Issue Position: What Policies Do You Support to Fight Crime? What Are Your Ideas for Ensuring Public Safety?

Issue Position

Fighting crime is both a short and long term process. In the short term, the best crime fighting programs are those community policing programs which put police officers on the streets. The C.O.P.S. program of the Clinton Administration is a good example of a program which helped reduce crime in communities. I would support programs like this, which provide federal resources but allow communities to identify their needs and appropriate solutions.

In the long term, we have to fight the root causes of crime - the lack of educational and economic opportunity. We cannot build our way out of crime - building more prisons to house the people in jail because of mandatory sentences is an ineffective use of money. Those resources should be put into prevention programs such as education and job training.

The reality of the 21st Century is that our understanding of "crime" must now include terrorism, both domestic and international. We need to support the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and we must fully fund the needs of our firefighters, police officers and others who serve in the homeland security efforts.

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