海角大神

Like law enforcement everywhere, Houston officials want safe neighborhoods for a reasonable price. Following decades of rising incarceration and diminishing public safety returns, America鈥檚 fourth most-populous city is embarking on a new approach to drug crime.

On Thursday, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced that Houston would decriminalize possession of聽less聽than 4 ounces of marijuana, beginning March 1.聽The new county policy means offenders without warrants for other crimes will soon have a route to bypass court appearances and jail time. Under the Misdemeanor Marijuana Diversion Program, they can opt instead to pay $150 and take a 4-hour drug education class. (The fee will be waived for those who cannot afford it.) Those who refuse to take the class will still face charges in court, and could spend up to one year in jail if convicted.

County policymakers say this approach will improve public safety by diverting law enforcement resources to more serious public safety issues, while improving outcomes for affected families and communities. As yet, however, this particular strategy is untested, and some law enforcement officials are concerned that drawing a line between drug possession and sale might actually be counterproductive.

鈥淥verall, it鈥檚 a laudable impulse,鈥� says Eugene O鈥橠onnell, a professor of law and police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, in a phone interview with 海角大神. But 鈥渋t鈥檚 not necessarily a simple issue.鈥�

Nationwide, incarceration has become the punishment of choice over the past four decades. The number of inmates in state prisons , according to a 2012 report by the New York-based non-profit Vera Institute of Justice. That approach was once seen as the key to public safety, keeping offenders off the streets and out of neighborhoods. But public sentiment has begun to shift, particularly in relation to nonviolent drug offenders.

Ms. Ogg alluded to the costs of prosecution and incarceration while announcing the new policy on Thursday.

鈥淲e have spent in excess of $250 million [over the past 10 years while producing] ,鈥� she said, according to the Houston Chronicle. 鈥淲e have disqualified, unnecessarily, thousands of people from greater job, housing and educational opportunities by giving them a criminal record for what is, in effect, a minor law violation.鈥�

In response, Houston found itself looking for an alternative approach. That鈥檚 not uncommon for big cities, which simply don鈥檛 have time to try people for possessing pot, says Mark Kleiman, a professor of public policy at New York University鈥檚 Marron Institute of Urban Management.

In California and Arizona, for instance, all non-violent drug offenders are automatically diverted to treatment programs, explains Rosalie Pacula, a professor at Pardee RAND Graduate School in Santa Monica, Calif., and co-director of the Drug Policy Research Center. While the effect of such programs on recidivism is hard to measure carefully, she tells the Monitor, these drug treatment programs tend to provide a cost-effective improvement in participants鈥� education and employment outcomes.聽

These programs are particularly cost-effective because the price of jail is so high: , according to a 2015 report by the Vera Institute, adding up to a total of聽$172.5 million per year for the county.

It鈥檚 hard to check that offenders are going to the programs, however, notes Professor Kleiman, which may indicate that Houston鈥檚 new approach would be ineffective. Still, evidence from other states paints an encouraging picture.

鈥淣either [California nor Arizona] aggressively confirmed that people were going to treatment ... yet the results suggested that it was effective,鈥� Professor Pacula observes.

Since most studies have focused on drug treatment programs, it鈥檚 hard to know what the impact of Houston鈥檚 education-only approach will be, she adds. But she says that such a focus is 鈥渘ot really addressing the underlying issue鈥� of drug possession, suggesting that Houston may need to tweak its program to reduce recidivism.

Some combination of drug education and treatment may be more effective in addressing those underlying issues,聽Scott Chipman, the Southern California chair of advocacy organization Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana, tells the Monitor in an email.

鈥淎 program that educates and assists users and addicts and keeps them out of jail could be very helpful,鈥� he writes, noting that many schools have dropped such education programs for financial reasons.

Even if people continue to use marijuana at the same rate, reducing incarceration could still provide a public safety benefit by freeing up police officers to work on other cases. The city has prosecuted 107,000 misdemeanor marijuana cases in the past ten years, at tremendous cost to officer time,聽Houston officials told the Chronicle.

鈥淭here鈥檚 real crime to chase, and they don鈥檛 have the cops to do it,鈥� Kleiman explains.

But decriminalization leaves many in the law enforcement community ambivalent. Professor O鈥橠onnell, who is also a veteran police officer and former prosecutor, says decriminalization can create further challenges by increasing demand for drugs.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit of a fiction鈥� that there鈥檚 a separation between possession and sale, he says, remarking, 鈥淚f people weren鈥檛 buying, other people wouldn鈥檛 be selling.鈥�

On top of that, criminal justice has become a business in some ways, O鈥橠onnell observes, meaning that curbing the arrest rate could have implications for law enforcement officers鈥� jobs and livelihoods.

鈥淭his work [is] people鈥檚 bread and butter,鈥� he says.

The federal government has inadvertently contributed to this by giving states and local governments money specifically for law enforcement, notes Kleiman. Communities concerned about drug activity may also feel more secure when offenders are incarcerated.聽

Ultimately, what is needed is not just a change in policy, but a change in attitude, Rachel Harmon, a law professor at the University of Virginia, indicated in an interview this month.

鈥淐ommunities need to participate in identifying their public safety and order goals and developing alternative mechanisms for achieving them,鈥� she told UVA News, discussing her paper in the current issue of the Michigan Law Review. 鈥淭his and members of the community who presently demand arrests as a response to crime or disorder.鈥�