Priorities, People!
Last week we learned that statistics were up for violent crimes in the US. This week we learn that the statistics at the Justice Department show a shift in priorities, according to a lengthy page A1 article in the Washington Post.
The Justice Department under the Bush administration has retreated from prosecutions of mobsters, white-collar criminals, environmental crimes and traditional civil rights infractions, new department data show.
As part of a series of policy shifts that have greatly transformed the administration of federal justice, the department has strongly emphasized immigration and terrorism-related investigations. It has also devoted new attention to areas important to conservative activists, such as sex trafficking and obscenity, according to the department's own performance and budget numbers. ...
From 2000 to 2006, for example, there were large drops in the number of defendants related to environmental offenses (down 12 percent), organized crime (38 percent), white-collar crime (10 percent), bank robbery (18 percent) and bankruptcy fraud (46 percent), according to Justice Department statistics provided this week to The Washington Post. Money-laundering prosecutions related to drugs were also down nearly 25 percent, while the number of drug cases overall was stagnant.
There were simultaneous jumps in prosecutions related to immigration (up 36 percent), weapons cases (87 percent), official corruption (15 percent), and, most dramatically, terrorism and national security cases (876 percent). Indeed, Justice Department funds devoted to counterterrorism programs in Washington have tripled since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Department officials say the surge in resources for national security and terrorism probes, in particular, reflects the intense administration efforts to prevent another attack. But the number of terrorism-related defendants has been relatively small: Prosecutions peaked at 818 in 2003 and fell to 635 by 2006, and most of these were not for terrorist acts or plans. ...
Perhaps most strikingly, the department's statistics show that Justice is now in large part an immigration enforcement agency: More than 19,000 defendants were charged with immigration violations in federal district courts in 2006, surpassing every other category except drug crimes. The data compiled by TRAC indicate that federal magistrates handled and disposed of an additional 18,000 immigration cases in 2006. [Emphasis added]
So, illegal immigrants and terrorists have become the main emphases of the Justice Department these days. Well, that and pornographers. Unfortunately, that means there just isn't enough money for assisting local law enforcement.
Gene R. Voegtlin, legislative counsel for the police chiefs' organization, said the federal government's retreat from local crime-fighting has greatly frustrated local law enforcement agencies. Federal assistance has fallen from $2.5 billion in 1997 during the Clinton administration to $1.1 billion in the Bush administration's 2008 budget proposal, according to the police group.
The assistance has declined steadily, while violent crime rose 1.9 percent last year, following a 2.3 percent rise in 2005, FBI records show. Those two years saw the first steady increase in violent crime since 1993. ...
"This administration had its own view on the role of the federal government in fighting crime at the local level, and it's one we often don't agree with," Voegtlin said.
Why does George Bush hate local law enforcement?
The Justice Department under the Bush administration has retreated from prosecutions of mobsters, white-collar criminals, environmental crimes and traditional civil rights infractions, new department data show.
As part of a series of policy shifts that have greatly transformed the administration of federal justice, the department has strongly emphasized immigration and terrorism-related investigations. It has also devoted new attention to areas important to conservative activists, such as sex trafficking and obscenity, according to the department's own performance and budget numbers. ...
From 2000 to 2006, for example, there were large drops in the number of defendants related to environmental offenses (down 12 percent), organized crime (38 percent), white-collar crime (10 percent), bank robbery (18 percent) and bankruptcy fraud (46 percent), according to Justice Department statistics provided this week to The Washington Post. Money-laundering prosecutions related to drugs were also down nearly 25 percent, while the number of drug cases overall was stagnant.
There were simultaneous jumps in prosecutions related to immigration (up 36 percent), weapons cases (87 percent), official corruption (15 percent), and, most dramatically, terrorism and national security cases (876 percent). Indeed, Justice Department funds devoted to counterterrorism programs in Washington have tripled since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Department officials say the surge in resources for national security and terrorism probes, in particular, reflects the intense administration efforts to prevent another attack. But the number of terrorism-related defendants has been relatively small: Prosecutions peaked at 818 in 2003 and fell to 635 by 2006, and most of these were not for terrorist acts or plans. ...
Perhaps most strikingly, the department's statistics show that Justice is now in large part an immigration enforcement agency: More than 19,000 defendants were charged with immigration violations in federal district courts in 2006, surpassing every other category except drug crimes. The data compiled by TRAC indicate that federal magistrates handled and disposed of an additional 18,000 immigration cases in 2006. [Emphasis added]
So, illegal immigrants and terrorists have become the main emphases of the Justice Department these days. Well, that and pornographers. Unfortunately, that means there just isn't enough money for assisting local law enforcement.
Gene R. Voegtlin, legislative counsel for the police chiefs' organization, said the federal government's retreat from local crime-fighting has greatly frustrated local law enforcement agencies. Federal assistance has fallen from $2.5 billion in 1997 during the Clinton administration to $1.1 billion in the Bush administration's 2008 budget proposal, according to the police group.
The assistance has declined steadily, while violent crime rose 1.9 percent last year, following a 2.3 percent rise in 2005, FBI records show. Those two years saw the first steady increase in violent crime since 1993. ...
"This administration had its own view on the role of the federal government in fighting crime at the local level, and it's one we often don't agree with," Voegtlin said.
Why does George Bush hate local law enforcement?
Labels: Justice Department
posted by Diane at 1:52 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home