COMPREHENSIVE TRACKING OF DRUG CASES THROUGH THE SYSTEM WILL HELP

Conroe Mayor Tommy Metcalf has unveiled a new program for the city's
ongoing war on drugs: information.

Metcalf wants the entire criminal justice system -- police,
prosecutors and judges - to aggressively enforce, prosecute and
sentence defendants in drug crimes, in order to help rid Conroe
neighborhoods of drug dealing and the secondary crimes and community
destruction it spawns. Citing the maxim "what gets measured gets
managed," Metcalf conducted a press conference Wednesday that among
other things announced the city's intention to set up a tracking
system to monitor the progress of drug cases through the system.

And he issued a direct challenge to judges in particular. "We want to
make sure these criminals are getting the maximum sentence under the
law," he said after Wednesday's press conference. "We as citizens
need to ask the judges if they are going to be tough on crime in
Montgomery County, and if they're not going to be tough, they don't
need to be judges."

In principle, it's a great idea. The tracking system would shed
additional light on the criminal justice system, and as a newspaper,
we believe the more government can be opened up to the public, the
better. But much depends on how the tracking system is constructed,
and whether enough information is collected to give a true, complete
picture of the criminal justice system and how it handles drug
defendants. It would be easy to oversimplify cases and obscure the
tough calls judges have to make. Still, with the right information,
the tracking system will give residents and voters a good picture of
how seriously the criminal justice system is willing to be about this
problem - and it's time to get serious. The Courier applauds Mayor
Metcalf for an innovative approach that may help police, prosecutors
and judges focus on cracking down on drugs in our communities.