San Francisco has adopted new language when referring to the criminal element, and many find the changes to be mocking and insulting. The city, despite its beautiful location, grapples with significant crime rates. The new terminology aims to sanitize language associated with criminals, replacing words like “offender” and “addict.” A “convicted felon” is now a “justice-involved person.”
The goal is to “clean up offensive words,” but the city continues to struggle with issues like public defecation, often linked to the very individuals who are supposedly going to feel less stigmatized by this new vocabulary. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted these changes, even as the city faces high crime rates and staggering inequality, exemplified by pervasive homelessness alongside the wealth of Silicon Valley, according to FOX News.
Local officials claim this new language will shift perceptions of those who commit crimes. But who are they trying to reach? It certainly isn’t those with a reasonable outlook on life or those who adhere to social norms that allow societies to thrive.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a convicted felon or offender released from custody will now be known as a “formerly incarcerated person,” a “justice-involved person,” or a “returning resident.” A juvenile “delinquent” will be called a “young person with justice system involvement” or a “young person impacted by the juvenile justice system.” Drug addicts or substance abusers will become “a person with a history of substance use.”
One might find it hard to believe that public officials could be so out of touch, but this is not surprising from the so-called progressive crowd. Supervisor Matt Haney told the newspaper, “We don’t want people to be forever labeled for the worst things that they have done. We want them ultimately to become contributing citizens, and referring to them as felons is like a scarlet letter that they can never get away from.”
While the sanitized language is unlikely to solve the crime problem, it may lead to convoluted descriptions of crimes. The newspaper noted that someone whose car has been broken into might be known to police as “a person who has come in contact with a returning resident who was involved with the justice system and who is currently under supervision with a history of substance use.” The spinning and double talk will not change criminal behavior, but it might make the Board of Supervisors “feel” like they are making a difference.
The board’s approved new language is non-binding, with the district attorney endorsing the measure. Mayor London Breed hasn’t yet endorsed the new language. This “feel good” stunt is similar to something that occurred in Seattle a few years ago when police were directed to refer to a suspect as a “community member” when writing use of force reports. Is there an end to the absurdity? What new verbiage is coming next?