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Arizona Police Drive Nonprosecution Policy’s Reversal by Continuing to Make Arrests

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Arizona Police Drive Nonprosecution Policy’s Reversal by Continuing to Make Arrests
A sheriff's deputy stands in Tucson, Ariz., on Jan. 10, 2011. John Moore/Getty Images
Cara Ding
By Cara Ding
4/14/2022Updated: 4/19/2022

The top prosecutor in Arizona’s Pima County reversed a nonprosecution policy on certain drug possession cases last month after the stance failed to meet the intended goal of reducing the jail population.

The failure was brought about by local law enforcement agencies, many of which continued to make arrests in the belief that it’s their job to enforce the law regardless of prosecution policies.

Last December, Pima County Attorney Laura Conover issued a policy to immediately stop prosecuting personal possession of drugs or paraphernalia. The policy memo said deputies and police officers should bring people who commit these crimes to drug treatment centers, not to jail.
Conover said she initiated the policy after a COVID-19 vaccination campaign was met with strong disinterest from the jailed population. To protect detainees and staff, the jail population must be reduced, she said in the memo.
At the time, Pima County’s sole jail facility housed 1,671 inmates. Three months after the policy took effect, the number of detainees not only didn’t go down but rose by two, to 1,673, according to Pima County Attorney’s Office.
Conover rescinded the policy in March and resumed the practice of directing people to a pre-indictment drug court.

The Marana and Oro Valley Police Departments were two of several suburban agencies whose officers continued to make arrests despite Conover’s policy.

“That’s our job. We enforce criminal laws, and we make arrests,” Marana Sgt. Abel Samano told The Epoch Times. “Whatever the county attorney’s office decides to do after that, whatever their policies are, that is up to them. As far as we are concerned, we are doing our job.”

That doesn’t mean officers arrest their way out of every drug case, he said.

Well-trained officers consider the totality of the circumstances and come to an enforcement decision that they think is best for community members, including drug addicts.

For example, officers at the Marana Police Department almost never arrest any person who overdoses on drugs. In those cases, saving lives matters more, and officers also don’t want people to fear calling for help, Samano said.

Other times, officers merely give out citations and then transport people to treatment centers, he said.

“But sometimes, the last choice really is the only choice,” he said.

Oro Valley police officer Michael Duran told The Epoch Times that law enforcement members don’t get to pick and choose what laws to enforce or not.

“Our job is to make sure when there is a crime, we make the arrest, and provide the case to the county attorney’s office or local magistrate,“ he said. “Whether they choose to move forward with those charges or not, that is their job, and we don’t take it personally.”

Duran said the criminal justice system isn’t strictly about punishment when it comes to drug offenses, and that people can get court-required treatment for their addiction through a drug court.

“That makes sure that someone gets the help that they need. I’ve never met anyone who is happy to be addicted to drugs. I really do sympathize for people who have to struggle with this,” he said.

“Sometimes, they don’t always have the means to access those drugs and they commit other crimes to sustain those habits, or because of their mental state after being high they could commit disorderly conduct such as acting out in the middle of the park full of children.”

Some deputies at Pima County Sheriff’s Department also continued to make arrests despite Conover’s policy, according to the Tucson Sentinel. Sheriff Chris Nanos told Arizona Daily Star that he wishes there were more social services available outside the city so it would be easier for him to persuade his deputies to send people to treatment centers instead of jail.

“I’ve got $18 million a year spent in my jail on mental health and drug addiction issues. Can we not give that $18 million a year to those who are better equipped to handle that?” Nanos said.

Conover, a former defense attorney, was elected in November 2020 on a progressive platform, after defeating a decades-long incumbent and two veteran prosecutors in the Democratic primary.

That year, a slew of progressive prosecutors were elected or reelected in the wake of the George Floyd protests, including Kim Foxx in Chicago, George Gascón in Los Angeles, and José Garza in Austin, Texas.

In March 2020, at the height of the pandemic, then-Pima County chief prosecutor Barbara LaWall also temporarily halted the prosecution of low-level drug offenses.
Cara Ding
Cara Ding
Author
Cara is an Orange County, New York-based Epoch Times reporter. She can be reached at [email protected]
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Related Topics
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