Odd Ball SCR1001 - 561R - S Ver of SCR1001

Whereas, the United States is in the midst of a troubling crime wave. 2019 to 2020 saw the single largest year-to-year increase in murders in our nation's history, a trend that continued into 2021. Many jurisdictions, such as Chicago, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, have seen carjackings double, triple or even quadruple in just a couple of years. Nonfatal shootings and other aggravated assaults have also dramatically increased in many jurisdictions; and

Whereas, crime, particularly violent crime, has lasting negative impacts on victims and their families, community safety and economic progress that more heavily affect lower socioeconomic neighborhoods; and

Whereas, clearance rates for violent crime have continued to drop in the United States. It is estimated that just 41.2% of reported violent crimes were "cleared" by an arrest in 2021; and

Whereas, crime, particularly violent crime, is largely concentrated in small areas of a jurisdiction and carried out by a small proportion of the population. For example, a study examining gun violence in Boston from 1980 to 2008 found that more than half of gun violence incidents occurred in areas making up less than 3% of the city. A 2021 study estimated that 500 identifiable people in Washington, D.C., are responsible for 60 to 70% of all gun violence in the city; and

Whereas, because violent crime is so concentrated in terms of location and social networks, cities and towns should focus resources and services on specific individuals and areas to reduce violent crime; and

Whereas, there are proven solutions to curbing violent crime that can increase public safety and improve relationships between law enforcement and their communities while limiting unnecessary interactions between police and the public; and

Whereas, policing strategies such as "focused deterrence" have been shown to dramatically decrease violent crime when properly implemented. Focused deterrence requires collaboration between law enforcement and community leaders and programs to identify individuals at high risk of being involved in violent crime, provide those who cease their criminal activity with services and support and crack down on those who continue to engage in criminal behavior; and

Whereas, Boston implemented a focused deterrence program called "Operation Ceasefire" in the mid-1990s to reduce homicides and firearm violence among youth. As a result of the program, the city saw monthly youth homicides drop by 63%, monthly citywide "shots-fired" calls to 911 drop by 25% and monthly gun incidents in target districts drop by 25% —reductions that were significantly larger than those experienced by other cities during the same period. Sustained investment in these strategies has allowed Boston to avoid surges in violent crime during this most recent crime wave. In 2021, Boston had 40 homicides while Baltimore, a city with 100,000 fewer people, had 337 homicides; and

Whereas, in 2021, Dallas implemented a focused deterrence strategy similar to Boston's. That same year, the homicide rate in Dallas decreased by 13% from 2020. Arrests went down 11% as well, demonstrating that focusing on the highest-risk individuals, rather than casting a wide net, is a more effective strategy for reducing crime; and

Whereas, reducing blight in cities is another effective method to reduce and contain violent crime. Strategies that have proven successful include increasing street lighting, "cleaning and greening" vacant and dilapidated lots, enforcing reasonable parking restrictions and properly enforcing apartment codes in high-crime areas; and

Whereas, calls to defund the police are both counterproductive and misguided, with study after study showing that having more officers, particularly when focused in high-crime areas, decreases crime. Additionally, better trained and educated officers are less likely to use force and more likely to implement effective policing practices. Reducing the investment in better quality police officers and policing strategies will only negatively impact public safety at a time when police departments are already experiencing record-high vacancies; and

Whereas, police budgets across the country rely significantly on fines, fees and forfeitures — a practice that warps the core functions of police, causes tension between officers and the communities they serve and negatively impacts public safety. Studies show that police departments that collect higher shares of revenue from fines and fees solve crimes at lower rates; and

Whereas, police spend only a small fraction of time focusing on violent crime while most of their time is dedicated to noncriminal calls and traffic-related incidents; and

Whereas, law enforcement is generally not provided with alternative solutions for handling those individuals suffering from mental health or substance abuse issues. In contrast, co-responder models team law enforcement with substance abuse and mental health experts, allowing police to focus more time on violent crime while community organizations help those in need of more specialized assistance; and

Whereas, many jurisdictions have categorically refused to prosecute certain "quality of life" offenses, such as shoplifting. While lengthy incarceration is not the appropriate remedy in most of these cases, ignoring large categories of crime undermines the rule of law, eliminates opportunities to address the root causes of criminal behavior and hinders economic mobility for neighborhoods and their residents; and

Whereas, focusing resources on increasing incarceration as a crime-reducing strategy is less effective than focused deterrence, reducing blight or implementing co-responder models. While high-risk offenders certainly need to be held accountable and incapacitated for the sake of public safety, evidence shows that treatment, alternatives to incarceration and other evidence-based programs can lower prison and jail populations while also effectively reducing crime.

Therefore

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring:

1. That the Members of the Legislature support strategies such as focused deterrence and blight reduction to effectively prevent and reduce violent crime.

2. That the Members of the Legislature oppose calls to defund the police and instead support appropriating resources to fill current officer vacancies, incentivizing quality recruits to join law enforcement, encouraging high-quality officers to remain on the force and investing in strategies and training shown to reduce crime and improve the quality of policing.

3. That the Members of the Legislature oppose forcing law enforcement agencies to fund significant percentages of their budgets through fines, fees and forfeitures and instead support funding them through a consistent and transparent budgetary process.

4. That the Members of the Legislature support providing law enforcement with more tools to manage individuals who are dealing with mental health and substance abuse issues in order to more effectively treat underlying reasons for criminal behavior.

5. That the Members of the Legislature support implementing evidence-based reforms that reduce prison populations, decrease recidivism, focus policework on high-risk offenders and expand rehabilitative programming.