Evil Dead 1981 Archive

[Juliane Bari]

Its a privilege to stand here today with those who command the front lines in America's battle for public order. You have a tough job and a dangerous one. Believe me, I know. I mean no irreverence when I mention that I once played a sheriff on TV who thought he could do the job without a gun. [Laughter] I was dead in the first 27 minutes of the show. [Laughter] And I should have included in my greeting here, and I know, the sheriffs, also, who are present.

You and I have a few things in common. Harry Truman once said about the job that I have that being President is like riding a tiger: A man has to keep on riding or he'll be swallowed. [Laughter] Well, that's a pretty good description of what you do for a living. Society asks you simultaneously to protect the innocent, ensure the legitimate rights of property; that you must converse with the multitude, and oversee them, of social services that police captains provide and sheriffs provide for the public, and all the while balance the interests of your department with those of your community, the government, and its citizens. And none of this is easy. The pressures are enormous. You must be administrator, financier, social worker, public relations expert, even politician, and still, somehow, always be a cop.

Well, you do have one of the toughest jobs in America. And let me assure you today that I speak for millions of Americans who, if they could stand here now, would say simply and directly to you, ``Thank you for all the always remembered things that you do each day. And remember you do have our support and our unfailing gratitude.''

In preparing these remarks, I had an opportunity to go back and look over some of the comments I've made to law enforcement officials on other occasions. The topic of those discussions was a subject with which you have more than a passing familiarity -- the steady, ominous growth of crime in our Nation.

In one speech some years ago in Las Vegas, I once wondered about what was happening to America, and I noted the fear and the anger of the citizenry as they locked themselves in their homes or refused to walk the streets at night. I spoke, too, about a phenomenon known as the ``youthful offender,'' the astonishing percentage of crimes that they were estimated to be responsible for.

Then there was a speech in Dallas where I mentioned the effect of narcotics on the crime rate and the appalling estimates that drug addicts were responsible for the economic increase of certain crimes.

I don't mention these speeches now because they show any gift of insight on my part; the truth is, what I said then was well known at the time, certainly by you. The speech in Dallas was delivered in 1974; the speech in Las Vegas in 1967. The frightening reality -- for all of the speeches by those of us in government, for all of the surveys, studies, and blue ribbon panels, for all of the 14-point programs and the declarations of war on crime, crime has advanced and advanced steadily in its upward climb, and our citizens have grown more and more frustrated, frightened, and angry.

You're familiar enough with the statistics. The cases that make them up cross your desk every day. In the past decade violent crime reported to police has increased by fifty-nine percent. Fifty-three percent of our citizens say they're afraid to walk the streets alone at night. Eighty-five percent say they're more concerned today than they were 5 years ago about crime.

Crime is an American epidemic. It takes the lives of 25,000 Americans, it touches nearly one-third of American households, and it results in at least some 6 billion -- I think I said that figure wrong right there -- it results in at least $8.8 billion per year in financial losses.

Just during the time that you and I are together today, at least 1 person will be murdered, 9 women will be raped, 67 other Americans will be robbed, 97 will be seriously assaulted, and 389 homes will be burglarized. This will all happen in the span of the next 30 minutes, or while I'm talking. Now, if by stopping talking I could change those figures, I'd stop. But you know that they will continue at the same rate throughout every 30 minutes of the 24 hours of the day. And I don't have to tell you, the men and women of your departments will be the first to cope with the mayhem, the wreckage, the suffering caused by those who consider themselves above the law with the right to prey on their fellow citizens.

Crime has continued on the upswing. It has gone on regardless of the efforts that we make. Crime has increased in that thing that I mentioned, of the youthful offender, between 18 and 21. And that other problem I mentioned years ago, the incredible impact of drug addiction on the crime rate, continues. Studies of prison inmates have found that at least half admitted to using drugs in the month prior to their arrest. And it's still estimated that 50 to 60 percent of property crimes are drug-related.

From these statistics about youthful offenders and the impact of drug addiction on crime rates, a portrait emerges. The portrait is that of a stark, staring face, a face that belongs to a frightening reality of our time -- the face of a human predator, the face of the habitual criminal. Nothing in nature is more cruel and more dangerous.

Study after study has shown that a small number of criminals are responsible for an enormous amount of the crime in American society. One study of 250 criminals indicated that over an 11-year period, they were responsible for nearly half a million crimes. Another study showed that 49 criminals claimed credit for a total of 10,500 crimes. Take one very limited part of the crime picture, subway crime in New York City: The transit police estimate that 500 habitual offenders are actually responsible for 40 percent of those offenses.

Now, I fully realize that the primary task for apprehending and prosecuting these career criminals, indeed, for dealing with the crime problem itself, belongs to those of you on the State and local level. But there are areas where the Federal Government can take strong and effective action, and today I want to outline for you some of the steps that we're going to take to assist you in the fight against crime.

First, this administration intends to speak out on the problem of crime. We will use this, what Teddy Roosevelt called a ``bully pulpit'' of the Presidency, to remind the public of the seriousness of this problem and the need to support your efforts to combat it. I believe that this focusing of public attention on crime, its causes, and those trying to fight it, is one of the most important things that we can do.

Second, in talking out about crime, we intend to speak for a group that has been frequently overlooked in the past -- the innocent victims of crime. To this end I will soon be appointing a Task Force on the Victims of Crime to evaluate the numerous proposals now springing up regarding victims and witnesses. We will support legislation that will permit judges to order offenders to make restitution to their victims. The victims of crime have needed a voice for a long, long time, and this administration means to provide it.

Third, law enforcement is already an important area in our effort to restore and renew federalism. We seek to end duplication and bring about greater cooperation between Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies with the following steps:

-- U.S. attorneys will seek to establish law enforcement coordinating committees, which will be composed of the district heads of Federal agencies as well as key State and local officials. These committees will stimulate an exchange of views and information that will lead to a more flexible, focused, and efficient attack against crime.

-- We will seek to extend the cross-designation program now working with success in several localities. These programs permit Federal, State, and local prosecutors to enter each other's courts and grand jury rooms to pursue investigations and prosecutions of serious crimes when they cross jurisdictional lines.

-- Closer cooperation with the States and localities on penal and correctional matters: We've recently established a Bureau of Prisons Clearinghouse, which will locate surplus Federal property that might be used as sites for State or local correctional facilities.

-- To this end we will be working with the Congress to achieve a sweeping revision of the Federal Criminal Code. This matter is now pending before both Houses. A revised Criminal Code will help in our fight against violent crime, organized crime, narcotics crime, and fraud and corruption. I cannot stress too strongly the need for prompt passage of legislation that revises the Federal Criminal Code, and this will be the foundation of an effective Federal effort against crime.

-- We will push for bail reform that will permit judges, under carefully limited conditions, to keep some defendants from using bail to return to the streets, never to be seen in court again until they're arrested for another crime.

-- We also support the reform of the exclusionary rule. I don't have to tell you, the people in this room, that this rule rests on the absurd proposition that a law enforcement error, no matter how technical, can be used to justify throwing an entire case out of court, no matter how guilty the defendant or how heinous the crime. The plain consequence of treating the wrongs equally is a grievous miscarriage of justice. The criminal goes free, the officer receives no effective reprimand, and the only ones who really suffer are the people of the community.

But I pause and interject here one incident, maybe known to a great many of you, because it is a famous case. But it occurred, back while I was Governor of California, in San Bernardino. Two narcotics officers, with enough evidence to warrant a search, get a search warrant, entered a home where they believed heroin was being peddled. A married couple lived there. They searched. They found no evidence. As they were leaving, one of them, on a hunch, went over to the crib where the baby lay sleeping and removed its diapers, and there was the heroin. The case was thrown out of the court because the baby hadn't given its permission to be searched. [Laughter] It became known as the diaper case. I told that story once, and one of the Secret Service agents assigned to the Presidential detail came up later and said, ``I was one of those narcotics officers. That's why I quit.'' [Laughter]

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