Set high, but clear, standards

Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden is right to take a critical look at the criminal cases that come his way.

It's part of his job to make sure that cases are thoroughly investigated before they go to court, and to weed out cases that are so minor they only would waste valuable court time.

It's part of his job to set clear, consistent standards for prosecutions.

And we agree with the prosecutor that some trivial issues are better dealt with out of court - such as the case of the Kwik Shop employee who helped herself to a fountain soft drink without recording it in her employer's logbook.

It's a waste of time to clog our already-crowded court system with minor matters that can be just as easily resolved in other ways. Prosecutors, too, have to prioritize their workloads.

But Vander Sanden's office also should make sure he's clearly communicating his office's standards to make sure Cedar Rapids police officers aren't wasting their time making arrests and compiling cases that never will be pursued.

By clearly laying out his office's expectations, Vander Sanden can have it both ways - raise the standards for prosecutions and reduce the number of cases that his office never takes to a courtroom.

As of May 31, Vander Sanden's office had turned away 174 Cedar Rapids police cases - either by declining to prosecute them or sending them back to police for further investigation.

That's a 67 percent increase over the same period last year, before Vander Sanden took office.

According to police statistics, Vander Sanden refused to prosecute 105 Cedar Rapids arrests - a 133 percent increase over the first five months of 2010.

That is frustrating to police, who spend precious time investigating crimes only to reach a dead end.

It's true, as Vander Sanden recently told a Gazette reporter, that police and prosecutors have different thresholds to meet - police must show probable cause to arrest a suspect.

In court, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a suspect committed the crime. But that's nothing new. It's just a fact that's built into the working relationships between police and prosecutors across the country.

Cedar Rapids police Sgt. Cristy Hamblin told the reporter that police don't make arrests unless they think they have enough evidence for a conviction.

Of course, as county attorney, that's Vander Sanden's call whether a case is ready to bring to - or worthy of bringing to - a judge or jury. It's the prosecutor who sets that bar.

But where he sets it should be consistent, and clearly communicated to the law enforcement agencies he works with.

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