Drug Debate Part I: The Pros of Legalization

For decades now, there has been a "war on drugs". Ever-present is also the debate on drug legalization (and decriminalization). In the first of this two part post, I'll focus on positives of legalization, and hopefully will generate some READER FEEDBACK. Being a police officer, I'll follow up in a day or two with some cons of legalization.

1) If drugs were legal, there would be more room in prisons for violent offenders. With more prison beds available, we would be less likely to parole, or release early, violent offenders that should be kept out of the public. Judges would also be more likely to sentence violent offenders to more significant prison terms.

2) The government (local, state, and federal level) would save billions of dollars. By not funding a losing war on drugs, we'd save a boatload. That money could be spent on other law enforcement activity like protecting our borders, anti-terrorism, finding bin Ladin, citing speeders, arresting DUI drivers or whatever.

3) The government could make money by taxing the drug trade.

4) If drugs were legalized, there'd be less violence related to illicit drug trade. If your drug of choice were sold over the counter at the 7-11 store, the streets would be safer.

While the points here are not necessarily mine, I've heard all of these arguments before and I'm inclined to think that there is at least some truth to each one. I realize that there is a technical difference between legalization and decriminalization. For the sake of keeping it simple here, I consider legalizing to be similar to the way the government treats alcohol. In most places in the country ( except Pennsylvania) alcohol can be purchased in stores. Taxes are levied on alcohol sales, and there is a minimum drinking age (21).

Violent Day for Law Enforcement

This morning two Tampa, Florida Police Officers were shot and killed in line of duty by some waste of air.

Then, this afternoon, a Chester City, Delaware County Police Officer was shot by some other waste of air. Fortunately, as of this post, news reports indicate that the detective is stable.

More on the tragedy in Tampa when time permits.

My thoughts, of course are with the families of my fallen brothers in Tampa.

Traffic Education

FYI, when a traffic signal is out or malfunctioning, the intersection is to be treated as an all-way stop.  Its not supposed to be a free-for-all.  Why does everyone forget this?

Frustration

With the continuing saga of shootings and street violence in our neighbor to the south, the City of Chester, I'm continually checking the Delaware County Daily Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer for coverage.  A few days ago, the Mayor of Chester ordered a State of Emergency, which, among other things,  allows police to enforce a curfew and prohibits people gathering in groups of three or more without first obtaining a permit.  Last week, a two year old boy was shot and killed by a thugs so called "stray bullet".  (click here for story)

And then today I read the front page and see that another thug, whose stray bullet killed an innocent woman, plead guilty this week.  He plead guilty to Involuntary Manslaughter and Conspiracy to Committ Aggravated Assault, according to the story in the Daily Times.   What's his sentence?  25 years, no not quite that long.  20, no not that long either.  15, getting closer.  11 to 23.  NOT YEARS but months.  11 to 23 months, in other words, one to two years in COUNTY JAIL!

Today I'm a frustrated citizen. 

Over Critical

While having lunch with two friends of mine who are also in law enforcement, my friend Jim made the following statement that I immediately accepted as true, yet I had never really considered it before:

"Everything we do as cops is second guessed and scrutinized."

How true this is!  And how annoying, defeating, undermining, dejecting, and embarrassing this is too.  Everything we do as cops is second guessed and scrutinized.  We write a speeding ticket; it goes to court.  In court the defendant asks why we cited him.  The judge wonders why we didn't "cut him a break"  We arrest a drug dealer; it goes to court.  The newspaper prints a story on it (maybe, ok probably not)  Readers comment and wonder why we are wasting time locking up drug dealers "when there are rapists and murderers running loose!"  We shoot and kill a person who was trying to shoot and kill us; the bad guy's family wonders why we didn't just shoot him in the leg. 

Police live and work in a world without the luxury of hindsight.  We live an work in a world where life and death decisions are made in the blink of an eye.  When a stock broker makes an honest mistake, his clients lose money.  Sometimes they lose lots of money.  But the stock broker is protected.  But not so when the cop makes an honest mistake.  He's labeled as crooked, corrupt, vindictive.  Judges and lawyers with law libraries and all the time in the work to read through them question the officers judgment. 

I can't readily think of another profession that is scrutinized so consistently and heavily as law enforcement.  And as annoying, defeating, undermining, dejecting, ad embarrassing as it is, it just gets plain old.  If I had one "thank you" for every ten "why did you's" I'd be more than happy. 

Philly Police Nab Rapist-Murderer

Donte Johnson was arrested by Philadelphia Police yesterday. (click here for full story in on Philly.com)Johnson is the waste of space who is accused of raping and murdering Sabina
Rose O'Donnell, 20, of Philadelphia. O'Donnell was riding her bike
home from a friends house when she was stalked, raped, and murdered by pure evil.

Which brings me to my point of this blog posting. My wife asked me
what I thought about this case last night. In an effort to reconcile
this aweful crime with her sense, she asked what I thought. "Who does
such a thing? Why did he he have to kill her?"
I didn't have a good answer for her other than this: Evil exists.
Donte Johnson is an evil person. Good people don't do evil things
like rape and murder people.


Needless to say, I'm sure I'll have to read or hear about how Johnson's family can't believe what has happened and how he was always a good kid. Or perhaps about how troubled his childhood was, as if there is any excuse whatsoever for brutally raping and killing a girl who was innocently riding her bike home. What punishment is appropriate for an evil murderer like Donte Johnson? I have a few ideas....

My thoughts and condolences to the family of Sabina O'Donnell.

Top Ten List...Continued

5.  Listening.  Not just listening but interpreting and deciphering too.  Ever try to have a conversation with a drunk Norwegian with a broken jaw?

4.  Parenting.  Long before becoming a parent, I feel like I've honed my skills at work.  Sometimes while dealing with children, but usually with adults.

3.  Staying dry.  The old adage on the job is that "a good cop never gets cold, wet or hungry."  There is truth there.  Without ever using an umbrella, most cops are masters at avoiding getting wet, no matter how hard it might be raining.  There are secrets...but I can't tell.

2.  Laughing.  Cops joke about everything.  It keeps us going.

1.  Eating quickly.  My wife tells me all the time how bad it is to eat fast, but I always do.  If speed eating were an Olympic Event, the team would be made up of cops. 

Top Ten Skills of a Good Cop That Have Little or Nothing to Do With Police Work

10.  Being able to drink a coffee while performing just about any other task, without spilling the coffee.  (I know, you're probably thinking, "big deal, everyone drinks coffee."  The other day I drank a coffee while riding my bicycle through a crowd of people.  It was good coffee too.)

9.  Typing.

8.  Being able to listen to the Phillies game, the police radio, and your babbling partner simultaneously, without missing anything.

7.  Giving directions.   Contrary to popular belief, cops don't always automatically know how to get to from one random destination to another.   However, we pretend that we do.  Side note - if your destination is outside of the jurisdiction of the cop that is giving you directions, travel at your own risk.  I once had a gentleman stop me and ask me how to get from West Chester to Memphis, Tennessee.  He was puzzled when I paused and asked him if he was serious.

6.  Writing in the dark. 

Ah, a cliffhanger.  Come back later for the top 5.

Second Time's a Charm for Killer Joran van der Sloot

Ok, I know it's not a local case, but I will comment anyway...

First off, my condolences to the family of Stephany Flores Ramirez, the beatiful Peruvian 21 year old that seems to have been Joran van der Sloot's second (at least) murder victim.  van der Sloot, for anyone who doesn't remember, is the Dutch national who was arrested twice, but released for "lack of evidence" in the 2005 disappearance / killing of Natalee Halloway, and American vacationing in Aruba.  It looks as though, like most criminals, van der Sloot was at it again.  If any good comes from this case, it the Peruvians will convict van der Sloot and keep him locked up in an awful place for a few lifetimes.  It's a shame though that Peru's death penalty is reserved for "crimes committed in exceptional circumstances", murder alone not being an exceptional circumstance.

More coverge here on cnn.com.    Let's not forget the victims of both horrible crimes, and their families.

Medical Marijuana Munchies

Food For Thought: Interesting news story on medical marijuana in near by New Jersey.

I've hear a bunch of news coverage on the medical marijuana issue in New Jersey recently.  The link above does a good job comparing two states' medical marijuana laws and how they work in the real world.  It also makes me think about the many arguments in favor of legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana.

Quick Funny Story

Great story happened today. 

So, I'm just pulling into the police station, with about 10 minutes to go on my shift.  Its about 90 degrees and humid, and I've been sweating all day long.  I just stopped at Rita's water ice and treated myself to a Wild Black Cherry Gelati with vanilla custard. It looks delicious.

Another officer calls out with a foot pursuit.  He's just stopped a stolen vehicle, and the driver fled from the vehicle on foot.  I sigh, because I imagine my Gelati slowly melting while I'm called to assist the other officer.  Dutifully, yet reluctantly, I carefully place my Gelati on the ground next to the door of the station, and I pedal as expeditiously as I can toward the call for assistance.  After about two minutes,  two women flagged me down in front of their house and told me that "he ran that-a-way!" pointing to their back yard.  It wasn't until I was in the yard that one of them warned me about their pit bull dog.  (side note - he was friendly)  After about 10 minutes of searching, another officer and I found the suspect hiding in a back yard a few blocks from where he ran.   He was actually hiding in a storage shed that was no less than 177 degrees.

So we get the guy locked up and on his way to the police station.  Turns out he is a young kid, 14 or 15 years old.  As I'm walking back to my bike that I ditched where the two helpful women were, one tells me that she saw the kid running toward her house, and she recognized him from the neighborhood.  She asked him what the heck he was doing.  The juvenile's response, "Can I just have a cigarette?  The cops are chasing me!" 


When I got back to the station, I was delighted to see that my Wild Black Cherry Gelati was only partially melted.  I enjoyed it before leaving for the day. 

Help Wanted: Positove Role Models Needed

Must be of sound moral character.  Education a plus, but not required.  Must be willing to travel.  Must like children.  Few, if any arrests preferred.  Must be legally employed.  Must actually be willing to spend time with your children.  Patience required.  Sense of humor a plus.  Pay is low.