Working from research showing that 10% of criminals commit up to half of all crime, Los Angeles police officials and prosecutors have agreed on a program to seek the stiffest possible penalties for the most frequent repeat offenders, even for relatively minor crimes.
The so-called 10 percenter program, which could begin operating in Los Angeles County courtrooms this summer, aims to reduce crime on the streets by keeping repeat criminals behind bars as long as possible. Police Chief William J. Bratton said that would help the Los Angeles Police Department, which has fewer officers per capita than other major cities.
"With our limited resources, we can't do everything, everywhere, all at the same time," Bratton said. "This gives us the maximum bang for the buck by focusing on that 10%."
The program does not require passage of any laws but rather involves police and prosecutors working together to identify repeat offenders. They will use a new, standardized form to document why convicted criminals merit special attention, then ask judges to sentence them to the maximum amount of time possible.
In some cases, repeat offenders will be spotted through court records, which list convictions. But in others, those targeted for longer sentences will be identified based on police reports, intelligence data and arrests or other accusations that did not result in convictions. That material is not admissible against a defendant during a trial but can be considered by a prosecutor in deciding what penalty to seek and by a judge at sentencing.
The program has raised red flags among civil libertarians and defense attorneys, who fear it could be abused.
The brainchild of Assistant Chief George Gascon, the 10 percenter program holds that because those who commit major crimes tend also to be responsible for minor ones, locking up criminals who repeatedly commit minor offenses could help protect the city from their more serious crimes. Though the idea remains a novel one, some Los Angeles officials are embracing it.
Gascon said studies done throughout the country have concluded that 10% of suspects commit 50% of crimes, 10% of crime victims are involved in 40% of crimes and 10% of crime locations are involved in 60% of crimes.
Taking into account those factors is a strategy that is especially important for an understaffed department like the LAPD. Los Angeles, with 3.8 million residents, has 9,314 police officers. Chicago, by contrast, has 2.9 million people and 13,500 officers.
