Province apprehended. Who wants to be the next prison town?

(FYI: McCluskey and Welch arrested in AZ 8/19/10 post)


Tracy Province was apprehended this morning in Wyoming without incident, looking nothing like his prison photo - it's a miracle and irony he was recognized at a church. Hopefully he will never be allowed to kill again. McCluskey and Welch are still out there someplace, and believed to have left the Yellowstone area. I've heard no news yet to suggest that any insiders or other accomplices have been arrested.


Based on the kinds of Google searches hitting this site in the past week, it appears as if a lot of citizens across the country are re-considering the wisdom of community leaders who have collaborated with other entities to convince them that a nice little prison in the hills or desert would be good for their town. Here's a little something more for you to consider: if you only want to lock away people who have been consumed by poverty or addiction or snared in desperate efforts to survive and don't mean anyone else any harm, then what is wrong with you? If someone is safe enough to be in minimum security prison - or a family detention center - why build the prison in the first place?


I endorse the proposal that we take that $25,000 or more/year Americans pay to brutalize each "desirable" prisoner, and invest in housing, health care and education on the outside instead - not industries and politicians guaranteed to profit from more crime, greed, and fear. They just promote public policies and celebrate ideologies that breed more sociopaths in our midst who think it's alright to exploit the vulnerabilities of others to their own advantage. They're among the worst offenders we have, and are already trying to figure out how to use this escape to make migrants, misfits and the mentally ill appear more dangerous than they are so we'll keep shelling out protection money for more prisons - which does very little, as you see, to keep the rest of us safe and free.


With more investment in building communities and restoring lives, we can then focus our energies on how to disempower and contain the most destructive and violent people among us who are truly determined to hurt anyone who gets in their way - whether or not we've thought to criminalize their methods yet...