Pubdate: Tue, 04 Dec 2007 Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL) Copyright: 2007 Orlando Sentinel Contact: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/325 Note: Rarely prints out-of-state LTEs. Author: Willoughby Mariano Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/racial.htm (Racial Issues) BLACKS ARE SENT TO PRISON AT HIGHER RATES THAN WHITES AFTER CONVICTIONS IN DRUG CASES National Drug-Case Statistics Are Mirrored In Central Florida Counties. A report by a criminal-justice think tank shows that blacks are more likely than whites to be imprisoned for a drug offense in 97 percent of the nation's largest counties. Central Florida is no exception, according to the report, which was released today by the Justice Policy Institute. These disparities exist despite the fact that whites and blacks use, sell and transport illegal drugs at roughly the same rate, the report said. According to the report, the largest racial disparity in Central Florida is in Volusia, where blacks are 22 times more likely to be imprisoned than whites. But the two counties with the highest percentage of black residents -- Polk and Orange -- had the lowest disparity in incarceration rates. In Polk County, blacks were just four times more likely than whites to be imprisoned on drug charges, and in Orange, they were 10 times more likely to be locked up. The report does not accuse law-enforcement agencies of targeting blacks but says that the disparity should pressure policymakers to reconsider how drug policy and policing affect communities. "This report speaks to, what do we want to look for? Drugs all the time or violent crime?" said Jason Ziedenberg, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based group, whose goal is to reduce the country's dependence on incarceration. But drawing a distinction between policing against violent crime and drug violations is easier said than done, especially in Orlando and unincorporated Orange County, which both broke murder records in 2006, law-enforcement officials said. Drugs linked to crimes Open-air drug sales spawn violence, as drug dealers use guns to settle disputes over unpaid bills and the quality of their goods, experts said. Drug addicts commit robberies to fund their lifestyles. Neighborhoods bearing the brunt of the violence are often poor, and many are predominantly black. Arrests for drug offenses can keep those kinds of neighborhoods safer, said Gary Hester, chief of staff for the Polk County Sheriff's Office. "My belief is -- especially in drug cases -- if you allow drug crimes and you don't enforce drug laws, your neighborhood deteriorates," Hester said. It's well-accepted in criminal-justice circles that blacks have been disproportionately affected by tougher drug laws and enforcement efforts, said Elizabeth E. Mustaine, an associate professor at the University of Central Florida. Sentences doled out to blacks tend to be longer, even if blacks are convicted of the same crime as a white person, Mustaine said. But addressing this problem is difficult in a political climate where voters like candidates who are tough on crime. "There doesn't seem to be a lot of effort to do anything about it," Mustaine said. The report did not include arrest comparisons by race, but Ziedenberg said arrest data shows similar disparities. The Justice Policy Institute began its research after policymakers began looking for more cost-effective ways of handling the drug problem, Ziedenberg said. The study looks at counties across the United States with populations above 250,000. San Francisco tops scale The counties with the greatest racial disparities are outside Central Florida. San Francisco has the highest imprisonment rate for blacks, with 1,013.9 per 100,000 in the population being incarcerated for drug offenses. In Orange County, the rate is 173.3 per 100,000. Nationwide, more than twice as many blacks as whites were sent to prison for drug offenses in the counties studied, even though white drug users outnumber black users, the study states. The institute recommends that local agencies collect data to assess whether they're imprisoning a representative cross-section of drug users. It also advocates for making more drug-treatment services available to minorities. Local officials stress that the reasons behind the disparities are complex. "Certainly our policy is, there is no profiling," said Sgt. Barbara Jones, an Orlando police spokeswoman. "We look at crime stats; we look at trends." What law-enforcement agencies do focus on is crime hot spots. Agency crime statisticians identify areas where robberies, murders or other crimes are taking place regularly so officers on patrol can focus on them. Easy arrests in the street In many of those neighborhoods, enclaves often isolated by race and poverty, drugs are sold on the street -- and it's far easier to arrest someone dealing drugs openly than a person selling inside their home, said Randy Means, executive director of the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office. Prosecutors decide to charge arrestees based solely upon whether they have enough evidence, Means said. After that, the suspect's criminal history often determines what happens next, said John Tanner, state attorney for the 7th Judicial Circuit, which includes Volusia, Flagler, Putnam and St. Johns counties. First-time offenders can qualify for a program that diverts them to treatment. "Our first approach is to try to help them stop," Tanner said. "Just putting drug users in jail doesn't work. It's not good for the community, and it doesn't stop the behavior." Repeat offenders punished Wayne Holmes, chief assistant state attorney in Brevard County, where blacks are sent to prison at 21 times the rate of whites, said his office doesn't prosecute black drug offenders more harshly than white drug offenders, but it does punish repeat criminals more harshly than first-timers. The thought of so many blacks being caught up in the criminal-justice system for drug offenses is upsetting, he said. "Do I wish it was not a situation where many black kids are getting tied up in the criminal-justice system and before they know it, they're so involved in repeated crimes that they're . . . throwing away their lives? I hate that," he said. "I hate to see any kid not have opportunity. I hate to see any kid throw his life away." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom