“Violent crime is on the rise and deadly, illegal drugs are flooding our communities, which is why as governor, I will close loopholes in our parole system, be an advocate for victims, support our men and women in law enforcement, and never defund the police.”
– Sarah Huckabee Sanders –

ARKANSAS HAS A CRIME PROBLEM THAT CANNOT BE IGNORED

  • Arkansas ranks 3rd in the U.S. for murder rates, or 10.6 for every 100,000 people.
  • A recent study revealed Little Rock to have the highest crime rate per 1,000 residents among state capitols in the country.
  • As of April 2022, Arkansas is 1st in the nation for the number of child sex abuse cases per 100,000 children and 2nd in the nation for states with the most rapes per 100,000 people.
  • According to the FBI, Arkansas had 671 instances of violent crime per 100,000 people in 2020.
    • The national average was 398 per 100,000.

THE CAUSE OF ARKANSAS’ CRIME PROBLEM

  • The dangerous “defund the police” rhetoric and anti-law enforcement policies of the radical left have permeated into cities across the country.
  • Criminals in Arkansas do not fear the state’s criminal justice system.
    • A weak parole system is driven by a lack of capacity in our state prisons
      • Between 2012 and 2017, Arkansas had the fastest-growing state prison population in the country.
    • Parole board acts as a pressure release valve rather than an arbiter of who has been sufficiently rehabilitated.
      • Criminals are moved through a “revolving door” with far too many eligible for parole after serving only a sixth of their sentence.
  • The COVID pandemic resulted in a significant backlog for mental health treatment and felony cases.
    • As of August 2022, over 1,500 inmates were on a waitlist for mental health treatment and over 15,500 felony cases remain in a backlog.

A PLAN FOR A SAFER, STRONGER ARKANSAS

  • Never defund the police, push back on the dangerous rhetoric of the radical left, and support recruitment efforts for additional law enforcement officers across the state.
    • Tangible investment in training and additional resources, including overtime.
  • The state must be prepared to devote the necessary resources to increase prison capacity to allow for the retention of violent, repeat offenders and to reduce the backlog in our county jails.
  • Enact smart, targeted Truth in Sentencing legislation.
    • Ensure that violent, repeat offenders are not allowed back into our communities.
    • If an inmate is out on parole and commits another crime, the criminal must go back and serve the remainder of the original sentence to be run consecutive to the new sentence.
  • Increase mental health programming for inmates requiring those services in prison.
  • Transition from a criminal-centric focus to a victim-centric focus.
    • Arkansas needs to join the majority of states in enacting a victim’s bill of rights to ensure people victimized by crime have basic protections under the law.