Wanting to feel safe again, I along with the majority of Californians supported the three strikes law that would send
professional criminal predators to prison for at least 25 years. On the surface, it seems to be an overwhelming success. Crime in
the last five years since three strikes was passed is down. Serious crimes in Bellflower are down by an impressive 36 percent.
How much the reduction in crime is attributable to three strikes can be debated. Other factors that have most certainly
contributed are: an almost doubling in law enforcement expenditures by our city, the expansion of our marvelously successful
neighborhood watch program, and a short-term nationwide reduction in the number of people who are most likely to commit crimes, that being males between the ages of 16 to 24.
Most people support putting away violent criminals for as long as possible. Unfortunately, that is not all the three strikes law is
doing. Far too many people are going to prison for 25 years for possession of an illegal drug or other non-violent and
non-serious crime. A third strike drug offender can serve three times as long in prison as a one-time murderer.
Some counties, such as San Francisco, are not enforcing the three strikes law against non-violent and non-serious offenders
while other counties such as Los Angeles do. The Justice Policy Institute concluded in a study that there is no difference in the
crime rates between the counties that enforce three strikes against non-violent and non-serious offenders and those that do not.
Definite problems have arisen from the implementation of 3 strikes. Faced with the possibility of spending the best years of their
lives in prison, there is the threat that normally non-violent criminals will murder potential witnesses and law enforcement
personnel to stay out of jail. When they are caught, they will not plea-bargain because the law does not allow leniency. Instead
they fight as hard as they can, which clogs our court system, delaying other important cases from going to trial. If convicted, a
third striker will cost over one-half million dollars to house him in prison for the next 25 years.
The solution is to limit three strikes to violent and/or serious criminals. By doing so, our justice system can concentrate on
protecting us from the people we need protection from, the professional criminal predators.
Mayor Art Olivier
Bellflower
