In
a case that speaks to the failures of our mental health servies as well as and
drug and alcohol abuse as much as anything else, Shermain Miles was arrested
in Chicago for the 397th time since 1978 in what I’m going to go out
on a limb and say is an unofficial record.
Loyal readers, especially those in law enforcement or those who live in
East Arkansas or Florida, please feel free to correct me.
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| Shermain Miles, after arrest 397 |
Miles,
who is 52 years old, and probably has about 20 more years to run up the score
since most of her crimes seem to be low-level obnoxiousness rather than high
level stuff that will have someone shoot her in retribution, was arrested at
Edgewater Street in Chicago for different alleged officces, including misdemeanor
battery, theft, disorderly conduct and public drinking. She was held on $10,000 bail.
As
quoted in Opposing Views, her Alderman, and also a victim, James CAppleman
said, “It’s sad.” It is. Illinois obviously doesn’t have a
three-strikes law, or a 300-strikes law.
When
she was released on Nov. 18 from the Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln,
Miles made her way to the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago and checked in
to a second-chance residential home for ex-inmates.
"I’m
really not that bad a person," Miles told NBC Chicago after her release in
November, adding that the alcohol she was drinking had turned her “into a
monster."
Miles
had promised that she was permanently done with drugs and alcohol, but the
Edgewater business community was not looking forward to her return.
She’s obviously a handful for the
police, the neighborhood, and those who run across her. I’d wager there are mental health issues and
court and law enforcement resources could likely be better spent on drug and alcohol
rehabilitation or mental health treatment.
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