PROBLEMS WITH LOCAL JAILS IS MUCH BIGGER THAN YOU THINK

 

Incarceration rates in the US are staggering, but a bigger issue is with local jails, not just state and federal prisons.

 

If you follow the news, you are probably aware of the names: Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Trayvon Martin.  The tragedies of the deaths of these three, unarmed black men is now well known across the country.  You will now also probably be hearing about the fatal shooting of Antonio Zambrano-Montes.  “Tony” was an unarmed Hispanic national whom the local Pasco, Washington, police saw fit to shoot multiple times as he was surrendering.

There is no doubt that the state of the nation’s criminal justice is in serious trouble, but finally some things are happening that will hopefully get them headed in a better direction.

However, to make my point, let’s look at some of the latest statistics about how bad things really are today.

·       You have probably been hearing about how the incarceration rates have been increasing in the state and federal systems.  But were you aware that there are 11.7 million local jail admissions every year in the United States.  That’s twice as many as 20 years ago.  And that’s compared to 631,000 state and federal prison admissions.

·       Three-fifths of the 722,000 prisoners in America’s local jails have yet to be convicted of the alleged crime for which they’re being detained. The main reason for that is that most are simply too poor to post bail to get out while their cases are being processed.

·       The Vera Institute of Justice found that nearly 75% of local-jail admissions are suspects who have committed nonviolent crimes like traffic fines, property issues, drug, or public-order offenses.  In other words, people who rarely pose a significant risk to public safety and who probably don’t need to be incarcerated.

·       From 1982 to 2011, the cost of building and running jails increased by nearly 235%. “Of the more than $60 billion spent annually on correctional institutions,” the Vera report says, “$22.2 billion is spent on local jurisdictions.”

·       Today, racial disparities define many aspects of our criminal justice system.  From “stop-and-frisk” policies to mass jail incarceration.  These have become regular fixtures of many local jails.

·       While blacks and Latinos comprise nearly a third of the overall federal and state prison population, they also represent ½  of all the prisoners in local facilities.

·       Unlike prisons and penitentiaries, there is no single federal level for fixing jails. Local jails in America comprise a patchwork of various systems that are run independently.  They operate under different punitive philosophies and they all face different challenges.

·       There are more than 3,000 US Sheriffs in charge of our local jails, each contributing uniquely to the overall problem in their own unique way.

·       As an example of the above, the cities of Ferguson and Jennings, Mo. (Where Michael Brown was shot and killed.) have been accused of maintaining "grotesque" jail conditions for citizens locked up because they couldn't pay fines for minor legal or traffic infractions.  This is according to two federal class-action lawsuits.  The lawsuits against both cities describe conditions in which crowded cells are smeared with mucus, blood and fecal matter and inmates are denied basic hygiene supplies and medical care.  Some residents spend “three, four, five” weeks in the local  jails, not for serving a criminal sentence, but because they can't afford to pay a fine to get out of jail.  More than 50% of Ferguson city’s revenue comes from jail fines and traffic violations.

The levels of problems in the jails go from the New Orleans Sheriff, Marlin Gusman, who presides over what is referred to as the “worst city jail in America,” to Maricopa County, Arizona’s Sheriff, Joe Arpaio, whose alleged abuses of local Latinos would cause most observers to lose their lunch.

Local jail reform needs to go forward and the now failed “tough on crime” tactics need to be rolled back.  The system needs real resources for helping cities and counties develop alternatives to their current incarceration tactics and to end their over-reliance on their local jails.

Fortunately, the non-profit / non-partisan MacArthur Foundation has committed $75 million to do just that. The “Safety and Justice Challenge” is their initiative that will focus “where over-incarceration begins.” The foundation is supporting up to 20 jurisdictions in their work to reduce the population of local jails. Framed as a "competition", the challenge encourages jurisdictions to develop evidence-based solutions to the problem. The competition is open to any jurisdiction, either state, county, city, district or even tribal, that maintains at least 50 beds in its jail system.

There is also a focus on those citizens or vets that have mental disabilities.  Overwhelming evidence shows that jails often serve as the last stop for mentally ill people who can’t find other community resources. 

 

The police department in Portland, Oregon, has started providing special training for all officers to help them manage people with mental illnesses. This same department also runs a mobile crisis unit to help the mentally ill get treatment instead of a costly jail sentence that often impairs their recovery.

As another example, in Minnesota, the Hennepin County District Attorney’s office now partners with the nonprofit Operation de Novo to help low-risk arrestees.  Those arrested can now make amends through providing community service with a payment plan, not jail time. So far, the program has kept over 800 people out of jail and has collected more than $250,000 in restitution for local victims of crimes.

Hopefully, this is just a beginning that will sweep all over the country.  More Americans need to understand that “incarceration-as-usual” just isn’t working and there are better alternatives.

Copyright G.Ater  2015