Little confidence in Violent Offender Task Force

I can hardly contain my indifference to our crimefighting governor’s violent offender task force. You can bet that the dedicated law enforcement officers who are appointed to the task force will do their usual excellent job of sweeping up the criminal refuse that infests our streets and neighborhoods. And of course our governor will take the credit for the arrests, and portray herself as some kind of champion of law enforcement.

What you will not hear will be the long-term results of the sweeps. How many of the dirt bags that are arrested will actually be convicted and imprisoned? If history is any guide, very few bad guys will spend more than a few hours, or days, in jail. After all, the ones they are going after already have long records as repeat offenders and are still on the streets actively preying on the law-abiding members of society. Why? Because of the longstanding weak links in the legal chain in this state. Those repeat offenders who are scooped up will go before some social justice warrior dressed up in a black robe who will set many of them free because of, well, society is at fault, the offender had a hard life, he is addicted to drugs/alcohol, there are not sufficient social services, the jails are overcrowded, and, gee, he was an altar boy and is nice to animals.

But the offenders may not all even get before the SJW judge because some assistant district attorney down the chain did not meet some critical filing date because they are so over-worked and/or understaffed that they just did not get around to this or that case in a timely manner.

I cannot imagine how our law enforcement officers must feel when they repeatedly arrest the dregs of society, only to have them back on the streets in short order and thumbing their nose at the officers that arrested them.

If the governor really wants to create a task force to go after violent criminals, then tell us taxpayers the whole story: How many were arrested, how many were convicted and how many went to prison, and for how long.

But you can bet that won’t happen because only the number of arrests are what are important politically, the longterm results won’t fit the narrative.