By Jennifer Squires
Posted: 02/04/2009 01:30:54 AM PST
SANTA CRUZ -- While jail and prison populations balloon statewide and across the nation, county jail facilities have reduced overcrowding in the past few years, according to the county's annual grand jury report.
The report, which takes a look at jail facilities each year, applauded efforts by the Sheriff's Office and its partners in the criminal justice system for making adjustments in how inmates are screened, housed and supervised to reduce overcrowding at county incarceration centers.
The average monthly population at County Jail on Water Street in Santa Cruz fell 15 percent between 2004 and 2007, according to the report. Current statistics indicate that number continues to decline.
Sheriff-Coroner Steve Robbins, whose agency administers the local jail system, said the population reduction at County Jail -- regularly the most-crowded of the five inmate holding areas in the county -- has been a deliberate effort for the past half-decade so the county could avoid federally decreed population caps.
"The great thing is we're making strides to stay ahead of the curve," Robbins said.
The report lists figures from the first six months of 2007, when the average monthly population there was 358 inmates, a significant decline from 2004 when the average population was 408 and a far cry from the 450-plus inmates that were housed in the facility a decade ago.
According to County Jail statistics Tuesday, the population was 299 inmates, below the state-rated capacity of 311.
To keep a handle on jail population, the Sheriff's Office established a Jail Overcrowding Committee that meets quarterly to discuss concerns. The committee -- comprised of representatives from law enforcement, the judiciary, the District Attorney's Office, the Probation Department, the Public Defenders Office, the county Board of Supervisors and other agencies -- developed a set of strategies to reduce overcrowding.
Among those was implementation of a new classification system that screens inmates to determine whom might be better-suited for a work release or GPS monitoring program.
"Obviously, we want to keep the more violent people incarcerated," Robbins said.
The focus on reducing overcrowding is two-fold, Robbins said. Overcrowding strains jail staff and resources, making it more difficult to manage the facility and administer programs, such as counseling, medical care and educational opportunities. Also, in the long term, habitual overcrowding issues can led to government-imposed population caps -- meaning some inmates would have to be released if the jail population hit a set figure.
Robbins said county jail facilities have managed to avoid that fate, though other counties in California have not.
"For those communities, it's a public safety concern for them," Robbins said.
Jail population
Go online to find out how many people are incarcerated in county jail facilities at any time:
Visit www.scsheriff.com and click on 'Corrections.' Then select 'Jail Population Report."
http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_11622838?nclick_check=1
No comments:
Post a Comment