October 20, 2009
Death penalty not efficient, police chiefs say
by Tom Beyerlein
Dayton Daily News
American police chiefs support the death penalty in principle, but don't think it's an efficient use of taxpayer money or a valuable tool for reducing violent crime, according to a nationwide poll to be released today, Oct. 20.
A study by the Death Penalty Information Center of Washington, D.C., includes a random poll of 500 U.S. police chiefs conducted by a research firm. The study argues that the death penalty is much more expensive than a system of life imprisonment without parole and is ill-advised in a time of tight state budgets.
"The death penalty is a black hole sucking dollars and not getting results," said Richard Dieter, the center's executive director. "The law enforcement leaders of this country are not wedded to the death penalty. They have other priorities for fighting crime and we need to respect those and fund those."
Among the study findings:
• Greater use of the death penalty ranked last when the chiefs were asked to name the best way to reduce violent crime. The top answers were putting more cops on the street, reducing drug abuse and improving the economy to provide more jobs.
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