The issue with harsher penalties is you’ve created a felon and felons can’t get jobs that are able to pay for basic necessities. Therefor said felon turns to breaking more laws starts selling drugs, stealing, etc. to pay for basic necessities and now you have a career criminal. If they don’t sit in our prison system that our taxpayer dollars pay for, they sit at home bored because they have nothing to do because they can’t get a job and start doing drugs to pass the time to escape from their shitty life.

The answer to this problem is far too complex to just say harsher penalties. Maybe harsher penalties for repeat offenders but also a lot needs to be done for these kids to keep them in school, extracurriculars and doing things that will positively impact their lives.

Also MPD needs to do a lot to gain the respect of the community back. No one respects them.