Wichita Crime

[wufan]

So what exactly would you do?
Whatever Wichita is trying to do isn’t working.

I’m not a police chief nor a politician nor do I desire to be. If my goal as one of these persons was to reduce crime rates, I would decriminalize drugs.

[ShockTalk]

I’m not a police chief nor a politician nor do I desire to be. If my goal as one of these persons was to reduce crime rates, I would decriminalize drugs.

All drugs?? Using, selling, and so forth? Seems to me that -yes- it would reduce "crime rates" simply because it is no longer a crime. However, how does that help reduce the amount of drug use, users, and sellers? Would not drug use go up and how does that help society as a whole?

[wufan]

All drugs?? Using, selling, and so forth? Seems to me that -yes- it would reduce "crime rates" simply because it is no longer a crime. However, how does that help reduce the amount of drug use, users, and sellers? Would not drug use go up and how does that help society as a whole?

That wasn’t the prerequisite. The prerequisite was that the police chief demonstrate his effectiveness through reduced crime rate.

As to how that would help society as a whole, I do not believe that government provides that service.

[ShockerFever]

That wasn’t the prerequisite. The prerequisite was that the police chief demonstrate his effectiveness through reduced crime rate.

As to how that would help society as a whole, I do not believe that government provides that service.

This is where we diverge. The government does provide a level of protection through policing. Drug use unquestionably leads to more crime and more erratic behavior. You can say a drug user only is harming themselves but that is far from true. At what point should the government not be involved with the detriment of society? Drug use? Theft? Murder?

[SubGod22]

This is where we diverge. The government does provide a level of protection through policing. Drug use unquestionably leads to more crime and more erratic behavior. You can say a drug user only is harming themselves but that is far from true. At what point should the government not be involved with the detriment of society? Drug use? Theft? Murder?

Theft and murder directly harm others. Using a drug does not. In places where drugs have been either legalized or decriminalization drug use has gone down and people are more likely to seek treatment because they no longer fear being treated as a criminal. Government isn't and shouldn't be responsible for protecting people from themselves and shouldn't make criminals out of people whose only "crime" is willingly ingesting a substance. And the main reason drug use leads to more crime is because it's illegal and often controlled by gangs. Eliminate that need and you remove much of the need and power of gangs and to a greater extent, the cartels that fund it all. This would also lead to alleviating some of the immigration issues as we would no longer effectively be funding cartels and the corrupt and authoritarian governments of Central and South America.

[wufan]

This is where we diverge. The government does provide a level of protection through policing. Drug use unquestionably leads to more crime and more erratic behavior. You can say a drug user only is harming themselves but that is far from true. At what point should the government not be involved with the detriment of society? Drug use? Theft? Murder?

Fair enough. My perspective on this has evolved over time and will likely continue to do so. The one thing I’m certain of is that what we’ve been doing for the last 50 years isn’t working.

I will grant you that drug abuse does cause harm to the persons close to the abuser, but prison time can also cause a similar harm. We don’t lock up alcoholics for being alcoholics. We lock them up for vehicular offenses and abuse, but not all alcoholics commit these crimes.

Decriminalizing drugs doesn’t “solve” drug dependence. At worst, you might see more drug use (which would be bad). It does decrease prison populations, removes funding through the black market for criminal enterprises, Decreases the need to fund police organizations, and could potentially lead to additional jobs and tax revenue.

Most importantly for me, we can’t keep ceding power to the government. If we want local or state laws that are more conservative or more liberal, we’ll at least we would have some sway. It is NOT the job of government officials to improve our lives. That task is left to us.

[Veritas]

I think certain drugs should be legalized. It’s terribly expensive to “rehabilitate” in prisons.
Studies indicate some success such as Portuguese legalization.

https://www.newportinstitute.com/resources/co-occurring-disorders/drug-legalization/

Do crime rates impact quality of life and a desire to move to a community. You bet. There are a lot of cities ranked better than Wichita without legalization of drugs.

Wichita’s growth is nearly stagnant, police department is under staffed, and the crime rate is high. Not a good combination.

[1972Shocker]

I think certain drugs should be legalized. It’s terribly expensive to “rehabilitate” in prisons.

There is very little rehabilitation going on in prisons. Illicit drugs are generally readily acquired in many, if not most, prisons. That is definitely the case in the Hutchinson and El Dorado correctional facilities.

[wufan]

There is very little rehabilitation going on in prisons. Illicit drugs are generally readily acquired in many, if not most, prisons. That is definitely the case in the Hutchinson and El Dorado correctional facilities.

That’s where I get my meth.

[Veritas]

One publication re Oregon’s perspective re decriminalization of drugs.

https://filtermag.org/drug-decrimina...on-oregon/amp/

[Veritas]

That’s where I get my meth.

Sarcasm or is that why you’re so opposed to Bratton “broken window” theory, using a platform like compstat, and hiring more police officers as it might interfere with your meth habit?

[WstateU]

That’s where I get my meth.

Here’s a shorter version… turn it up!

[wufan]

Sarcasm or is that why you’re so opposed to Bratton “broken window” theory, using a platform like compstat, and hiring more police officers as it might interfere with your meth habit?

I’m actually not opposed to the broken windows idea, in that if there are a bunch of broken windows in an area, then others think it’s okay and those low level crimes give way to higher level crimes. I’m opposed to cops arresting children for breaking a window.

….and yes that was sarcasm. I cook my own meth.

[Veritas]

I’m actually not opposed to the broken windows idea, in that if there are a bunch of broken windows in an area, then others think it’s okay and those low level crimes give way to higher level crimes. I’m opposed to cops arresting children for breaking a window.

….and yes that was sarcasm. I cook my own meth.

Haha. Tip of the cap to you…

[Shockm]

It’s the responsibility of the community. If you are turning a blind eye to your community and blaming an appointed official for not making things better, then you’re part of the problem.

I agree with this.

It's the responsibility of the communities, City Council, City Manager, Police Chief, Assistant Police Chiefs, Community Managers, etc. to reduce crime. I don't feel unsafe in my part of town, but there are people in certain parts of town who probably do, and these stakeholder need to be listened to about what and when crimes are occurring. I'm not surprised when a gang murder happens at midnight at a bar in a seedy part of town, so I don't go there. But if any serious crimes are happening in broad daylight, the stakeholders I mentioned should demand that some type of action occurs. Moving police around (a police presence strategy) to meet the needs of each community needs to be done, and the Chief can do that.

I think that criminals have been emboldened by what they see happening throughout America and what people are getting away with. I think our Chief is still viewed as a proactive Chief by the city and it's citizens, because he has reacted quickly in certain cases. However, gangs are emboldened everywhere, and several gun incidents involving high school kids have happened recently. From what I have gathered, they have all been gang related, and cases that wouldn't have happened years ago, are occurring. I don't necessarily trust some of these statistics that are floated around. I have heard of increased cases in Oklahoma City, Omaha, Kansas City, and other places in the past year and a half. This is the responsibility of everyone, families, children, and city stakeholders to make strategies to limit violence. Allowing drugs isn't the answer to stop violence, imo. Violence is caused by a change of values, not because we aren't lenient enough.