Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 26, 1994 TAG: 9408270034
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAMES W. DYKE JR.
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When they gather for a special session in September, Virginia legislative and executive leaders must not follow the shameful lead of our national representatives and politicize the crime issue. Reducing crime is one issue that must rise above parochial and party concerns. We must focus on real and meaningful solutions so the people of Virginia can truly feel safe.
During the special session, much attention will be focused on the issue of parole. Whether or not you agree that parole needs to be abolished, significant revisions are needed so that those convicted of violent crimes and repeat offenders who are dangers to society serve their sentences.
That approach may provide a quick fix, short-term improvement. But since the United States already has the highest incarceration rate of any nation in the world, one quickly concludes that the long-term solution to the crime problem is broader than just locking people up.
Americans, especially our politicians, always love simple solutions to complex problems. But usually the simple solution does not provide the best long-term answer to a complex problem. I agree we must be tough on crime and on criminals, especially violent and repeat offenders. People must feel safe from becoming victims of criminal conduct.
But the long-term solution to reducing crime must not focus only on building more prisons or abolishing parole. It also must focus on giving our young people the necessary educational skills to succeed, instilling in them a sense of self-worth and responsibility, and eliminating the sense of hopelessness that many feel today, a hopelessness that drives many of them to a criminal lifestyle.
Quite simply, it means devoting resources not only to building prisons but to building schools where kids can learn the basic skills needed to be productive citizens.
It means early-intervention programs and recreational programs for at-risk young people to get them off the streets and into positive activities.
It means more affordable housing and creative approaches like the successful ``Weed and Seed'' anti-drug program.
It means building our economy to create more jobs for which young people are prepared to compete.
And it means families and communities shouldering the responsibilities of instilling basic values in our kids, values like hard work, responsibility, caring for each other, respect for others and themselves and the realization that there will be severe consequences for criminal conduct.
So as the debate begins on parole, let it expand to include early intervention, education and job creation, and also two issues related to incarceration: rehabilitation and treatment. Many people might be turned away from a criminal lifestyle if they have other options to stabilize their lives.
And part of the debate must be to determine which criminals need to be incarcerated and which can be punished and rehabilitated through alternatives to incarceration. To the extent we can use less expensive ways of dealing with those who commit nonviolent crimes, then more of our limited financial resources are freed up to address the best long-term solutions.
With the cost of building and operating prisons skyrocketing, it is clear we cannot afford to build prisons fast enough to house every criminal. We must be fiscally responsible, set priorities and focus on how we can responsibly pay for changes to the parole and sentencing process, as well as pay for reasonable long-term solutions.
Making those fiscally tough decisions requires leadership, a vision for the future and a commitment to make decisions based on sound reasoning and not sound bites.
Our crime problems require comprehensive, complex solutions. While it might sound good to talk about our lenient parole system and to say ``lock them up,'' the solution requires more than applause lines.
It requires people who communicate with one another and who realize that we need to work together and not treat each other as adversaries. It requires making tough decisions on how to spend limited resources. It requires leaders who state forthrightly that the solution to the crime problem requires addressing a wide range of social issues and problems like education, job creation, social services and family responsibility.
Hopefully, during the upcoming special session and as they govern in the future, Virginia political leaders will exhibit real leadership, take courageous stands, stop playing ``politics as usual'' and do what is right for all the people of Virginia.
James W. Dyke Jr. is a partner with the law firm McGuire Woods Battle and Boothe. He served as Virginia's secretary of education from January 1990 through July 1993.
by CNB