It's Disingenuous For the Police to Say Wilburn Killed Officer Bolton over Marijuana

[weich]

"I think it's safe to say that when you look at this individual, you're looking at a coward. He's a coward," Armstrong said, holding up a photo of Wilbourn. "You gun down, you murder a police officer for less than two grams of marijuana. You've literally destroyed a family. Look at the impact that that's had on this department, this community, this city, for less than two grams of marijuana."

However:

Wilbourn had been free on supervised release for a 122-month bank robbery sentence, Armstrong said. Wilbourn now faces a first-degree murder charge.

IMO, he didn't shoot Bolton over a misdemeanor. He shot him because he was facing guaranteed time from the last charge, as well as a multitude of charges from being a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm during the sale of a controlled substance, and other charges. He was probably looking at decades in prison. It's still not a good reason to shoot a police officer, but I think he knew he wasn't just getting a misdemeanor charge.

Source for the news article

Source for "Offense of possessing a firearm during commission or attempt to commit dangerous felony."

Source for "Unlawful carrying or possession of a weapon."

 

[Bukowski82]

However:



IMO, he didn't shoot Bolton over a misdemeanor. He shot him because he was facing guaranteed time from the last charge, as well as a multitude of charges from being a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a firearm during the sale of a controlled substance, and other charges. He was probably looking at decades in prison. It's still not a good reason to shoot a police officer, but I think he knew he wasn't just getting a misdemeanor charge.

Source for the news article

Source for "Offense of possessing a firearm during commission or attempt to commit dangerous felony."

Source for "Unlawful carrying or possession of a weapon."

I hope he not only gets the death penalty, but experiences as much terror leading up to it and as much pain during it as is possible...

Time to take out the trash.

 

[Bloody Pulp]

Okay.

 

[panamaican]

It's disingenuous to be granted parole and then immediately break that parole. And it's far worse to shoot and kill someone just because you can't stop f'ing up.

 

[weich]

It's disingenuous to be granted parole and then immediately break that parole. And it's far worse to shoot and kill someone just because you can't stop f'ing up.

Wilburn is, without question, a dangerous individual who needs to be imprisoned. This is the second major, and dangerous, crime he has committed before his 30th birthday.

I think our prison system needs to do a better job with rehabilitation. There is no guarantee that he wouldn't have committed this crime after going through a different program, but our high rates of recidivism speak to the fact that our prisons do not do a good job of reforming people.

There is a RAND study that says education helps recidvism:

Correctional Education Improves Inmates' Outcomes after Release
Correctional education improves inmates' chances of not returning to prison.

• Inmates who participate in correctional education programs had a 43 percent lower odds of recidivating than those who did not. This translates to a reduction in the risk of recidivating of 13 percentage points.
• It may improve their chances of obtaining employment after release. The odds of obtaining employment post-release among inmates who participated in correctional education was 13 percent higher than the odds for those who did not participate in correctional education.
• Inmates exposed to computer-assisted instruction learned slightly more in reading and substantially more in math in the same amount of instructional time.
• Providing correctional education can be cost-effective when it comes to reducing recidivism.

Source

Other studies have shown that lower levels of education increase the likelihood of incarceration:

On any given day, about one in every 10 young male high school dropouts is in jail or juvenile detention, compared with one in 35 young male high school graduates, according to a new study of the effects of dropping out of school in an America where demand for low-skill workers is plunging.

The picture is even bleaker for African-Americans, with nearly one in four young black male dropouts incarcerated or otherwise institutionalized on an average day, the study said. That compares with about one in 14 young, male, white, Asian or Hispanic dropouts.

Source

I mention education because it seems that anyone with a decent understanding of risk/reward would not sell 2 grams of marijuana, while carrying a gun, when those crimes can land you in prison for decade. That's objectively a stupid decision.

Even if you were going to commit an additional crime, you should at least make the crime worth your while.

One of the SVPs at my job joked once that if he were ever accused of stealing 500K you could know that it wasn't him. If he was accused of stealing 50 million there might be a chance.

 

[JosephDredd]

"I think it's safe to say that when you look at this individual, you're looking at a coward. He's a coward," Armstrong said, holding up a photo of Wilbourn. "You gun down, you murder a police officer for less than two grams of marijuana. You've literally destroyed a family. Look at the impact that that's had on this department, this community, this city, for less than two grams of marijuana."

I would call this disingenuous because, with America's crazy prison system, plenty of lives and families have been destroyed for a few grams of drugs.

 

[oldshadow]

Don't care I just hope he gets gut shot and dies slow and painful.

 

[nhbbear]

While I agree that this guy did not flee solely because he had marijuana, I think the rest of the post and the next post, take the blame off of his actions and place them on the prison system because he was not rehabilitated and continued with his violent life.

 

[weich]

While I agree that this guy did not flee solely because he had marijuana, I think the rest of the post and the next post, take the blame off of his actions and place them on the prison system because he was not rehabilitated and continued with his violent life.

I'm not attempting to put all of the blame on the system. In the end he is responsible for his actions.

I do think it's fair to say that education level directly correlates with crime, and education reduces recidivism.

I also stand by my statement that this guy's risk/reward analysis was terrible, and that points to a lack of education.

 

[berimBOWLoh]

Wilburn is, without question, a dangerous individual who needs to be imprisoned. This is the second major, and dangerous, crime he has committed before his 30th birthday.

I think our prison system needs to do a better job with rehabilitation. There is no guarantee that he wouldn't have committed this crime after going through a different program, but our high rates of recidivism speak to the fact that our prisons do not do a good job of reforming people.

There is a RAND study that says education helps recidvism:



Source

Other studies have shown that lower levels of education increase the likelihood of incarceration:



Source

I mention education because it seems that anyone with a decent understanding of risk/reward would not sell 2 grams of marijuana, while carrying a gun, when those crimes can land you in prison for decade. That's objectively a stupid decision.

Even if you were going to commit an additional crime, you should at least make the crime worth your while.

One of the SVPs at my job joked once that if he were ever accused of stealing 500K you could know that it wasn't him. If he was accused of stealing 50 million there might be a chance.

good post. recidivism is where the $ is tho. until prisons arent being used as for profit entities it has no chance of changing.

also hard to get a decent job went you have a felony record like that so ppl often go back to the shit they were doing for $ before. he prob thought selling weed was a step down from bank robbery so it was safer. stupid thinking at best but prob an uneducated fool to begin with.

 

[weich]

good post. recidivism is where the $ is tho. until prisons arent being used as for profit entities it has no chance of changing.

also hard to get a decent job went you have a felony record like that so ppl often go back to the shit they were doing for $ before. he prob thought selling weed was a step down from bank robbery so it was safer. stupid thinking at best but prob an uneducated fool to begin with.

NPR ran a story the other day about how education reduces crime. There are talks of allowing prisoners to get Pell grants, and a Representative from NY is already moving to block it:

Because this is

 

[method115]

I hope he not only gets the death penalty, but experiences as much terror leading up to it and as much pain during it as is possible...

Time to take out the trash.

I disagree I would love to get the death penalty in his situation. In fact I would speed up the process as much as I could. Spending my life in jail like that is the real torture. I'd rather take my chances on there being no hell and me being reincarnated or whatever the hell happens after you die.

 

[panamaican]

NPR ran a story the other day about how education reduces crime. There are talks of allowing prisoners to get Pell grants, and a Representative from NY is already moving to block it:



Source

It's amazing that someone can be so stubborn. Collins doesn't think the US should spend $6,000, but he does think we should spend approximately 35K to lock them up. Brilliant. My guess is he receives funding from private prisons.

Education can reduce crime. But if the individual is coming out of prison, then being a convicted felon is going to scuttle more of his opportunities than have an education will create. Very few people hire ex-cons.

If you want to reduce crime then you apply the education rubric before they become criminals. And then you help them find jobs.

The sad truth is that people are more interested in discussing what to do with criminals than how to prevent people from becoming criminals in the first place.

 

[berimBOWLoh]

Education can reduce crime. But if the individual is coming out of prison, then being a convicted felon is going to scuttle more of his opportunities than have an education will create. Very few people hire ex-cons.

If you want to reduce crime then you apply the education rubric before they become criminals. And then you help them find jobs.

The sad truth is that people are more interested in discussing what to do with criminals than how to prevent people from becoming criminals in the first place.

another solid post/point. prevention is almost always cheaper and easier to implement than a cure.

still, as a culture its somewhat sickening how ppl view criminals and the treatment of them. like nobody in their family is one or under the right circumstances they couldnt become one. its like ppl take some kind of glee thinking criminals are living in squalor and getting butt raped nightly with no access to education or hope for the future.

then those same criminals get out and live in your city.

 

[panamaican]

another solid post/point. prevention is almost always cheaper and easier to implement than a cure.

still, as a culture its somewhat sickening how ppl view criminals and the treatment of them. like nobody in their family is one or under the right circumstances they couldnt become one. its like ppl take some kind of glee thinking criminals are living in squalor and getting butt raped nightly with no access to education or hope for the future.

then those same criminals get out and live in your city.

I really think that criminal history shouldn't be on job applications but I couldn't support legislation to that effect.

I think it would be better if serving your time didn't leave a criminal record at all. You serve the full sentence and your record gets cleared. You take parole and it doesn't. Something like that.

 

[weich]

Education can reduce crime. But if the individual is coming out of prison, then being a convicted felon is going to scuttle more of his opportunities than have an education will create. Very few people hire ex-cons.

If you want to reduce crime then you apply the education rubric before they become criminals. And then you help them find jobs.

The sad truth is that people are more interested in discussing what to do with criminals than how to prevent people from becoming criminals in the first place.

The RAND study hypothesized that education would give convicted felons a slightly better chance at obtaining a job after release, although they need to study that further.

I agree that it is terrible that people are more concerned about dealing with prisoners instead of preventing them. It seems that people have forgotten the old, "Ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

 

[berimBOWLoh]

I really think that criminal history shouldn't be on job applications but I couldn't support legislation to that effect.

I think it would be better if serving your time didn't leave a criminal record at all. You serve the full sentence and your record gets cleared. You take parole and it doesn't. Something like that.

what about very violent criminals or sexual predators?? i think thats where the focus of the law and punishment should be. problem today is ppl just say criminal like all crimes are equal, all felonies are equal etc. a low/mid level former drug dealer living/working beside you shouldnt be that unsettling but a multiple time sexual predator or violent criminal should be.

 

[panamaican]

what about very violent criminals or sexual predators?? i think thats where the focus of the law and punishment should be. problem today is ppl just say criminal like all crimes are equal, all felonies are equal etc. a low/mid level former drug dealer living/working beside you shouldnt be that unsettling but a multiple time sexual predator or violent criminal should be.

It would require a complete overhaul of how we label and sentence crimes.

Even within violent criminals, the odds are low that the person is going to repeat that crime. Especially crimes of passion. Sexual predators are tough conversation - do we label it a mental illness and then it becomes part of their medical history.

I don't know. It's a very complicated subject.

 

[The ScorpioN]

I hope he not only gets the death penalty, but experiences as much terror leading up to it and as much pain during it as is possible...

Time to take out the trash.

Do you feel the same way about cops who abuse their power killing innocent civilians?

 

[Jack Handy jr]

My question is wtf is that piece of shit doing paroled in the first place if he robbed a fucking bank?!?! damn this country needs more prisons. just think about all the dirt that POS has done and never got arrested for.

prayers go out to the cops family rip Semper Fi.