cannabisnews.com: Tough-on-Crime Message Becomes Joke in Las Vegas





Tough-on-Crime Message Becomes Joke in Las Vegas
Posted by CN Staff on October 30, 2002 at 09:57:48 PT
By John L. Smith
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal 
It's good to see the North Las Vegas Police Department is on the cutting edge of the war on drugs. From the look of things, I'd say they've just about declared victory. Their approach is unconventional, to be sure. Some would call it controversial. But it's reassuring to know the department is leading by example. The plan? To decriminalize the passe felonies of cocaine possession and embezzlement -- at least, where police employees are concerned. 
Skeptics among you may wonder whether former NLV police evidence handler Geneva Kincaid received feather bed treatment after she was suspected of stealing cocaine from the department's evidence locker. On Monday, Kincaid received probation in Judge Joseph Bonaventure's court after District Attorney Stewart Bell agreed to a plea bargain for the first-time drug offender. The obvious embezzlement was forgiven, perhaps out of a sense the poor woman had suffered enough. They did, after all, make her appear in court on a Monday. And that wrist slap? There's a real potential for bruising. I am beginning to see Kincaid's sentence not as an embarrassing miscarriage of justice that stinks of good ol' boy cronyism, but as a signal that it's party time in Northtown -- and the coppers are buyin'. The fact she stole the cocaine, officially 57.5 grams, from an evidence locker? Don't call it theft or embezzlement. Call it redistribution. The fact some of the drugs wound up in the hands of her teenage son, who was arrested and convicted in a separate drug case? Don't call it drug dealing, or conspiracy to sell cocaine, or endangering a minor. Call it chemistry homework gone awry. And the fact she was never arrested, booked, or jailed, but casually received a summons for a court appearance? Don't call it an uncommon courtesy given to a police department employee who is married to a traffic bureau lieutenant. Think of it as a small step in reducing jail overcrowding. Given its accepting stance on cocaine possession and theft, I expect the North Las Vegas Police Department to hurry and unanimously endorse the Question 9 marijuana initiative. I can almost see them posing for a group photograph in their "It's no crime to have a good time" T-shirts. For the record, I called the department's narcotics bureau to see whether its hard-working detectives were cleaning out their offices now that cocaine possession was no longer a big deal. I also thought I might ask them whether they were embarrassed by the Kincaid affair. I was directed to the public information officer, who hasn't yet mastered those tricky seven-digit dialing skills. Undaunted, I also called Chief Mark Paresi's office seeking comment. Surely the chief would want to discuss the merits of the new law enforcement techniques in use. Alas, no luck. Perhaps they were all too busy tearing up every recent cocaine possession and theft cases in the system now that those laws aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Yeah, sure they were. Maybe they were down at the North Las Vegas lockup turning loose all the street-corner dopers and petty thieves who are no longer to be considered among the criminal element now that those charges are meaningless. Yes, that must be it. Whatever they were doing, not one badge-carrying member of that fraternity voiced a syllable of discontent that one of their own had been cradled in the arms of the system. Imagine all the money they'll save by no longer worrying about sending a tough-on-crime message to the beleaguered citizenry. For that matter, it will probably come as a relief to every lowly supermarket cashier and blackjack dealer that the police department no longer frets over embezzlement. Hey, everyone makes mistakes. Don't worry; we'll write when it's time for court. Heard the one about the public employee who was actually punished for violating the people's trust? Not lately you haven't. That joke went out with spats and Vaudeville. Meanwhile, congratulations to the North Las Vegas Police Department. They've just about got that crime thing licked. John L. Smith's column appears Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.Related Article:Editorial: Nothing Special?  One measure of the legitimacy of our criminal justice system is how frequently it hands out punishments that are proportionate to the offenses committed. By that standard, Geneva Kincaid, a former evidence handler for North Las Vegas police, was appropriately disciplined on Monday. Ms. Kincaid, who was accused of stealing cocaine from the department's evidence vault, avoided a jail term by pleading guilty to the lesser charge of possession of a controlled substance. She was placed on probation and must enter a drug rehabilitation program. If she completes the terms of the plea agreement, the case against her will be dropped. Some have hinted that Ms. Kincaid received special treatment because her husband is a North Las Vegas police lieutenant. Would someone without connections to the department have avoided jail for a similar offense? District Attorney Stewart Bell denies any special treatment. Good. Because if Ms. Kincaid did get a break, the DA's office should re-examine its policy regarding nonviolent offenders. Ms. Kincaid had no criminal history. Her crime did not involve violence to person or property. Probation and treatment are indeed the proper approach for most people caught in similar circumstances, regardless of their social status. Why waste taxpayer money crowding our jails with those who pose little threat to the community?Complete Title: Tough-on-Crime Message Becomes Joke in North Las VegasSource: Las Vegas Review-Journal (NV)Author: John L. SmithPublished: Wednesday, October 30, 2002Copyright: 2002 Las Vegas Review-JournalContact: letters lvrj.comWebsite: http://www.lvrj.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:NRLEhttp://www.nrle.org/Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Nevada Should Back Question 9 http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14539.shtmlNevada Pushes Next Frontier: Legalizing Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14503.shtmlPondering The Ballot Questionshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14491.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by knox42897 on October 31, 2002 at 22:44:56 PT:
MEDICAL COCAINE?
Their approach is unconventional, to be sure. Some would call it controversial. But it's reassuring to know the department is leading by example. The plan? To decriminalize the passe felonies of cocaine possession and embezzlement -- at least, where police employees are concerned. 
Can we get another NCOPS 9 to 0 vote? I wonder if they think this is Medical Cocaine?
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Comment #4 posted by knox42897 on October 31, 2002 at 22:34:33 PT:
BOOKER CAN YOU HOLD UP 2 OUNCES OF COKE?
The fact she stole the cocaine, officially 57.5 grams, from an evidence locker? I am going to write Gary Booker and ask him to send me a picture of him holding 2 ounces of cocaine. Don't call it theft or embezzlement. Call it redistribution. what about corruption? Aren't there special laws that civil servant that betray the badge get double sentences?The fact some of the drugs wound up in the hands of her teenage son, who was arrested and convicted in a separate drug case? 
Don't call it drug dealing, or conspiracy to sell cocaine, or endangering a minor. Call it chemistry homework gone awry. Where's that stupid b*tch from stop dui? This doesn't send a wrong message to your damn chilren?And the fact she was never arrested, booked, or jailed, but casually received a summons for a court appearance? I would like to know what happend to the original owner of the cocaine? Did he have to suffer the inconvenience of jail? seized his car? confistacted money? Paid bondsman $$$? How much time did he have to do in Jail or Prison?Don't call it an uncommon courtesy given to a police department employee who is married to a traffic bureau lieutenant. Think of it as a small step in reducing jail overcrowding. I know if I was caught stealing 2 ounces of coke from the police that would be prison for sure. I'm going to make a big stink about this!LA VEGAS NEVADANS FOR RESPONSIBLE LAW ENFORCEMENT IN AMERICA
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Comment #3 posted by p4me on October 30, 2002 at 12:50:47 PT
Thsi isn't just use, it is theft
The fact that this woman did not get fired is an outrage. The whole thing stinks. How much does two ounces of cocaine go for anyway? I also wonder why they did not immediately investiate all the drugs on inventory to see how much more was missing.Before Burlington Industries went into bankrupcy and laid off 14,000 employees, they used to make a lot of denim in North Carolina. They had a big plannt in Mooresville that would bring in raw cotton and ship out all colors of denmim. It ran 3 shifts a day and the average employyee probably worked closer to 50 hours a week than 40, But if you took one little piece of scrap cotton that clung to an edge of one of the roomfuls of machines, you would get fired. One little piece of scrap cotton would get you fired for sure. I knew of a woman that split her pants and wore a piece of scrap denim to cover the tear and when she left the grounds with it on she was fired. This is the type of injustice that is festering the injustice of those rung out by the system for having a joint. People should be outraged and I commend the author for writing on the subject instead of silencing us to death with police corruption.I saw where Cnews broke the 120,000 hits plateau. I am glad that people are taking an interest in the cannabis viewpoints often expressed here at Cnews and are becoming informed on the absurdities of the war on people that use cannabis. 1
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Comment #2 posted by DdC on October 30, 2002 at 11:26:51 PT
Cops on the Dole...
The Complete Joseph McNamara Collection
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcntoc.htmJoseph McNamara is a former police chief in Kansas City, Mo. and San Jose, Ca.. He holds a doctorate in public administration and is presently a research fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution.Related to this story...Stop the War - A Former Police Chiefs Plea to the New Drug Czar 
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn1.htmAmerica's Plague of Bad Cops
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn8.htmCops on the Dole
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn7.htmHas the Drug War Created an Officer Liar's Club?
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn6.htmCode of Silence Must Come to an End
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/debate/mcn/mcn11.htmcops against the drug war
http://www.drcnet.org/cops/question.htmlBonus Payment To Informant Draws Criticism 
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread9855.shtmlPolitical War On Drugs Makes Medical Casualties
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread9879.shtmlFor Pain, Pleasure, or Caprice
http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread9862.shtml
Just Do Nothing Doughnut Munchers!
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Comment #1 posted by AlvinCool on October 30, 2002 at 10:13:49 PT
Move
I hear Noelle Bush is going to move to Las Vegas as soon as she escapes her current facility.
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