Pubdate: Sat, 26 Mar 2016
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2016 The Dallas Morning News, Inc.
Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/send-a-letter/
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117

DALLAS CITY COUNCIL SNUFFS OUT A CHANCE TO CONSERVE POLICE RESOURCES

The Dallas City Council made a mistake in snuffing out Dallas 
County's cite-and-release pilot plan to ticket low-level marijuana 
possession offenders rather than haul them off to jail. As Police 
Chief David Brown once conceded - although he ultimately opposed the 
plan - the idea was "just so damn practical." It would reduce 
crowding in the Dallas County Jail and allow police to focus on more 
serious crimes, such as burglaries and assaults, and address concerns 
such as downtown panhandling. But council members waded into the 
weeds and failed to navigate issues of collaboration with neighboring 
jurisdictions and whether to give officers discretion to arrest some 
offenders. It's disappointing that they lacked creativity or the will 
to work through these questions.

We hope they' ll try again.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom