Frequent flyers....

Detectives this week arrested a man and charged him with 62 counts of car break-ins, credit card frauds, and related thefts. 

Here in this case is an excellent example of the damage 1 person can inflict on a community.  Multiply that 1 person many times over and you have a snapshot of the repeat offenders who many in the criminal justice system refer to as 'frequent flyers.'

It's a sad fact that a very small percentage of the population causes a large percent of the crime-related problems in any given community.   It is true in Greenville as well. 

These same people, over and over again,  commit crimes, are arrested, convicted, and sent to jail, and then released from jail to offend again.   The many different re-entry and self-help programs offered by government and by private charities cannot reach them and cannot change them.

Any experienced police officer, prosecutor, defense attorney, court clerk, or judge, can name a dozen or more people they see in the court house time and time again, being arrested and charged with the same crimes over and over.

What can be done to stop this cycle?  How do we combat these people who never seem to stop hurting our community?

The Greenville Police Department  developed a strategy whereby known repeat offenders are identified and given the attention they need to keep them from offending again.   Detectives and patrol officers contact these people at their homes several times each week.  When they are seen on the streets, police officers stop to speak with them and document that contact.  Probation Officers and Court officials are informed of these contacts.  If the person is in violation of any pre-trial release or probation conditions, or even commits a minor offense, they are immediately arrested in order to get back into compliance.  Its a no-tolerance, tough-love program that works.

Under current manpower, the department can identify and attend to between 6 - 10 people at one time using this strategy.  Detectives and officers work with one  or two offenders in a given area at a time for about 3 months, and then move to other ones.

This strategy seems to be working.  Known repeat offenders identified through this prevention and enforcement strategy have been slowed down from offending.    A few of them have even moved away from Greenville, citing a lack of opportunity to commit crimes.

On behalf of the victims of these repeat offenders we say, good-bye and good riddance.   We'll keep doing our job to make our community a safer place.