Here are some facts about people who get arrested for misdemeanor crimes, based upon recent interviews of "nearly 1,000 people charged with misdemeanors in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx" by a nonprofit group.

Greg Berman writes in the Wall Street Journal:

There's a saying that misdemeanors aren't complicated legal cases, but they are committed by people with complicated lives. The data underline this truth. This is a population with serious problems and multiple needs. More than half of our sample reported being unemployed, and nearly one in two said they use drugs daily. Mental health issues abound. The prevalence of trauma was staggering. More than half of the sample reported having witnessed a shooting or other violent event. One in four reported having experienced physical, emotional or sexual abuse. Nearly 20% said they had attempted suicide.

The average age of those arrested was 35.

It is always reasonable to be wary of attempts to define "criminals" as a class, because it is a class wholly created by the actions of law enforcement, and which can change based upon the whims and prejudices of our courts and police. But this data shows pretty clearly that, no matter the circumstances of the arrests (and there is quite a bit of evidence of inherent racial prejudice in misdemeanor arrests overall), misdemeanor arrestees are, as a group, in serious need of some social services. Maybe a good opportunity for giving social services to this needy population would be: right after they're arrested for a misdemeanor?

Something to consider.

[Photo: Shutterstock]