Cincinnati Enquirer
Hamilton County dinged..

Original Article

Hamilton County dinged for jail numbers
BY JESSICA BROWN | JLBROWN@ENQUIRER.COM

In 2006, roughly one in every 500 Hamilton County residents was in jail, ranking it 28th in the nation for its jail incarceration rate.

Hamilton County also had the 46th most populous jail in the nation that year, though it was the 59th most populous county.

The jail findings were released Tuesday by the Justice Policy Institute, a nonprofit Washington- based think tank that advocates for alternatives to incarceration. The study looked at the 50 largest jails in the country in 2006 based on data from the Bureau of Justice.

It concluded that nationwide, county jail populations are exploding and communities are bearing the cost. The Justice Policy Institute recommended that instead of spending money on jail construction, communities should examine and invest in alternatives to incarceration.

"These counties just cannot afford to invest the bulk of their local public safety budget in jails, and we are beginning to see why - the more a community relies on jails, the less it has to invest in education, employment and proven public safety strategies," said Nastassia Walsh, co-author of the report.

Hamilton County, which routinely spends more than two-thirds of its budget on public safety, has grappled for years with too many inmates and too few jail beds. Voters twice in the past two years rejected proposals to build a bigger jail.

The study recommendations reinforce the views voiced by many opponents of the jail proposals - that there are better ways to solve the overcrowding problem. The county created a Criminal Justice Commission in January 2007 that is examining many of the things the study suggested.

"This report shows that we're struggling with a lot of the same issues other counties across the country are dealing with," said Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper.

"We are, along with any other places in this country, dealing with a very tough situation. The good news is the work we've been doing in the last year and a half will put us on the path to solve it well ahead of other places. The way you do it is through real reform, not short-term solutions."

The study suggested communities spend more money on "front end services" such as education, employment and housing. It recommended reforming or re-examining release procedures, bail guidelines and policies that lock people up for nonviolent crimes. It said governments should develop alternatives to incarceration and divert people with mental health or substance abuse problems to treatment programs. It also suggested spending money on probation services.

In 2004, local governments spent $97 billion on criminal justice, including police, courts and jails, it said.

The study said the number of people in jail has nearly doubled in less than two decades. The Justice Policy Institute attributes the increase to more people being jailed awaiting trial - and for longer than ever before - because of a rising cost of bail.

"Jail bonds have skyrocketed, so that means if you're poor, you do time," said report co-author Amanda Petteruti. "People are being punished before they're found guilty - justice is undermined."

The study also noted that jails are "filled with people with drug addictions, the homeless and people charged with immigration offenses," and that six out of 10 people in jail is living with a mental illness.

The study found that Latinos are the least likely to be released prior to trial, and African-Americans are nearly five times as likely to be incarcerated as whites, and three times as likely as Latinos.

For the full report, visit www.justicepolicy.org.