Our law enforcement officials live with the uncertainty of violence during every minute of their shift. I am grateful for their service and respect the anxiety with which they live. But I cannot understand their rationale for opposing ending capital punishment which statistics have shown is not a deterrent.
If the death penalty were a deterrent to crime, I could understand why policemen as a unit might continue to support the death penalty. But according to 88 percent of the nation’s leading criminologists, it is not. In states where the death penalty has been repealed, the crime rate has decreased. An examination of homicide rates in states that execute reveals that homicide rates are 48 percent to 101 percent higher than in states without the death penalty.
Most policemen know that confessions can are forced and that prosecuting attorneys do lie and withhold evidence at times. But when someone is executed, there is no second chance. Since 1973, 142 people have been released from death row as their innocence was uncovered. As a society, we should broaden the empathy as we have for the family of a fallen officer to include the family of an innocent person who is executed.
The high cost of the death penalty diverts money from law enforcement in general. The appeals process usually amounts to three times the cost of life in prison. Finally, 57 percent of police chiefs agree that “the death penalty does little to prevent violent crimes.” (All information has been taken from deathpenaltyinfo.org)
Finally, as a taxpayer, I oppose the state killing anyone in my name.
Kit Zak
Lewes