Pubdate: Sun, 25 Feb 2007
Source: Gainesville Sun, The (FL)
Copyright: 2007 The Gainesville Sun
Contact:  http://www.sunone.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/163
Author: Kinloch C. Walpole

WHY IS THE VIOLENT CRIME RATE UP?

On Feb. 19, the front page of The Gainesville Sun asked the question: 
Why is the violent crime rate up? The question should be: Why is the 
violent crime rate not higher than it is?

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure it out; all the answers 
were in the article. Among the factors driving crime rates in Florida 
(and Alachua County) are education, drugs and politics.

Lack of education provides the foot soldiers that connect the drug 
cartels and producers to the "responsible" recreational users. The 
state claims a graduation rate of 71 percent, a number inflated by 
including those who obtain special diplomas or a GED in the totals.

A high school diploma represents the minimal skills required for 
successful participation in the workforce and society. As many as 40 
percent of Florida students leaving school are not high school graduates.

We can see where many go by taking a look at the population of 
Florida's prisons. In 2006 the median education level of our 88,576 
prison inmates was the sixth grade. This number tells an even more 
tragic story when held under a magnifying glass.

African-Americans comprise 50 percent of the prison population but 
only 16 percent of the state census. Some 32,054 blacks (as opposed 
to 18,083 whites) had grade levels so low they could not even qualify 
for a GED program. If these percentages hold for the 600,000 
disenfranchised felons on the streets of Florida, then there are 68 
percent or 408,000 men and women whose GED Prep skills are below the 
ninth grade.

The FCAT is part of Florida's plan to increase student achievement by 
implementing higher standards. Florida's idea of implementing higher 
standards is to set the minimal bar for a high school education at 10th grade.

About 24 percent of new inmates are 24 years of age or less. The 
conclusion is clear: Florida schools are providing inmates for 
Florida's prison industry.

The Florida prison industry provides a post graduate education in 
higher levels of criminology. "Getting tough on crime" sets the 
atmosphere and Florida prison's provides the physical structures.

If we mark 1988 as the start of getting tough on crime we will see 
that 1987 had a recidivism rate of 35 percent. Recidivism for the 
last five years has hovered at 48 percent.

The crime wave is fueled by the drug trade. Drugs are big business in 
both Florida and in Gainesville. You have only to examine court 
records if there is any doubt.

You would think that in over 30 years the war on drugs would have 
made some gains. But drugs are more potent and just as easy to get. 
Why is this so?

The answer is clear. It is not in the best interest of the powers 
that be to end the war. Both the political and the criminal justice 
communities depend on this war for their survival and growth.

The political gold of the war on drugs comes in two forms. One is 
campaign contributions and the other is votes. We only need to look 
to the last election campaign for governor as a case in point. The 
Florida Police Benevolent reports donations of more than $2 million, 
with heavy backing to the Republican gubernatorial nominee.

This is an association that represents 34,000 law enforcement and 
corrections officers. Then there is the Department of Corrections 
(DOC) with a staff of over 26,083 employees who work the prisons of 
the state, where 60 percent of the inmates are incarcerated for drug 
related or drug incited crimes.

Upon assumption to office, an important agenda item for our new 
governor is the anti-murder bill and a special appropriation of $122 
million in prison construction which will require an additional 300 
or so new corrections officers. Florida's prison population is now 
expected to crest 100,000 inmates in the next few years.

Everyone is focused on the symptoms and not the problem. The problem 
is education and resolving the war on drugs instead of exploiting it.

The first step is a better education system. Educators argue that 
higher pay will get a better system. Starting pay for a teacher in 
Alachua County is $34,000; a corrections officer starts at $30,000.

Legislators argue there is no more money for education. There is a 
$60,000 difference in the taxes paid by high school graduates and 
non- high school graduates over a lifetime. Also, non-graduates are 
30 percent more likely to be on welfare or in prison.

This means there could have been as much as $24.4 billion available 
to the Florida general fund if the state had met its responsibility 
to those 408,000 disenfranchised felons with less than a ninth grade 
education. In addition, the state loses $7.3 billion in prison 
related expenses for every year those 408,000 felons spend in prison.

The DOC says that for every rise in the grade level of the inmates 
there is a 5 percent reduction in recidivism. Yet, our Legislature 
has continuously cut prison education funding.

Think in terms of lost opportunities when only 1,322 inmates of a 
prison population of 88,576 inmates have earned a GED. Now, tell me: 
Is it any wonder there is not more crime?
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman