Hodgson Claim Absurd
The reality has now been exposed that Sheriff Hodgson has absolutely no way to prove his favorite response to every question that he is “keeping the community safe.”
By virtue of his admission that he has no verifiable statistics for 25 years as sheriff regarding the recidivism rate says it all.
It is a convenient truth that you can make a claim without evidence, if none is available to prove either way. But there are other measurements that can be utilized for getting a sense of how much crime is being committed and how frequently the incarcerated are re-detained or re-imprisoned.
As a general rule people who are detained, awaiting trial, are being held because of the seriousness of the crime, or that they have a prior record of convictions, or defaults for not appearing when summonsed to court. One can reasonably infer that the Bristol County House of Correction has never wanted for people who are being incarcerated or pre-trial detained.
A one time conviction for a misdemeanor doesn’t normally land the person in jail. It is the re-offenders that are being continuously housed in jail.
Now Sheriff Hodgson’s ad nauseam claim that he is protecting the community may not pertain exclusively to Bristol County, as he fashions himself a protector of the physical safety of his fellow countrymen. But, his enormous budget and highly inflated salaries for his chosen top tier employees doesn’t appear to protect anything other than his job.
The voters, including previous supporters, are paying attention and will no longer be hoodwinked into believing that Hodgson has achieved anything substantially related to protecting the Bristol County residents from crime.
Betty Ussach, Dartmouth, former Asst. D.A. Bristol County
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