Enabling Repeat Offenders In a "Sick" Scioto County

Here is Scioto County we have a problem that must be addressed. With substance abuse spiraling out of control, some people enable the actual misconduct. That is, they shield repeat offenders from experiencing the full impact and consequences of their behavior. Enabling someone is different from helping and supporting in that it allows the enabled person to be irresponsible. People must stop enabling criminal behavior.

People who harbor, house, and knowingly fraternize with the criminal element are complicit in the crimes the offenders commit. They permit those who do drugs and commit criminal acts to sustain their unlawful activities by either becoming directly involved with the offenders or remaining indifferent when they realize the offenders are still breaking the law.

Some of these criminals do crime after crime when they should be rehabilitating themselves. They become comfortably supported by those who should be disassociating themselves from such behavior, but, who instead, choose to view criminal conduct as “what addicts do.”

Criminal facilitation statutes make it a crime to "provide" a person with "means or opportunity" to commit crimes. These people are accessories to the principal, the person who is primarily responsible for the crime. These “inchoate” crimes, also known as incomplete crimes, are acts that constitute indirect participation in a crime, but participation nonetheless.

When an enabling culture develops in a community, problems get worse, not better. For example, if a person struggling with addiction exhibits bad or criminal behavior, friends and relatives who simply ignore it withdraw from their basic social obligations. The people who aid offenders do not care that they introduce illegal behaviors into a peaceful neighborhood. Showing no concern for the welfare of others, they become shields for people perpetrating offense after offense.

In Scioto County such “shields” flourish as hopelessness and despair take over. Good people in communities can become so depressed that they eventually believe law enforcement and the court system include those who permit criminal behavior and allow it to flourish. The public loses confidence in the very system that is there to protect them, and many give up on being responsible citizens.

When people hide the fact that a person they befriend is repeatedly offending, those people ignore the rationality of their moral duty. It becomes more rational for the friends to avoid any conflict with the offender, and instead protect his bad behavior. This erodes the criminal justice system. Ethics are the very foundation of the system. They're what helped society develop moral reasoning, define criminal activity, and deem acceptable punishment. Aiding and abetting a criminal is immoral.

This lack of moral duty may be because they are afraid of the offender or because they’re afraid of losing their friendship with him. It may even be a deeper-rooted issue, but it’s never helpful in quelling a person's bad behavior. The enabling allows continuation of abuse and escalates further criminal behaviors.

In Scioto County, a culture of enabling breeds both health problems and criminal activity.

Every year, Scioto County ranks at or near the bottom of the 88 counties in the state in health outcomes and health factors. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute in Madison released their 2020 County Health Rankings March 18, 2020, and found Scioto County was “the unhealthiest county in Ohio.” Scioto County also has one of the highest overdose death rates in the state. And, people here are greatly at risk of outbreaks of HIV and/or hepatitis C.

The 2018 crime rate in Portsmouth, OH is 429 (City-Data.com crime index), which is 1.6 times higher than the U.S. average. It was higher than in 92.7% U.S. cities. And, the 2018 Portsmouth crime rate fell by 19% compared to 2017. In the last 5 years Portsmouth has seen increasing violent crime and decreasing property crime New Boston's overall crime rate is a staggering 832.6. Scioto County property crime is 69.1. (The U.S. average is 35.4).

The Alliance for Safety and Justice reports Scioto County has the 12th highest prison admissions rate for drug possession (71 percent higher than the statewide average) Scioto County sends 14.6 percent of people on supervision back to prison for technical violations, well above the state average of 9.5 percent.

(https://allianceforsafetyandjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/OH-data_Final.pdf )

Rushing in to rescue repeat offenders may satisfy some personal desire people have to feel "needed" or “to do good,” but it doesn't really help the situation. It only enables the offenders to avoid the consequences of their actions. In Al-Anon, they call it "putting pillows under them" so that they never feel the pain of their mistakes.

An unprecedented number of individuals return home from prison each year. The sheer volume carries enormous public safety implications for communities and neighborhoods when these prisoners released are ill-equipped to succeed and poorly supported during and after their transition home. But, how about those with no intentions of being reformed or being rehabilitated? In a depressed and unhealthy county these offenders feed off the misery and continue the cycle of abuse. Simply put, they use the system.

I am firmly convinced the only solution to breaking this vicious cycle is for each individual to stand up against every injustice perpetrated by repeat offenders. Now there is simply too much indifference. It really appears social classes help form a county conscience that “writes off” some places and initials them as areas where crime can flourish … just as long as criminals don't take residence near their beautiful homes.

Not only must people stand up against these offenders, but also they must oppose those shielding the criminal behavior of others. What may look like empathy can be complicity. People in Scioto County should demand full transparency and work to change a crippled rehabilitation system that cares more about giving break after break after break to offenders than protecting good people from their bad behavior. Rehab – drug and criminal – is essential; however, no rehab will change an addict or a career criminal bent on using the system to his advantage.

Lies, deceit, coverup, and indifference – these activities create a breeding ground for crime that perpetuates itself. In 2020, Scioto County may no longer be the epicenter for the pill mills, but it remains mired in an ugly drug culture. It is up to every person to change this. Too much passing the buck stifles improvement.

I believe no person in the county has to tolerate threats to his or her life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. People must oppose these threats at every turn. They must push, lobby, call, and write their enforcement and court officials and demand they be the best public servants they can be … and to charge them to insure that they must always protect good, innocent people when an offender strikes.