State can improve violent crime record
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently released its annual report on crime entitled, “Crime in the United States, 2017.”
The news revealed in this report was bad for Tennessee.
According to the FBI, Tennessee has the third highest violent crime rate of any state in the nation. Only Alaska and New Mexico have a higher violent crime rate. These crime rates are measured according to the number of violent crimes occurring per 100,000 persons.
The national average was 394 violent crimes per 100,000 persons.
In Tennessee the number was far above the national average at 651 violent crimes per 100,000 persons.
This is not a new position for Tennessee. Tennessee has been one of the most violent crime plagued states for years. The FBI announced that crime is on the decline in America, but it is on the rise in Tennessee.
The FBI report is not surprising to prosecutors or other law enforcement leaders in our state. The Tennessee District Attorneys General, the Tennessee Sheriff’s Association and the Tennessee Chiefs of Police on their own and acting together as the Tennessee Public Safety Coalition lobby our state government every year to raise awareness of these issues and for measures that will make Tennessee safer.
Whether one believes that criminals should be incarcerated or rehabilitated; both are expensive when done properly. In Tennessee, there are limited resources for the criminal justice system (particularly the Department of Correction) and many believe these limited resources and the shortcuts they cause hurt us as a state.
The message that I and other law enforcement leaders try to send is that, “public safety is the first responsibility of government, because without it, no right is fully secured or enjoyed.” So, rather than advocating a larger state budget, the suggestion is that in response to our problem with violent crime that public safety be prioritized.
In Anderson County we know that local strategies and prioritization can work as we have seen a decline of over 40% in our crime rate in the last decade. But improvements at the state level would allow us to make more progress.
One example of a potential state-wide reform is a long standing request by law enforcement leaders for truth in sentencing.
In response to prison overcrowding, Federal litigation and budget constraints in 1989, Tennessee “reformed” its sentencing laws. As a result, sentences handed out by judges aren’t typically the “true” sentence.
These laws prevent judges and prosecutors from sentencing criminals as needed. Instead these laws restrict prison sentences in a manner that is deceptive to the public, uncertain for victims and defendants alike, but which eliminate prison overcrowding and save money.
While the reforms of 1989 addressed prison overcrowding and saved money, they have at least contributed to the problem we now have with violent crime.
In Tennessee, a person convicted of a felony, with the exception of a handful of the most violent crimes, is eligible for parole after serving only 30-percent of their sentence. For a second felony conviction, the same 30-percent parole eligibility number applies.
For felons committing their third or fourth felony, Tennessee sends a not so strong message by forcing them to serve only 35-percent of their sentence before becoming parole eligible.
In addition, Tennessee hands out jail credit to inmates using fuzzy math. Felons can get more than 70 days of credit for every 30 days they serve.
So, some felons sentenced to serve 10 years in prison would be eligible for parole after three years, but because of the jail credits given to them, they could actually get out of prison in much less than two years.
When the public and victims are told that the defendant has been sentenced to ten years in prison but they are back on the street in less than two years, it doesn’t feel like justice and it certainly isn’t truth in sentencing.
There are many things we can do to make Tennessee safer.
We can intervene sooner and more actively when children and young adults commit offenses; we can incarcerate violent offenders longer; we can offer more treatment for addicts; we can make our criminal justice system more efficient and cost effective.
These and many other strategies are available.
None of this is offered to suggest that we can eliminate violent crime through our criminal justice system or through corrections. We aren’t going to police, prosecute or incarcerate our way out of our national problem with violent crime.
Social problems and mental health issues often give rise to crime or perhaps first give rise to illegal drug use which leads to crime.
To honestly speak about crime, these underlying issues should be acknowledged and hopefully addressed.
While not the only answer, reforming our criminal justice system can almost certainly make a difference as it has in other states.
Tennessee District Attorneys General and others believe that without any additional taxpayer dollars we could start by telling the truth to ourselves, the public, victims and defendants about the true length of criminal sentences with truth in sentencing reforms.
Our current system is not precise or effective and feels like a convenient deception making us all less safe. The bottom line is that we don’t have to accept the violent crime rates we live with as a state.
We can choose to do better.
We can start by being honest with ourselves and everyone involved about sentencing.
Dave Clark is the District Attorney General for the 7th Judicial District of Tennessee. The District Attorney General, or their staff, prosecute all criminal cases for their district and serve as the chief law enforcement officer..
