ALLOCATE RESOURCES WISELY

Editor:

On August 19, 2002, Jim Douglas announced get-tough measures on public
safety and crime. "I will empower parents and communities with the tools
they need to protect our children from drug pushers. I will send to the
Legislature my proposal for a 'Megan's Law' for drug dealers. ... Under my
'Megan's Law' proposal, families will be notified when a convicted drug
dealer enters their community to live."

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, state courts in 1998 made
195,183 convictions for drug trafficking, 119,443 for drug possession, and
29,693 for all types of sexual assault. That means for every person
convicted of sexual assault, at least six and as many as ten people were
convicted of crimes that would flag them under Douglas's proposal.
Considering that the number of "Megan's Law" sexual assault cases is a
fraction of the number above, Douglas's proposal could report 20 to 50
times as many persons as would any "Megan's Law" for sexual assault crimes.

Douglas says his programs "can be accomplished by reprioritizing and
converting resources and funds to more effective uses." He is our state
treasurer; let him offer his projected reallocations now. Until he does, I
conclude that Douglas's proposal is economically unsound and poorly
conceived. It says nothing about recidivism rates of drug dealers. Our law
enforcement officials have better ways to use their already overextended
resources. This feel-good proposal will consume valuable legislative time
and money.

Our next governor needs to think more clearly than this.

- -Steve Swayne

Woodstock