P.O. Box 1222, Madison, WI 53701 | www.prodane.org | office@prodane.org | (608) 257-4985

December 14, 2004

PD responds to claim that 'PD at odds with city policing'

Scott Favour recently wrote an editorial in the State Journal that claimed that PD was at odds with city policing. A snip of his editorial is below:

I'd like to challenge Progressive Dane leaders to tell us their vision for law enforcement in Madison. What is it they would propose? Should we just ignore the marijuana laws? Should we only target dealers of "hard" drugs? What about the buyers of "hard" drugs? Is the Police Department just a nuisance in our progressive city?

PD Drug Policy Committee Responds:
Progressive Dane Drug Policy Task Force's request for a review of a
recent police action, where it was reported that police conducted a search without consent based on the smell of unburnt marijuana, hardly constitutes a 'flareup' between us and law enforcement. It was a respectful letter expressing our concerns about the potential erosion of due process at the local level and asking for a clarification of city policy.

Our main concern in this case is that police, according to the Capital Times' initial report, conducted a search without consent based first on smelling unburnt marijuana, then further searching based on amounts that would normally warrant a ticket. Local law enforcement officials and Dane County's DA have made public statements that possession of small amounts of marijuana is routinely treated as an ordinance violation.

Our tax dollars pay our police force to enforce laws that our elected officials enact. In 1977 the entire city (through a citizen initiative) enacted an ordinance that makes personal possession of marijuana (up to 112 grams) on public property subject to a fine of up to $100 with no further action, with no action whatsoever to be taken regarding the same amount of marijuana on private property. The more conservative county ordinance allows possession of up to 25 grams of marijuana to be treated a simple ordinance violation, and the state statutes explicity provide for this.

According to Wisconsin Taxpayers' Alliance, our bloated prison system has a stranglehold on Wisconsin's budget and Wisconsin is leading the nation in arrests despite being 45th in violent crime.

Dane County is also a leader in the racial disparity in the criminal justice system, and the war on drugs is the driving force behind this. Data consistently show that illicit drug use is fairly evenly spread throughout all segments of the population, with Caucasians slightly ahead. Yet African-Americans are incarcerated at a much higher rate. With these kinds of trends, it is no wonder that people are suspicious about being targeted because of their race.

As citizens of a democratic society it is our responsibility to be informed about government policies and to question them when appropriate. This is not based on any anti-police sentiment, it is based on a desire for transparency and trust in our law-enforcement system.

Posted by prodane at December 14, 2004 04:56 AM