Addressing other issues about the Chaparral drug bust, Diane Goldstein and Stephen Downing, two former law enforcement officials in Redondo Beach and Los Angeles Police Departments respectively, spoke about the war on drugs and inefficacy of zero tolerance policies at schools. Goldstein and Downing are members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an organization that believes “that to save lives and reduce disease, crime and addiction, as well as to conserve tax dollars, we must end drug prohibition,” according to their website.
“A red flag should go up for you anytime a person in a position of responsibility utters the words ‘zero tolerance,’ because that means they do not have the confidence to make a decision in their discipline, they do not have the compassion to see differences between situations, and they do not have the administrative or managerial skills to make the kind of decisions that create a thriving institution,” said Downing.
