Police are a large part of a solution to violent crime.
The rhetoric from all sides, this “us versus them” nonsense fixes nothing. It leads to dysfunction, hatred, and both sides digging into their foxholes, arguing about their sole points of view ‘till death; ‘till the death and destruction of thousands of our neighbors and their families. We need to stop operating in silos and work together for the greater good. Laws around safety should be enacted the way government intended; proposed, debated in committees, onto an open floor, then passed. WE should be at the table. Even as we speak, discussions are occurring in Albany with no input from law enforcement.
I am not perfect, nor are all my ideas, but I dare say to you, your ideas are not perfect either. Good solutions rooted in truth and love are much better than anyone’s “perfect” solution that never fully comes to fruition because of resistance from “the other side.”
How do you reduce violent crime? Prevention; prevention, enforcement, and recovery. Note, I said prevention twice, as it is our true breakdown. The Benjamin Franklin saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” is an illustration of our ultimate failure today. If we truly worked on prevention, we could eventually close most of our jail cells, reduce our hospital beds, reduce the number of mental health counselors…the list goes on. Prevention is respect for laws and our neighbors, love, elimination of poverty and our biases, supporting families and institutions of help, real work with real pay, hopes and dreams, encouraging perseverance, faith…
While we work on prevention, let us not forget or be too care free with enforcement. Unfortunately, there is always going to be evil. There are always going to be people who beat their domestic partners, abuse children in our most trusted institutions, and knock our grandmothers over to steal their money. There will always be a need for public servants to serve and protect, to apprehend and to bring before a judge those accused. And there will always be a need for a system that protects us from those unwilling to leave our families in peace and to deliver justice. We cannot drastically turn off enforcement.
For those who are willing to move beyond that life cycle of lawlessness, we must prepare true recovery. Rehabilitation, instilling values, working on life and job skills are a must. Recovery is essential for offenders and their loved ones, society and the future crime victims, and for the taxpayers. Diversion programs, rehabilitation in jails, incarceration transition programs, mental health and addiction help, sweat equity of the offender, and real work are just a few areas in recovery.
The rhetoric from all sides, the dysfunction, and the “all or none” mantra is destroying us. Please allow all parties to sit at the table to come up with real solutions. This is not an “us versus them.”
-Monroe County Sheriff Todd K. Baxter