Editorial: Program will help people regain hope

Monday, March 24, 2003 | 8:38 a.m.

People who repeatedly commit minor crimes have forever been a major nuisance for police officers and court officials. The crimes are not serious enough to warrant stiff sentences, so the offenders are quickly released -- but not before chewing up valuable police and court time. Even worse, this revolving-door syndrome provides no help to the offenders, which is why many of them go right back to committing their petty crimes.

A year ago Metro Police and city of Las Vegas officials began meeting to decide what could be done to end this unfortunate cycle. Their initial studies turned up some astonishing statistics. One man has been arrested more than 1,000 times over the past 20 years. A group of 25 chronic offenders who were studied accounted for 8,114 arrests. Clearly, these types of offenders could benefit from a program offering an opportunity for change.

Last week Metro and the city announced the result of their yearlong study, a program called HOPE, for Habitual Offender Prevention and Education. It will start with a small group of 25 people and offer counseling, employment assistance and treatment for drug and alcohol abuse. The program is destined to grow and may someday include mental health counseling. We see this program created by Metro and the city as a tremendous step forward.