JAYFORCE

San Fran is applying a radical strategy…LOGIC! By disbanding various drug task forces and allowing those cops to pursue and thwart violent offenders instead of wasting their efforts just locking up drug users. And their approaches seem to be working to reduce violent crime and free up police to chase real criminals…

“I’m a narc. I’ve been a narcotics guy forever,” says San Francisco police chief Greg Suhr. “But I’m just telling you, I’ve always felt bad for the people that were addicted to drugs.”

Suhr’s compassion translates into policy that works to the benefit of folks he pities (by not criminalizing them). And it has also let him fight a war on two fronts since 2007; crime, on the one hand… in the face of deep recession-driven budget cuts on the other.

“Not trying to just keep a stat game going on arresting people for narcotics has not hurt us in trying to achieve our goal in trying to make San Franciso safest,” says Suhr.

Interesting.

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