LAW
ENFORCEMENT LEADERS LAUNCH NEW GROUP
Top
Police and Prosecutors Declare Need for Criminal Justice Reform
Washington D.C. – Today, more than 130 top police and
prosecutors from all 50 U.S. states, including LEAP executive director Major
Neill Franklin (Ret.) are holding a conference to launch a new group, Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime
and Incarceration (LELRCI). The group is releasing a report explaining
their mission: to reduce crime and improve public safety by reducing needless
incarceration and harmful mandatory minimum sentences, and improving access to
rehabilitation services for those with mental illnesses and substance abuse
disorders. They propose de-felonizing minor crimes as California has
done with Prop. 47, and ultimately, strengthening
community-police relations.
"As our nation's top police and prosecutors reflect back
on their careers, we have come to understand that many of the so-called
tough-on-crime principles to which many of us gave our lives are flat-out wrong,"
said Major Franklin. "We can reduce crime and incarceration at the same
time, but to do that we need alternatives to arrest, balance in our laws, and
continued improvement in community relations. Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition is honored to be a part of distinguished group."
Unnecessary incarceration taxes public coffers and law
enforcement resources as well as furthering economic and racial inequality and
lessening life opportunities for millions, who become more likely to
re-offend in the future. $80
billion is spent on incarceration in the U.S. every year; a cost
reform advocates say would be better spent on rehabilitation, job training, and
education. Drug laws continue to be a root cause
of mass incarceration and places severe social and economic consequences on
individuals and communities, particularly
those of color. Overly punitive drug enforcement and
the prioritization of drug cases over violent crimes since the drug war began
in 1971 has contributed to the U.S. holding more
prisoners per capita than any other nation.
Please
contact Darby Beck at darby.beck@leap.cc
for a special access code to view the launch event being held at the National
Press Club Wednesday from 12:30-2pm ET.
LEAP is committed to ending decades of failed policy that
have wreaked havoc on public safety, damaged community relations with police,
fostered corruption and racism, and largely ignored the public health crisis of
addiction. The War on Drugs has cost more than $1 trillion dollars, yielded no
positive outcomes, and has ultimately diverted the penal system’s attention
away from more important crimes.
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