
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, April 26, 1993                   TAG: 9304260372
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CRIME COSTS COHEN CALLS FOR A REALITY CHECK

DEL. BERNARD Cohen, D-Alexandria, doesn't mince words: Virginia's anti-crime efforts aren't working. The state, he says, is "hard on crime

but soft on results." Despite tougher penalties for crime, the crime rate keeps going up. The recidivism rate is "scary as hell." And Virginia may well spend itself into bankruptcy building costly prisons to house criminals if somebody doesn't soon wise up.

Cohen's remarks, made before the state's Crime Commission the other day, brought the usual nods of agreement: Yes, yes, we know, you're right.

Yes, Virginia needs to find less costly alternatives to $85,000 prison cells for every crook. (The General Assembly recently authorized almost $300 million to build nine new prisons over the next several years.)

Yes, the state must find more cost-effective ways to deal with nonviolent offenders (about 44 percent of the state's current prison population).

Yes, it needs to provide more treatment programs for those convicted of substance abuse and sex offenses - before these convicts are turned back onto the streets to repeat their crimes.

At Cohen's urging, the crime commission will conduct a study on sentencing alternatives. Good.

But similar studies have been undertaken before without resulting in significant reform. Why? Because the politicians would rather appear to be tough on crime than actually find ways to reduce it. Thus do the costs to taxpayers and the tide of mayhem keep going up and up and up - until when?

by CNB