Law Enforcement: A Parallel Universe

What happens in the business world when an idea, product, or service becomes outdated, unsustainable, and ultimately meets with failure?

Answer: That failed idea, product, or service is promptly relegated to the "Book of Lessons Learned", never to be repeated under sentence of perpetual poverty.

Well today I had the opportunity to attend a round table discussion hosted by California's Lt. Governor Gavin Newsome on the topic of cannabis legal reform, with an emphasis on taxation, and land use law. 

From the outset Lt. Governor Newsome made it clear that he believes a cannabis legalization ballot initiative was all but certain for 2016, and it's passage is more probable than not. Having said that, we should prepare for the new reality before us, in the most proactively responsible way possible.
Just when the Lt. Governor said, "Good people can disagree." somebody did...in a most disagreeable way.

When asked, the President of the California Police Chiefs Association, Chief Garza of the Reedley Police Dept. stated: "It's mine and our organizations view that marijuana should not be legal"..."we have to protect my four children, and all the kids in the community..." 

Now remember we're supposed to be discussing taxation and land use after inevitable legalization, not his organizations preference for failed policy.

What happened to staying on subject?

My guess is, this guy didn't go to business school, because he never once addressed the topic at hand.

Chief Garza kept beating the dead horse argument that expensive enforcement and incarceration is somehow fiscally more responsible than collecting taxes, and reallocating resources to real drug education, not propaganda.

In my world; dude is F-I-R-E-D.

This is our fundamental problem; if we have people running law enforcement that can't recognize failed policy repeatedly slapping them in the face, how will they transition to the new reality of cannabis legalization?

It's like J. Edgar Hoover, the 'esteemed', and allegedly cross dressing, founder and long time Director of the F.B.I., who until his dying breath refused to acknowledge the reality of the Mafia. 

J. Edgar's not alone, throughout history we have examples of authority "turning a blind eye" to the reality we all know exists; but what motivates the top cop in the country to ignore the albatross shitting on our heads?

Could it be cash?

In the case of today's police chiefs, we know it's the cash.

Federal grants, and military equipment have been flowing to these forces the past 30 years at a rate we could only dream of for our schools. The War on Drugs has our prisons bursting, with the number of prison guards becoming so large, they are the best funded lobby in Sacramento, while at the same time more cannabis, heroin, meth, and just about any pharmaceutical drug you want is easier to find than at any time in the last 40 years. Just ask Chief Jerry Dyer of the Fresno P.D., his Deputy Chief was recently busted in a FBI sting supplying pharmaceutical drugs to undercover agents...and Jerry didn't have a clue.

Reality Check Chief Garza, repeated application of failed policy to a problem will only yield the same predictable result: failure.

I can only imagine the rationale going through the minds of law enforcement, but it must be something like this:

"When you have a vested interest in your own failure, and there's no penalty for that failure, it's in your own best interest to perpetuate that failure, even though it's not in the best interest of those you serve, the people who ultimately sign your checks."

Thanks for the clarification Chief Garza.