Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney Helps Brief Congress On Cutting Crime and Saving Taxpayer Dollars

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Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney Helps Brief Congress On Cutting Crime and Saving Taxpayer Dollars

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 1, 2010
Media Contact: Mike Kiernan
Desk: 202-464-7016 Cell: 202-412-7579
E-mail: mkiernan@fightcrime.org

Washington, DC (July 1, 2010) — Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney joined five other law enforcement leaders around the nation in a special briefing for members of Congress and their staff about effective ways to break the cycle of crime and violence in local communities and help save taxpayer dollars.

The law enforcement leaders, all members of the non-profit, bipartisan group Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, emphasized the need to support targeted investments proven by research to save taxpayer money by steering young people away from a life of crime.

Sponsored by Idaho Rep. Walt Minnick, the Congressional meeting on Capitol Hill on Thursday enabled law enforcement leaders to voice their support for common sense, fiscally responsible investments that produce significant cost savings for taxpayers, such as high-quality early care and education for kids from birth to age five; voluntary parent coaching for at-risk parents of young children; access for all school-age children and youth to effective programs during school and after school to help keep them on track; and screenings to identify troubled kids and effective interventions so they avoid a life of crime.

“Research has shown that each child who grows up to eventually drop out of school, become a drug addict or a career criminal costs society at least $2.5 million,” said Sheriff Raney. “We need to make investments in our youth today to avoid huge costs in the future.”

Joining Raney at the briefing were District Attorney Don Gallegos (8th Judicial District) of Taos, New Mexico; Montgomery County Sheriff Norman Lewis of Clarksville, Tennessee and three law enforcement leaders from Montana — Cascade County Attorney John Parker of Great Falls, Police Chief Mark Muir of Missoula, Montana, and Gallatin County Sheriff Jim Cashell of Bozeman.