Pubdate: Mon, 22 Sep 2014
Source: Badger Herald (U of WI, Madison, WI Edu)
Copyright: 2014 Badger Herald
Contact: http://badgerherald.com/contact/
Website: http://www.badgerherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/711
Author: David McKay

MADISON POLICE CHIEF SUPPORTS MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION

Citing a history of inefficient enforcement and racial disparities,
Madison Police Chief Mike Koval said he supports the idea of
legalizing marijuana.

As some serious drug issues are rising in Madison, such as a surge in
heroin-related crimes, Koval said he would rather see his force's
energy go toward solving those rather than continuing to pursue
controlling marijuana crimes.

"Frankly, I've reached that threshold in my professional career, where
I realize that the enforcement efforts have proven largely
unsuccessful," Koval said. "It just didn't work. It wasn't effective."

Koval said he would reserve the criminal record for crimes of violence
and weapons offenses, rather than for casual possession of marijuana.

Koval cited the failure of the alcohol prohibition effort as an
example of how ineffective absolute enforcement can be, saying he can
imagine how "overwhelmed" officers felt. Rather than continue to
criminalize people, Koval said he would rather see marijuana treated
the same as alcohol and tobacco products are.

"I'm not endorsing the use of any of those substances, alcohol,
tobacco, marijuana, but I have just assumed that it would be heavily
regulated and taxed, and that money would be earmarked for other
therapeutic interventions or alternatives to incarceration," Koval
said.

As far as the impact on the University of Wisconsin campus, Koval said
he believes legalization would not make much of a difference.
Depending on the age threshold, he said, the effects should be similar
to the impact alcohol has on campus.

With that in mind, Koval said he wants to emphasize that he does
consider this a serious matter, regardless of his use of the term "casual
=2E"

The ultimate benefits of marijuana legalization for Wisconsin would be
fewer arrests and fewer instances of racial disparities in
incarceration, he said. Racial disparity in drug-related offenses in
Madison, however, is something Koval said needs to be addressed sooner
than later.

"The rate of arrests =C2=85 for possession of marijuana, as is the case o
f
most possessory drug crimes, is significantly higher for
African-American males than it is for the rest of the demographics of
our city," Koval said.

According to an analysis by MPD, about 60 percent of people arrested
for drug crimes last year were white. The remaining portion of people
arrested were black. In comparison, Madison's population is 75 percent
white and only 7 percent black.

However, Lieutenant Jason Freedman of the Dane County Narcotics and
Gang Task Force, said dividing drug crimes up by demographics is not a
simple endeavor.

The task force investigates and tracks the sale of narcotics
throughout the county, focusing its efforts largely on heroin, cocaine
and marijuana. It is possible to see trends in the average profile of
who is selling what, but Freedman said there are always exceptions.

While a large percentage of marijuana-related crimes in Madison
involve black males, Freedman said the average large volume dealer is
actually a white, college-aged male.

Koval said he does not think racial profiling is the problem, but
rather a mix of social and economic issues that lead to higher
instances of crime in certain "challenged" neighborhoods.

"Quite frankly, you have a higher incidence like that in these
neighborhoods that are increasingly becoming challenged due to
socioeconomic factors of poverty," Koval said. "That's where we have a
disproportionate amount of people of color living coincidentally."

The issue is not just specific to the city, Koval said, though Madison
is where his priorities lie. He said Madison is representative of a
much larger national issue that needs to be dealt with.

For now, Koval said he realizes he still has a responsibility to
enforce the state's drug laws. However, it is not the most urgent
issue on his list.

"I look at the myriad of instances that confront the police, not the
least of which is weapons offenses, crimes against persons and
heroin," Koval said. "In relative scale, casual possession of
marijuana does not rise to the top of our things to do."
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MAP posted-by: Matt