Thread: CO-Drop in inmates gives sheriff breathing room in jail

Drop in inmates gives sheriff breathing room in jail
Comments 4
July 1, 2009 - 2:10 PM
PAM ZUBECK

A year ago, El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa was desperate for a bigger jail.

He joined county officials and others to stump for a 1-percent sales tax voters rejected last fall to build a $75.5-million jail addition, among other things.

The Criminal Justice Center's population was pushing its 1,599-bed limit, and crowding in 2007 had prompted Maketa to pitch a giant tent for the overflow and stop taking new misdemeanor offenders.

But on Tuesday, Maketa was singing a different tune.

"We're in a situation we're not used to," he said. "We do have space."

Last summer, the inmate population peaked at 1,550 to 1,560. Since January, he said, the head count has dropped to 1,281 - the lowest since 2003. That includes roughly 100 undocumented workers held for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

"Last year I thought we were heading for a collision," Maketa said. "Now, I think we can stretch it out for three or four years before exceeding our cap again."

The decrease stems chiefly from two factors: the Department of Corrections backlog and the addition of more judges in the 4th Judicial District.

Last year, the jail housed more than 100 inmates awaiting transfer to a state prison. On Monday, it was 12.

DOC spokeswoman Katherine Sanguinetti said the statewide backlog stood at 95 this week, down from a high of more than 800 about a decade ago.

One reason for the decline is the recent addition of 1,400 private prison beds; recidivism programs also played a role, she said. The rate at which new prisoners are added also is going down, from 109 new inmates per month in 2006 to 12 per month this year, a level Sanguinetti called "an all-time historic low" for DOC.

She noted mandatory parole, a law that requires those leaving prison to report to parole officers, might have an impact. "When they're supervised, they're less likely to commit new crimes," she said, noting DOC has added parole officers in recent years, lowering case loads.

The District Court's addition of five judges over several years has sped up inmates' passage through the court system, resulting in shorter jail stays.

Lower inmate counts don't necessarily mean lower costs for Maketa, who said food might cost a little less but other costs, such as medical care, remain constant.

The big payoff, he said, is deputy and inmate safety. Instead of one deputy per 92 inmates, the ratio has fallen to one per 75, closer to the optimum level, he said.

"I'm not ready to declare victory," he said, "but it does provide some hope this is a trend."

Still, he added, "I did say we need a jail. I still believe we will need one. We haven't figured out exactly what all the factors are that have changed it (population), but how long will those last?"

http://www.gazette.com/articles/jail-57 ... mates.html

Quote:
"Additionally, the involvement of the Sheriff's Office with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) and the associated 287G program." Enforcement works!

Jail Stays for Inmates Decreases for 1st Time Since '99

Posted: Jan 20, 2010 08:03 AM PST

Updated: Jan 20, 2010 08:03 AM PST

EL PASO COUNTY - For the first time since 1999, the average length of stay has dropped at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center. The average length of stay is likely the most significant factor to the jail population and subsequent crowding issues.

In 1999, we saw a decrease in average length of stay to 14.94 days from 16.84 days in 1998. Over the ten year period from 1999 to 2009 there was a constant growth in the ALS and therefore an increase in the jail population. In 2008, the ALS had increased to 24.05 days and in 2009 had dropped to 22.22 days. The decrease can be equated to 70 beds available per day of change in the average length of stay. As an example of the impact to the inmate population, one year ago today (January 20, 2009) was 1356 inmates; today the Criminal Justice Center population was 1200.

Sheriff Maketa said, "This is a huge show of success and change in what was a growing problem in the jail and for the community." Sheriff Maketa attributes the decrease to several factors. A primary contributor is the newly introduced Reintegration and Recovery Program (R&R) which began in 2007. The R&R program is designed for sentenced inmates to participate in an intensive program teaching life skills and providing classes, some of which are required by the court as part of their sentence. The program is targeted at those individuals who are likely to re-offend and teach them how to avoid the cycle and change habits to avoid returning to custody. Additionally, the involvement of the Sheriff's Office with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) and the associated 287G program. This program allows deputies who have been trained through ICE to act under federal authority to start the investigation of illegal immigrants and speed up the deportation process. This allows those detainees to move out of the facility faster and therefore decrease the inmates in that population category. After approximately two and a half years, the results from programs like these are starting to show results as in the decrease in daily population and more importantly the decrease in the average length of stay.

http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=11851351