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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2016)
Appeal Tribune Wednesday, October 5, 2016 3B Police, local prosecutors seek fewer felonies for drugs, better treatment many offenses on their records, who wasn’t diverted early on in their addic- tion and has become a fixture in local jails. The approach will focus on hands- on, personalized treatment, and it’ll aim for “harm-reduction” for the offender and the community. “It would be naive of the criminal jus- tice system to think we can make people perfect,” Clarkson said. Instead, she said, it’s figuring out: “How do we make them better? How do we make them healthier?” Both law enforcement and county leaders support the initiative, but more community involvement and funding is needed. A task force is scheduled to meet soon to tackle the plan, Clarkson said. The Polk County District Attorney’s Office and and its partner public safety agencies have for years focused their ef- forts on providing opportunities for treatment and recovery for people charged with simple possession, said District Attorney Aaron Felton. Options range from outright dismissal on a first offense after successful completion of a treatment program to drug court for “higher risk” offenders who express the desire to get clean and sober. “Because this office is committed to getting people off of dangerous drugs, our prosecution priorities would not change,” Felton said. Teague said the announcement re- ceived a “mixed bag” of reactions. Some people laud its forward-think- ing focus on treatment; others claim re- ducing drug possession to a misdemean- or is soft on crime and would make Ore- gon a haven for drug users. “I think this is a terrible idea,” Clatsop County District Attorney Joshua Mar- quis said. A number of sheriffs and district at- torneys voiced their to a legislative change, he said. Marquis fears a state- wide change to misdemeanors for drug convictions would keep people for opt- ing to participate in drug court, a rigor- ous diversion program, in order to avoid felonies . “I don’t think we lose any accountabil- ity,” Beglau said. The plan provides more motivation without creating barriers to treatment and recovery, he added. People who don’t complete treatment face stronger, more punitive consequences. It is also de- signed for people who are charged with possession, not drug dealers or drug manufacturers. Email wmwoodwort@statesmanjour- nal.com, call 503-399-6884 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth WHITNEY M. WOODWORTH STATESMAN JOURNAL A call for fewer felony sentences and more treatment services for people con- victed of drug possession came from a surprising source: those tasked with ar- resting them. In a joint statement released Sept. 26, the Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association and the Oregon Association Chiefs of Po- lice announced their support for a “more thoughtful approach” to drug possession crimes: misdemeanors and mandatory treatment. “(We) recognize that every communi- ty and most of our citizens are touched in one way or another by the damaging im- pacts of drug addiction,” the statement read. “We understand that it ruins lives, breaks hearts, burdens families and robs our communities of individuals with po- tential.” Too often, people with addiction is- sues end up incarcerated after being ar- rested for drug possession and charged with a felony, resulting in jail time, lim- ited treatment services and a felony con- viction on their record. “They may just be addicts who were caught up in the abuse,” said Keizer Po- lice Chief John Teague, a member of the association. These convictions create unintended but harsh consequences that can keep someone from getting a job or renting an apartment. Felony convictions also dis- proportionately impact minority com- munities, according to the sheriffs’ asso- ciations. After hearing these statistics, Teague said association members began asking, “Can we do something about this?” The association members said that they are committed to work with the gov- ernor, attorney general, district attor- ney’s offices and members of the Oregon State Legislature to craft a better, more thoughtful approach to drug possession when it is the only crime committed. They recommended user-amount drug convictions be treated as misde- meanors and be paired with individual- ized, mandatory treatment. If successful, drug abusers will be- come productive, healthy members of society and will not commit future crimes and become further entangled in the criminal justice system. It’s all about taking a different ap- proach and trying to help people earlier on in their addiction, said Marion County Sheriff Jason Myers. “We’re not deviating away from ac- countability,” he said, adding that it’s about holding people responsible while getting them the help they need. “I think PRAGUESHOOTER, GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO Law officials want to handle more drug cases as misdemeanors rather than felonies. people can get behind that.” The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon said it applauds the stance supporting a new approach to drug pol- icy. Mandated treatment, along with com- munity-based efforts and existing pro- grams to reduce re-offenses, can help address underlying addiction, prevent future crime and free up limited re- sources. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, drug abuse leads to about $120 billion in criminal justice costs, health care costs, lost wages and incarceration, and victim costs every year. In Oregon, that cost of substance abuse was estimated to be almost $6 bil- lion. A study by the Oregon Office of Alco- hol and Drug Abuse Programs found that for every tax dollar spent on treatment, it saved $5.60 in taxpayer money. “We believe our limited criminal jus- tice resources should be focused on ad- dressing violent crime and property crime problems that destroy community livability,” association officials said. Some Oregon counties have already started work to divert drug users from jail into treatment. “We’ve been working on this for a long time,” said Paige Clarkson, trial team leader for the Marion County Attorney’s Office drug team. In 2015, the office filed 862 felony charges for drug possession. It also de- clined to filed more than 500 additional drug possession charges for first time offenders and trace amounts. Frequent- ly, police officers responding to “quality of life” crimes committed by people suf- fering from addiction find user-amounts of methamphetamine, heroin or cocaine on the perpetrator. A small “quality of POLICE LOGS MARRIAGE LICENSES BIRTHS W Main St. SILVERTON POLICE DEPARTMENT Sept. 21 Received calls from Sept. 19 to 25. Burglary, 3:55 p.m., 200 Steelhammer Road. Marriage license applications with Marion County Sean Brian Garrison, 34, Mt. Angel, and Kira Margaret Kenfield, 27, Mt. Angel. Sept. 20 Hit and run, 10:36 a.m., 800 life” misdemeanor, such as trespassing under a bridge, taking food from a gro- cery store or refusing to leave a busi- ness, then balloons into a felony drug of- fense, Clarkson said. People convicted of the felonies don’t face prison time, but often fill jail beds and are directed to an overburdened pro- bation system. A felony on their records, combined with an untreated addiction, often means prosecutors such as Clark- son will see them again for similar or more serious crimes. “We have to use tax dollars wisely,” Clarkson said, adding that drug addic- tion is a public health and public safety issue, and the current system was not working. “I’m tired of building felony re- sumes,” Marion County District Attor- ney Walt Beglau said. “We’re not tack- ling the root of the behavior.” The office tried to look at the issue through a different lens. They asked themselves: If the criminal justice sys- tem helped treat drug offenders before they went on to commit more serious crimes, could they create more account- ability, a better chance of rehabilitation and safer communities? In late 2015, the attorney’s office be- gan forming a two-step plan to “utilize the criminal justice system as a bridge to treatment and rehabilitation rather than a barrier,” Clarkson said. The first part, which will launch in October, involves charging first-time of- fenders with misdemeanors and divert- ing them to vetted treatment centers. Successful completion of a diversion program could lead to dismissal of charges. The second part of the plan would help repeat, treatment-resistant offend- ers. It’s for the type of person who has The following are birth announcements sub- mitted to the Silverton Appeal Tribune. For more, go to StatesmanJournal.com/Rec- ords. Discover Discover Disc Di scov sc over ov er your y your ourr new ou new ne w home ho home me Bernardo, Jasper Joaquin: To Jennifer Is- silvertonappeal.com Place an ad online 24/7 at StatesmanJournal.com or call 503-399-6789 • 1-800-556-3975 Turn here for your next vehicle HOMES & RENTALS JOBS Caughman, Mila Ann: To Rachelle and Dar- ren Caughman, Salem, 7 pounds 2 ounces, Sept. 24. SALEM HOSPITAL CLASSIFIEDS Find a new job or career ringhausen and Alexander Bernardo, Salem, 7 pounds 10 ounces, Sept. 25. 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