On March 21, Lovelle Mixon killed four officers in Oakland. He was a suspect in another homicide and rape of a 12-year-old child. He victimized families and destroyed many lives during his short life of 26 years.

Mixon's constant run-ins with the law and his transformation into a monster are not isolated incidents; he is emblematic of hundreds of thousands of criminals who enter our broken criminal justice system and spend their entire lives cycling in and out of prison. I cannot even count how many times I have seen repeat customers at the Los Angeles Police Department on their road to jail again. My experience is not an exception.

Our criminal justice system is broken. Despite spending exorbitant sums on law enforcement, prosecution and packing our prisons (no other nation in the world has imprisoned so many as we have), we have not enhanced public safety. We fail in crime prevention, intervention, reintegration and rehabilitation of criminals. We fail in preventing people from being victimized; we fail in preventing lives of innocent people from being destroyed.

The failure is based upon two reasons: the punitive approach to law enforcement and the fragmented criminal justice system. Why continue to perpetuate a disastrously expensive and wrong approach to public safety?

Crime is expensive. Society pays for the police and related emergency services (911, medical response, trauma centers), the courts, the correctional system, probation and parole agents, and social service agencies. In addition, policing of society is prohibitively expensive (the city of Los Angeles spent $1.92 billion on LAPD in 2008-09 budget) due to the built-in inefficiencies, redundancies, compartmentalization, lack of cooperation and lack of seamlessness in criminal justice system.

Victims and their traumatized families never receive adequate financial or psychological help. The criminal is not rehabilitated as prisons serve as graduate schools for criminality; and the society ends up paying economically and morally.

I propose a radical approach to law enforcement by creating a new public safety agency that would make us true servants of the public, enhance transparency in law enforcement operations, and provide proper support to the victims, law violators, and their families. This approach would focus on rehabilitation and make the society safer for far less cost.

The proposed system would prevent Lovelle Mixons from forming and it would break the cycle of crime. Additionally, the system would provide far superior services to the society at a minuscule cost compared with the present system.

The new Public Safety Agency to replace the current broken system would be comprehensive collaboration of all public safety personnel. Sworn officers, prosecuting and defense attorneys, emergency response teams, child and family services, social welfare agents, community service specialists, rehabilitation, job training, drug and alcohol abuse counselors, negotiators, psychological counselors, and probation and parole agents would work together in the same building.

They would operate under the same umbrella working seamlessly and transparently with a goal of crime prevention and criminal rehabilitation. All the old criminal justice system agencies would be abolished and made part of the new Public Safety Agency.

Consolidation of these numerous entities alone would cut down the cost of operations instantly by more than two-thirds, saving the taxpayers billions. Cross training various agents of the new agency would create well-rounded public servants. Increased transparency and focus on rehabilitation would bridge the chasm that exists between the police and society, and enhance cooperation that would lead to true community policing.

Any time a crime occurs, the sworn agents would respond. Based upon the incident, the prosecutors, public defenders, and appropriate family service agents would accompany them. As soon as the crime scene was stabilized, supporting agents would assist victims and the law violator.

A coordinated response would ensure that not only the officers enforce law; the prosecutors and the public defenders would ensure that no one's rights are violated. Additionally, the family services and psychological counselors would assist the victims and provide support in coping with the traumatic incidents.

The person arrested would also receive instant attention of counselors, and the reintegration efforts of the arrestee would begin from the moment of his arrest. The reintegration efforts would continue until true rehabilitation of the law violator.

The entire family of the criminal would be involved to create an environment where rehabilitation could take place. The collaborative efforts of agents specializing in probation, parole, social services, education, job-training and counseling in the new Public Safety Agency would ensure that the law violator is released as a productive member of the society and constantly monitored and supported.

Additionally, mediators would be available to resolve neighborhood disputes to prevent escalation, consequently preventing potential crime.

Public safety agencies cannot change the structure of depressed neighborhoods, make them lively, provide for economic development, or improve access to education and employment. That is the responsibility of our political leaders.

However, we can transform the structure and functioning of law enforcement, make it accountable to the people, and make it work to prevent crime and rehabilitate the violators. The proposed new public safety agency is the way to the future.

Lt. Sunil Dutta, PhD, is patrol watch commander at Foothill Division for the Los Angeles Police Department. The views presented here are his own and do not represent the LAPD.

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http://www.dailynews.com/editorial/ci_12073696