Crime prevention is a very important issue to every citizen.
I am an advocate of evidence-based crime prevention and an expert on criminal justice.
I write about crime policy issues because I care about the issue,
I understand the issues and what needs to be done about them.
I am an advocate of evidence-based crime prevention and an expert on criminal justice.
I write about crime policy issues because I care about the issue,
I understand the issues and what needs to be done about them.
America's Violence Problem (and It's Not Just With Guns) - Huffington Post
Too bad this is on an obsure H-P page as it's the first piece of balanced sense I've seen on the whole discussion of the real problem in America. The obsession with violence. Nice Job
Unfairly Treated: Gun Owners and People With Mental Health Concerns - Huffington Post
Why Liberals (and Conservatives) Should Be Careful With Gun Laws - Huffington Post
Paul, I try to routinely read articles on HuffingtonPost.com, but most of the time I find myself reeling from the delusional conclusions drawn from available data, processed through irrational, and emotionally driven reasoning. I walk away in utter disbelief that anyone can genuinely come to many of the conclusions presented. It completely baffles me, and that is part of why I continue to read, hoping to better understand the liberal mind, hoping to be better equipped to help drive a forgotten word in our present politics, "consensus".
HOWEVER, I was absolutely delighted to read your article on how to approach gun laws! While you suggest that evidence based legislation is progressive, the concept has been a mainstay of every successful business for the last century. Not in legislation, but in operation. Business models, like "management by fact" are examples, but I'm sure you knew that already.
I completely agree with you that legislation, based predominantly on emotion and personal bias, without data, seriously erodes the credibility of the competence of those involved, regardless of their argument.
Thank you for being a voice of the general democrat populous, willing to bring balance to the unfathomably irrational presence so prevalent in the extreme mainstream liberal media outlets!! Very well stated article, I commend you. -- David S.
Gun Stories: How Cherry-Picking Hurts Both Sides of the Gun Debate - Huffington Post
You presented an outstanding article recently on Huffpost with regard to the gun control debate. Please attempt to get your message out to the policy makers in D.C, and the state capitals. I wish that President Obama, VP Biden, Sen. Fienstien, Gov. Cuomo and other would abosrb your message that the legitmate needs and concerns of all sides should be adequately taken into consideration. Keep up the good work. Best wishes and stay safe. -- Stephen C., Esq.
Do Gun Bans Work? - Huffington Post
Representative Heroux, We have never met before, and you are not my personal State Representative, however after reading your article today I have to say that I am truly impressed. That article displays what should be the attitude of every Rep., Senator, and other elected official. I am not huge into politics because truthfully lets face it, many politicians are merely pushing through their own agendas and the agendas of those supporting them. ... So I write this e-mail as a thank you, I hope that you bring this to the House and you push your ideals through. Evidence based laws tend to not take rights away from those that protect them. This country is full of illegal guns and regardless of what laws are passed, criminals tend not to follows them. Thank you for your bipartisanship displayed in this article. -- Sincerely, John B., Millis, Massachusetts
I'm an avid shooter, and have been shooting for many years. I'm a devoted republican that served in the military for twenty years. I read your article and strongly believe that too many individuals from both sides are making statements that are horribly inaccurate. We need to as one intelligent group of individuals, come up with laws and regulations that will benefit all. ... You seem to have the most level headed approach to resolving concerns and Its people like yourself and I that could make a difference. -- Gil M.
Pundits, Get Real! Not All Gun Crimes (and Solutions) Are the Same - Huffington Post
Dear Mr. Heroux, I have been following your OpEd’s and blog concerning gun issues. It is certainly refreshing to see someone taking a more realistic approach to the problems surrounding the issue, rather than a purely emotional one. Or even worse, start quoting the constitution, one way or the other. ... Thank you for bringing some sanity to the legislature, not more grandstanding and emotion. -- Ted R.
Preventing Mass Shootings: How Partisans Get "What Works" Wrong - Huffington Post
What if the 'Batman Shooter' is Insane? - Attleboro Patch
Prescription Drug Addiction: A Medical Condition, Not a Moral Failure - Huffinting Post
Recidivism in Philadelphia - Huffington Post
Legislators should know the facts before approving school zone bill - Fall River Herald News
Pot bill a waste of time - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Don't miss greater danger in high-profile sex crimes - Standard Times of New Bedford
Protecting kids from pedophiles - MetroWest Daily News
Protecting Children From Sex Offenders: Parents, Take Action! - Huffington Post
Beacon Hill's drug warriors - MetroWest Daily News
Sex Offenders: Recidivism, Re-Entry Policy and Facts - Huffington Post
The Death Penalty: Questionable Evidence for Deterrence - Huffington Post
Another Useless Crime Bill - Attleboro Patch
City Council Voted to Approve Sex Offender Ban, a Feel Good Measure - Attleboro Patch
Facts, myths and sex offenders - MetroWest Daily News
Corrections system needs correcting - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Solving the problem or moving it? - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Juvenile Delinquency: If We Fail Our Children, We Fail Our Future - Huffington Post
Delinquency: One size won't fit all - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
We are letting the youth of America down - Taunton Daily Gazette
Alternative punishments could ease prison crowding, budget drain - Standard Times of New Bedford
Consider alternatives to high prison costs - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Massachusetts must evaluate alternatives to prison - Fall River Herald News
Prison problems: Overcrowding and over budget - Taunton Daily Gazette
Reducing Recidivism: The Challenge of Successful Prisoner Re-Entry - Huffington Post
Reducing Prison Overcrowding, Improving Justice and Preventing Crime - Huffington Post
Guns: Helping Crime or Helping Crime Prevention? - Huffington Post
Narrow the gap in gun debate - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Releasing 30,000 Prison Inmates in California: More Crime? - Huffington Post
Both Sides of the Gun Debate - Huffington Post
Where prisons waste, schools provide hope - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Education can break the prison cycle in Fall River - Fall River Herald News
Education key to decreasing U.S. crime rate - Taunton Daily Gazette
Make that $9,000 per inmate - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
But will it work? - MetroWest Daily News
What type of return do we get on $16M investment? - Fall River Herald
Sex offender policies in state make no sense - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Rehabilitating sex offenders: Fact vs. fiction - Taunton Daily Gazette
Corrections budget needs controls - MetroWest Daily News
Addressing Massachusetts' prison budget and population - Fall River Herald
Shorter sentences are a possible curb for state prison costs - The Standard Times
Population, costs of prisons skyrocketing - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
On prison population growth - Cambridge Chronicle
Addressing the prison’s budget and population - Taunton Daily Gazette
Inmate fees bill doesn’t consider all the realities - Taunton Daily Gazette
Finally, a voice of reason. Thank you for this article.
Crime falls with the snowflakes - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Who should get credit for lower crime? - Fall River Herald
Who should get credit for lower crime? - Taunton Daily Gazette
Cutting prison costs begins with reform, not inmates' fees - Lowell Sun
Where legal and medical issues tangle - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Jails are the new American asylums - Philadelphia Inquirer
(unabridged version)
Mental illness and psychopaths - MetroWest Daily News
Pundits don’t have the answer to gun violence - Fall River Herald
Gun-crime connection eludes easy solutions - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
The pundits cannot stop gun violence - Taunton Daily Gazette
Can we help them before they hurt us? - Philadelphia Inquirer
When crime is rooted in mental illness - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
I wanted to comment upon your writings about crime and mental illness. I have had personal and professional experience with the dilemma between balancing individual rights with the need to protect members of a family or the general public from violent actions perpetrated by mentally/emotionally impaired citizens. It is a macabre see-saw which I believe we can no longer tolerate. In my family, I've survived sad experience with the inability of the judicial system to keep a person in a mental health facility even when involved medical opinion deemed such a stay to be critical. I heartily agree with the holistic approach as well as the need for both public will and public support as you declared in your final two paragraphs! Abusing discharge instructions by poorly or not at all adhering to medicine dosing or scheduled progress checking appointments is unacceptable for the common good. I, of course, include each ill subject in the "common good." How many at risk folk are we targeting? How can each be counted and accounted for over time? New layers of monitoring or social workers must be linked with rigorous accountability, so difficult to handle in such a huge country with distinct regional differences and all with serpentine bureaucracies. I hope you and your fellow grad students in public policy may find this issue compelling enough to draw up a proposal for change!
Mental illness and violence - MetroWest Daily News
Shootings underscore need to address mental illness - Fall River Herald
Substance abuse contributes to violence in the mentally ill - Taunton Daily Gazette
Conservatives starting to get it 'Right on Crime' - MetroWest Daily News
The Right is wrong in the fight on crime - Taunton Daily Gazette
The Right is wrong when it comes to fighting crime - Fall River Herald News
‘Right on crime’ - Cambridge Chronicle
Kids need love most when they deserve it least - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Massachusetts violent crime figures misleading - Fall River Herald News
Crime stats can be misleading - MetroWest Daily News
Highest of the low in crime - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Report finding Mass. leading region in violent crime 'misleading' - Cambridge Chronicle
Mass. prisons too costly, too crowded - Attleboro Sun Chronicle
Mass incarceration in Massachusetts - Cambridge Chronicle
Female prisoners face unique problems - Fall River Herald News
Problems female inmates face - MetroWest Daily News
Politics, the death penalty and the facts - Fall River Herald News
Politics, the death penalty and the facts - North Attleboro Free Press
Execution just doesn't work - Taunton Daily Gazette
Kids need love the most when they deserve it the least - Fall River Herald News
Undeserving kids need the most love - Taunton Daily Gazette
When Crime Rates go Down
Our community needs someone who understands the unintended consequences of laws that are symbolic and expensive; someone who has worked in local and state government agencies that provide services to the public. I am someone who understands the games that go on with career bureaucrats and politicians and I know the nuanced questions that need to be asked of senior level government agency administrators to ensure that your tax dollars are not being wasted. Having been a gubernatorial appointee in the Deval Patrick Administration in a leadership capacity in Massachusetts' prison system, worked in the Executive Office of the nation's 5th largest jail, as a consultant to various public safety agencies, and with a master's in criminology from the University of Pennsylvania, I understand better than any other candidate, how to keep people and communities safe.
