Re-Criminalization – Law Officer

By Chief Joel F. Shults, Ed.D

Every so often I think I should write something down and put it in a sealed, dated envelope. On the outside of the envelope would be the label “I Told You So.” I’m not the only one who predicted that the anti-police sentiment, the decriminalization of drug possession, and lax prosecution would fail the public sooner rather than later. Well, I told you so.

Here are the headlines: From USA Today – “’A stunning turnabout’: Voters and lawmakers across the US move to reverse criminal justice reform.”  From a police trade publication – “Governor Sending National Guard, State Police to Combat Crime on NYC Subways” and “San Francisco Voters Approve Police Drones, LPR, and Looser Pursuit Rules.” From KRDO, a Colorado news station – “Sheriffs form coalition in favor of reversing previous ICE bills.” From ABC News – “Louisiana’s tough crime laws.” These are just samples from recent actions all across the country.

Policing has been in reform mode since before the OK Corral. The profession is open to it. What has been labeled ‘reform’ in the past few years, however, has really meant ‘rollback’, as laws that had evolved were repealed, gutted, or simply ignored.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry blamed the Louisiana Justice Reinvestment Act signed by the former governor in 2017 for rampant crime. An editorial note: never trust the name of the law to reflect the actual law. A special legislative session has restored adult prosecutions for 17-year-olds and reduced opportunities for probation and parole. Oregon’s legislature is coming to grips with the disastrous decriminalization of drugs, repealing part of the voter-approved 2020 decriminalization. San Francisco is allowing greater use of police drones, license plate readers, and police pursuits.

In Washington, D.C. where decriminalization was on the front burner not too long ago the council passed measures expanding the definition of car-jacking, made organized retail theft a felony crime, increased pre-trail detention, and established 1990s-era drug-free zones to counter loitering. In New York City where subway crime had been substantially reduced under Mayor Guliani and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, Mayor Adams has assigned an additional 1,000 officers to the transit system after a 45% increase in violent crime within the past year. New York’s Governor Kathy Hochul has ordered an additional 1,000 state police and National Guard troops to the effort saying ““These brazen heinous attacks on our subway system will not be tolerated.”

In Colorado, where rollback legislation removed qualified immunity and insurance protections from peace officers and prohibited law enforcement and government entities from cooperating with federal immigration authorities, county Sheriffs are lobbying for repeal of the immigration enforcement roadblocks. In Tennessee, where restrictions on traffic contacts were enacted in the knee-jerk response to the brutal police attack and death of Tyre Nichols, are advancing a bill to repeal those restrictions.

Meanwhile, in Connecticut, lawmakers late to the common sense movement are restricting traffic contacts mimicking other entities who have enacted the willful disregard to traffic laws but who have not yet felt the need to return to enforcing these laws in the face of increasing traffic danger. Hang on to your “I told you so’ files.

Voters have the ultimate power to reject the notion that unraveling the social contract that holds people accountable for their criminal behavior. Sympathy is the job of those who care for offenders in the hope of changing their lives – something we can all hope for and work toward. Sympathy is not the job of those who make the laws to protect the victims of violent crime, whose health and livelihoods are stolen from them, and who have lived in increasing fear and distrust. We celebrate a return to common sense.

This article originally appeared at the National Police Association and was reprinted with permission.