In the wake of the tragic murders in Cheshire and New Britain in the past year, Connecticut has taken strong steps to get tough on repeat violent criminals. Our General Assembly has recently passed a new law that will increase sentences for second and third time offenders. When combined with other recent laws we have passed, such as making home invasion a violent offense, I believe we will both deter some criminals and lock others away for a very long time.

My philosophy for dealing with repeat criminals is straight-forward. First felony offense: we should try to rehabilitate you. Second felony offense: we should give you a dramatically increased sentence. Third felony offense: we should put you away for life without parole. Of course, for the most violent murderers I believe we should have the death penalty on the first offense if the crime is heinous enough.

Our new “persistent offender” law incorporates much of this philosophy—although I believe it should have gone further on the “worst of the worst” criminals. If a person has been found to be a persistent dangerous offender, the bill doubles the mandatory minimum sentence for the second offense and triples the mandatory minimum for the third offense. The bill also doubles the maximum sentence for a second offense, and raises the maximum sentence for a third offense to life in prison.

I voted for this law because I fully agree with doubling and tripling the mandatory minimums for repeat violent offenders. Criminals who cannot be rehabilitated should be removed from society. For example, robbery with a weapon would have its mandatory minimum increased from 5 years to 10 years for the second offense, and to 15 years to life for the third offense.

However, I wish the new law included tougher sentences for third time violent offenders. I support Connecticut adopting a “three strikes” law, where anyone convicted of three violent felonies automatically goes to jail for life. Anyone convicted of three rapes does not deserve another chance. They need to be permanently removed from society. To that end, I plan on reintroducing a true “three strikes” law (which is supported by Governor Rell) next year.

The state Department of Corrections estimates that there are roughly 430 individuals on the streets of Connecticut right now who would qualify for prosecution under a “three strikes” law if they were to be charged with a third violent crime. The threat of life in prison will deter them from committing future crime—and if it does not, they will be removed from society forever.

The new law also provides $10 million more to deter and prosecute crime. We have provided additional money for GPS tracking of parolees, enhanced supervision for sexual predators, and increased money for prosecutors. At the same time, we have increased funding for drug treatment and rehabilitation programs, and additional staff for our new full-time parole board.

Violent crime can happen anywhere. The murders in Cheshire and New Britain prove that. We all need to take personal precautions to protect our families, but the state should have laws in place that deter home invasion and violent crime—and remove persistent offenders from society forever. I am proud that we increased the penalties for second and third offenses, but believe that we need to implement a stronger “three strikes” policy to permanently lock away the “worst of the worst” criminals.

Dan Debicella is the State Senator representing Shelton, Stratford, Monroe, and Seymour. If you have feedback for him or want to talk about the issues, he can be reached toll-free at (800) 842-1421 or by e-mail at dan.debicella@cga.ct.gov.