That’s harsh, bro

Law enforcement showed misplaced priorities in 2016

In May, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) released official crime statistics for 2016. In their report, OSBI noted an eye-catching development: arrests for drug crimes increased by over 20 percent from 2015.

The surge happened as Oklahomans prepared to vote on whether to reclassify simple drug possession as a misdemeanor, which they ultimately did in November 2016. Trends in the report suggest that in the run-up to the November 2016 election, some law enforcement agencies were devoting more resources to low-level drug crimes—possibly at the expense of the investigation of more serious crimes.

OSBI includes statistics both for crimes that are reported to law enforcement and for arrests made by agencies. Reports of most “index crimes”—serious offenses like murder, aggravated assault, and burglary—increased in number from 2015, while the number of murders ticked down. Overall, the number of index crimes rose by 5.1 percent following three consecutive years of decreases.

Ryan Gentzler is a policy analyst with Oklahoma Policy Institute. Find the rest of this article and more at okpolicy.org.