Recent incidents involving officers’ questionable use of force and abrupt increases in murder and robbery are strong reasons for creation of a national commission on crime and justice, says the International Association of Chiefs of Police. The proposal, reported yesterday in Crime & Justice News, is not getting much immediate support, says USA Today.
Senator Joseph Biden (D-De.), who was instrumental in passing the Clinton administration program to hire 100,000 community police officers, says more money for additional officers – not a commission – is needed to drive down rising crime. “We don’t need a commission to tell us what works,” says Biden. Criminologist Samuel Walker of the University of Nebraska, says more attention needs to be focused on the application of the death penalty and issues like police use of stun-guns. “But I’m not sure we need a full blown commission,” Walker says.
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-12-21-crime_x.htm