Today you can’t read the paper without reading about a shooting in someone’s neighborhood.
Crime rate seems to have skyrocketed. There seems to be no fear of arrest or punishment anymore and that’s where I feel the problem lies.
I had a conversation once with a group of men who all had past issues with the law. I gave them this scenario. Pretend I’m a judge you’re facing and I say to you, “Mr. Smith, if you appear before me again, I’ll be sending you straight to Smyna”. They all laughed and said that it was no big deal. They had a brother or a cousin there and they would be able to hang out.
Then I gave them a new scenario. “Mr. Smith, if you appear before me again, we have a prisoner exchange program with New Jersey, and you will be sent there.”
There was no laughter. No giggling. They all said, Oh, heck no. I’ll keep my act together.
Their language was a lot stronger. I was the one laughing now. Could this idea work? Maybe.
My point is you have to make them fear getting sent to prison. We have to enforce the laws we have on the books and stop releasing law breakers with a slap on the wrist. How about first offenders, instead of mandatory prison, we do mandatory schooling. If the offender agrees to enroll in one of our state colleges, he/she would be spared prison. Learn HVAC, Auto Mechanics, culinary, etc.
Drop out, prison time.
Funding would have to be cheaper than housing a prisoner which I’ve heard is around $30,000 a year. We have to think outside the box with new ideas. What is yours?
Stan Sipple
Felton
