(Center for Juvenile and Criminal Justice) The 2008 figures show California’s crime index (key offenses reported to police) stands at its lowest level since 1963, including the lowest rates of homicide in 40 years. Among youth, 2008 arrest rates continue the trend of the last seven years, with felony rates at their lowest level since statistics were first kept in 1955 and record-low overall arrest rates around half the level of the 1950s. For every race and both sexes, youth crime rates are at their lowest trough since reliable records have been kept.
Of course, “fair is fair”: those who would own crime decreases should also own crime increases. California’s new 2007 and 2008 figures contain some truly bad news as well: the aging crime and drug abuse waves continue to crest. Here, we have a pretty good idea what went wrong. Conservatives in power fought the 1980s and 1990s middle-aged drug and crime surge by tossing tens, then hundreds of thousands in prison for longer periods—which, it turns out, actually worsens addiction (who could have known?). Liberals ignored the crisis altogether and still do. In 2007, a record 4,100 Californians died from overdoses of illicit drugs, triple the number in 1980. Now we have what no one thought possible: a burgeoning 40- and 50-age crime epidemic, whose felony totals rocketed from 22,000 in 1980 to 112,000 in 2008.
How has California law enforcement attacked this graying crime scourge driven by surging abuse of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, pills, and booze? By drastically boosting arrests for one particular offense… wait for it… misdemeanor marijuana possession. Note carefully: arrest rates for violent crimes, property offenses, felony drug sales, all other drugs, all felonies, all misdemeanors—that is, virtually everything else—declined (often sharply) over the last 15 years. But arrests of Californians for simple marijuana possession rocketed from 21,000 in 1990 to 61,000 in 2008—a population-adjusted rate leap of 127%.
Where did this lunatic strategy come from? Granted, there’s a massive aging drug crisis bellowing for attention, but it’s not pot. Meanwhile, crime clearance reports show that in 2008, law enforcement FAILED to solve 43% of all reported murders, 58% of reported rapes, and 57% of felony violent crimes—one of the worst years for policing on record.
The reefer mad, like the “Officer X” who was on the Rob Van Dam show when I guested, would say that it’s because of the marijuana arrests that crime rates are so low. This is what I call “Magic Tiger Rock thinking”. See, I’ve had this magic tiger rock ever since I was a kid, and since I’ve had it, no tigers have attacked me.
Policing is a zero sum game. Officer time spent on a misdemeanor marijuana possession arrest is time not spent on patrol for real crime. This is how prohibition endangers even those who don’t use cannabis. Busting potheads is an easy day at work. Tracking down murderers, rapists, and thugs is real work… and those people shoot back!
as a member of that 40 – 50 year old cohort I can say that we kind of got screwed all the way along, we got “just say no”, “mandatory minimums”, “the boomers tales of the 60′s and 70′s” along with lots of cheap coke followed by lots of cheap heroin, and now cheap meth.
Coupled with the damn boomers not retiring, lower wages than our parents had, and houses we can’t afford. Well it just makes sense to lock us up were only going to be overly ironic and bitter anyway.