Pubdate: Sun, 20 Apr 2014
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Nicholas Van Dyke
Page: E5

1ST OFFENDER'S 2ND CHANCE, THANKS TO BACK ON TRACK

When I was first put in handcuffs, I wasn't thinking much other than
how badly I had screwed up. Not morally, mind you - just technically.
My views on illicit drugs haven't changed much since my arrest.

I believed then, as I believe now, that drugs are not the leading
problem in our society.

I believe most drugs are not inherently bad, and that only a minority
of the 22 million people in this country who use, and even sell, drugs
are bad people.

I also believe that drugs have had an immensely positive influence on
humanity, spanning back thousands of years.

These ideals, however, mean very little when you are in
handcuffs.

I learned that very quickly.

When I was led into my home by five laughing police officers,
handcuffed to a chair, and forced to watch as they destroyed every
aspect of my life - things changed. I was in shock, but I could still
see the disappointment in their eyes. They didn't find pounds of
drugs, thousands of dollars or any firearms.

They walked in thinking it would be their good day and my bad one.
When we all walked out of my house together, no one was laughing.

That didn't last. In custody, all but one of the officers treated me
with complete disrespect. They joked about me being white, about how I
sweated under stress, and about my appearance. One officer acted
differently. He told me he disagreed with my treatment.

Having studied constitutional law for three years, he said I should
not have been strip-searched, that my charges were ludicrous, and that
it was absolutely wrong for my DNA to be taken and put in a database
as if I were a serial rapist.

He told me to come back after my case was resolved to see if I could
get my DNA taken out of the system.

All the other deputies and officers treated me like a wild, violent
criminal, a lying, conniving sociopath.

Don't get me wrong, I have met respectful, supportive and
community-conscious police officers. Just not this time.

Jail treats those accused of crimes as criminals, and this is a
slippery slope.

Many people don't even consider themselves criminals until it is
beaten into them by the criminal justice system.

What they are usually trying to do is just get by in a polarized
economic system.

Something is blatantly wrong with our criminal justice
system.

More than $50 billion is spent annually on the War on Drugs. When I
was arrested in 2012, 1.5 million other people were arrested on
nonviolent drug offenses.

More than 750,000 were arrested on marijuana-related
charges.

Of that, more than 650,000 were arrested for possession. Worse, a
staggeringly high portion of those arrested are people of color.

Thus, the police paraded me around the station as a white man arrested
for drugs.

They failed to note that a majority of the people in the United States
who use and sell drugs are white.

Participants in Back On Track are treated like they made
mistakes.

I cannot possibly describe what a huge difference that made to me.
>From the beginning, I was treated like a human being.

Even so, I was nervous. Everyone at Back On Track treated me with
respect. Completely unexpectedly, I was trusted and now I am here, in
front of you.

I am immensely grateful for the opportunity offered to me over a year
ago by District Attorney Gregory Mendez to participate in Back On
Track, as I am grateful to program staff and the judges involved in
the program.

All offered me confidence and respect.

Through education and compassion, we can collectively show the world
that conviction and prison are not the only solutions.

Everyone in this program is very lucky.

I didn't think so at first.

It's something I learned.

And I have confidence that many others who find themselves in my
position will learn that too.

[sidebar]

Nicholas Van Dyke, 27, of San Francisco, was charged with possession
and sale of marijuana in December 2012 and offered the choice to
participate in Back On Track, where, if he completed the program,
charges would be dropped.

At his April 9 graduation ceremony, he asked to give a short speech
when he received his diploma. "I want to thank everyone for being
here, especially those of you who are currently in the Back On Track
program, as you are legally bound to be here, and I know how that feels.

Having been in your shoes, I want to tell you that you will be where I
am standing sooner than you think if you give this program a chance.

First, note that anywhere else in this country, we would all be
convicted felons."

Back On Track is a nationally recognized prosecutor-led restorative
justice program designed to short circuit the progression of low-level
first-time drug offenders from citizen to career criminal. It offers
closely monitored counseling, education, employment, parental skill
building and child support programs designed to minimize recidivism.
Fewer than 10 percent of Back On Track graduates reoffend compared
with 54 percent of statewide drug offenders who wind up back in jail.
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