CRIME PREVENTION

By Jim & Ed Gogek

Crime initiatives have been bouncing around Washington and state capitals for decades, with little impact on the crime rate. But last summer's federal crime bill gives the governor and state legislature the chance to attack the No. 1 cause of crime in ways that have been shown to work. This opportunity is found in two of the bill's rarely-mentioned provisions--drug courts and substance abuse treatment for addicted inmates.

This is no small issue. The majority of people in our jails and prisons are drug and alcohol abusers, and treating their addictions will sharply reduce repeat offenses.

Scientific research has confirmed this link between substance abuse and crime.

**A Brandeis University study showed that two-thirds of homicides and serious assaults involve alcohol alone.

**The Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice estimates that nearly 80 percent of California prisoners have a substance abuse history and 70 percent were intoxicated at the time of arrest.

**A Massachusetts study reported that 85 percent of inmates said alcohol and drug abuse contributed to their involvement in crime.

**And a federal study showed that 80 percent of all people in prison under age 35 are drug abusers.

Unfortunately, substance abusing prisoners are rarely treated. Surveys in California and Massachusetts show only 3 percent of prisoners receive any treatment or counseling. This is a long way from the 80 percent who probably need it. Those who go into prison as practicing alcoholics and addicts leave prison with the same problems.

Drug courts and mandatory treatment for alcohol- and drug-addicted prisoners will change that.

Over the next 6 years, $1 billion will be spent to establish state and local drug courts. In these courts, nonviolent offenders with substance abuse problems can be put on probation and sent to treatment programs, along with follow-up services. They will be randomly tested for drugs and alcohol, and if they flunk, or find other ways not to comply with treatment, they will go to jail.

Federal money for drug courts can be requested by the state, or by local governments--county, city, or tribal. The crime bill also authorizes $270 million for treatment of alcoholic or drug-addicted inmates of state prisons, but this money can only be requested by the governor.

What makes these two provisions so important is the research showing that substance abuse treatment reduces crime. Other parts of the crime bill--more police, more prisons, more death penalty cases, three strikes and you're out--might or might not reduce crime. We won't know until we try them. But extensive research tells us now that drug and alcohol treatment will be effective.

For example, a study this year by the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs estimated that $209 million spent on treatment saved the state $1.5 billion in one year, mostly as a result of fewer crimes committed by the people in treatment.

Another study, the largest ever done on drug abuse treatment, was a 10-year project by the Research Triangle Institute. Their researchers found that treatment of addicted criminals correlated with a 40 percent reduction in crime.

An added bonus researchers found is that treatment saves money. Several studies have shown that for every $1 spent on treatment, society saves between $7 and $12 in costs related to health care, crime, accidents and workplace productivity.

And since the crime bill authorizes the federal government to pay 75 percent of the cost of these state-run programs, every $1 spent on treatment actually saves Arizona $40. Much of the savings is in reduced costs to the criminal justice system and the public health care system--which means direct savings to state and county budgets.

The only drawback is that the amount of money authorized isn't nearly enough to treat all the addicted criminals who need it. But it's a start. And if the program truly saves money, it will be easy to expand.

A bigger problem is that the money becomes available in 1996, so state and local governments will have to draw up plans and make requests early in 1995.

Promises to fight crime were a big part of this year's state and local elections. To make good on these promises, elected officials should look seriously at treatment of addicted criminals. Not only will these programs save the state money, but they've actually been shown to reduce crime.