Thank you, Chattanooga City Council members, for planning a very important hearing this week to learn more about how the novel and controversial Violence Reduction Initiative is working.
While our council members are learning, perhaps they might lean a bit harder on District Attorney General Neal Pinkston, who has hesitated to buy into his role in the initiative.
The VRI is supposed to reduce violence by convincing gang members that police and prosecutors will use every legal means at their disposal to target gang members and ensure they stop shooting. The alternative is that they will end up in jail for as long as possible. At the same time, officials are offering gang members who leave the life a range of social services meant to help them get their lives straight and legal.
The council’s meeting comes on the heels of a February Times Free Press investigation that tracked 229 of the then-263 local VRI enforcement action arrests through state court. The review found that uneven prosecution had resulted in most offenders avoiding long sentences or significant jail time.
Pinkston has told council members that he is too busy to meet with them about the program.