For decades, thousands of indicted felony suspects in Dallas County have walked away scot-free without ever having been tried for their alleged crimes because they never were arrested in the first place, says the Dallas Morning News. Beginning today, the Dallas County district attorney will refuse most cases in which an arrest has not been made. “The bottom line is people are not being arrested and held accountable for their crimes,” said First Assistant District Attorney Terri Moore. “”It has culminated in a big ol’ travesty that doesn’t hold people accountable for their crimes. It’s a policy of pass the buck. It’s not justice.”
Currently, there are 10,000 pending “at-large” felony cases in Dallas County. And there are an additional 4,000 family violence misdemeanors. Some of the cases go back as far as the early 1980s. Dallas police have added administrative staff to track at-large suspects and attempts by investigators to find them. There are also plans to expand the fugitive squad. There are about 200,000 active arrest warrants in the county.
Link: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/081508dnmetatlarge.4018c49.html