Crime does not pay, or so they say, but the reality is that crime does pay. It pays the salaries for all the people that it takes to process, track the accused’s paper work, provide and protect for them legally and physically.
The first person crime pays is the police officer or the deputy sheriff. If everyone followed the rules, if everyone would speak cordially and walk away from drama, if no one misused mind-altering pharmaceuticals (legal or illegal), we would only need officers to deal with accidents, natural crises and to direct traffic.
Unfortunately, not everyone cooperates so we also need holding cells while the police and the courts sort out what happened during an incident.
At that point the silver lining to the cloud of crime begins to sparkle.
First, if an injury occurs during the crime the emergency medical technicians come with the ambulance and the emergency room staff gets more than a few coins to jingle in their pockets. Followed, of course with the hospital staff, the doctors, nurses and physicians’ assistants as well as physical and emotional therapists, if necessary.
During the accused’s first appearances those assisting who surround the judge’s desk include at least half a dozen employees of the county or state. The police officer swears the affidavit is true, the clerk swears in the witnesses, a couple people track the cases heard and the decisions made. Another clerk processes the information for the accused and men in uniform escort the accused to and from jail and maintain order in the courtroom.
Unseen in the courtroom are the staff in the bail bondsman’s office, a business that provides the funds that some individuals need to get out of jail and return to work until the process of finding the truth ends. And, the cash register rings again.
Once a person has bonded out, the rules by which they must live until they are sentenced or found innocent sound a lot like parole: check in every week, leave any changes in address, be ready to submit to a search of your person, vehicle or residence and show up for court on time. Someone gets paid to make sure the accused does just that. If they can not afford the bond, the accused stays in the county jail with all its staff’s salaries and the cost of utilities.
The sorting out of truth and consequences includes lawyers. Every court room appearance includes the prosecuting attorney or the deputy prosecutor. During first appearances, attorneys for the defendant are rare. Most of the charged ask the state to provide them with an attorney. The judge does just that, and tells them they must pay a fee, usually $100, for all the work. The state pays attorneys to accuse and to defend the criminal and more pockets legitimately gather cash from criminal activity
On plea day, the room buzzes with attorneys. The fortunate few who can afford to hire their own attorney have attorneys with briefcases waiting to be called to the bench to talk for them. They meet the prosecuting attorney who has entered the courtroom with an assistant who hauls in boxes of files as does the public defendant. Both have many cases to address.
Two large tables await all those files on court day. The public defenders come with their assistants as do the deputy prosecuting attorneys. And, that is just the people in the court room. Outside the room, each attorney, whether in private practice or working for the state, has others filing papers, keeping track of court dates and contacting clients for appointments or to remind them of court dates.
If the accused seems unable to understand the reality of their situation, he or she must be assessed by a certified mental health person, sometimes at the state hospital with all its support staff. After the evaluation, the report must be written, submitted and filed. A paid person does all that, and again more earn salaries on the back of the criminal whose crime did not pay.
The list of beneficiaries from crime grow longer at the jail with its employees. Besides those who maintain order around the clock, someone has to deal with the food, the clothes, the linens and processing individuals in and out. Plus, there are adjunct staff such as medical personnel who visit the jail frequently. After taking a plea (and most do) or being found guilty, some go to the state penitentiary. Others stay here and check in with the parole officer. Except, it is not just one parole officer, it is officers and others who work at the probation office.
For crimes with victims, victims’ assistance has its own office to counsel and deal with the aftermath. The process involves similar staffing.
Add to all that, the facilities necessary to house all of this: the court room, the jails, the prisons, the transportation and the architects who make the plans for the contractors to build. Other businesses make and sell the uniforms the prisoners wear. A telephone service gathers many treasures from the jails with each collect phone call the incarcerated makes to friends and families. It is the only service available. The calls are not cheap.
Crime may not pay the criminal or the victim, but it certainly does pay everyone else it touches.
Joan Hershberger is a staff writer at the News-Times. Email her at joanh@everybody.org.