The two-fisted attack on crime

Commercial Appeal
June 17, 2007

Tennessee police and prosecutors have a more powerful weapon in their arsenal with passage of the Crooks with Guns Law, which takes aim at that 5 percent of criminals, the experts say, who commit 50 percent of the violent crime.

The dedication of $23.5 million a year to the new crime-fighting initiative was described by state Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, the chief sponsor, as one of the most significant investments by the state in more than a decade.

The law adds time to the sentences of felons convicted of certain crimes in which guns are used. It does not address many of the offenses that make up the bulk of the gun crime caseload in District Atty. Gen. Bill Gibbons' office -- first-offense aggravated robbery, first-offense aggravated assault and the like. It leaves convicted criminals caught in possession of a gun facing the prospect of a slap on the wrist.

"We asked for a hammer, and the General Assembly gave us a wrench," Gibbons said, "but it's the first time in a long time they've given us any additional tools to work with."

But it was almost inevitable that the $60 million crime package pushed by Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin, Gibbons and other members of the Tennessee Public Safety Coalition would be trimmed. One component, which would have lengthened the jail time for crimes committed by groups of three or more, was put off until next year.

But the legislature also approved a budget that included money for 32 new prosecutors statewide and 19 additional public defenders to handle the growing caseload.

With the exception of education funding, the gun bill may have been the most noteworthy piece of legislation passed during an especially productive session.

As important as it is for the state to focus on the really bad actors in the criminal ranks, however, there must continue to be a recognition that not everyone who does time in prison is incorrigible. Sometimes rehabilitation works, and sometimes what a convict needs is habilitation, the acquisition of the knowledge and socialization that keep most of us out of serious trouble in the first place.

As today's Viewpoint cover story illustrates, there must also be room in the arsenal of crime-fighting strategies for programs that help convicts make the transition to a life of productivity and positive behavior.

That's the goal of programs such as Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton's 3-R Project, which seeks to "rehabilitate, renew and reconnect" convicts with society.

The hope here is that the rush to mandate longer sentences won't result in the sacrifice of programs that assist convicts.

Such programs are not for everybody. They're for convicts who recognize they have a problem, volunteer to participate in programs designed to help them re-enter society and demonstrate sincerity in the effort to reform.

Government does not have the resources nor the constitutional authority to lock people up indefinitely when they exhibit behavior that threatens society.

There will always be some recidivism among the convict ranks -- the tendency to get back into trouble and behind bars again, often for the same offenses that landed them there in the first place.

The destructive power of addictive drugs will always be a challenge for many convicts, along with the clinicians and social workers who are trying to help them go straight.

But the hope for a safer environment still rests with the efforts being made to change behavior. There's no way we're going to incarcerate our way to a crime-free state.