Tom Joseph
PHILADELPHIA - The cell door is slamming on fewer inmates in local jails, both in Pennsylvania and nationwide, according to a new report from Pennsylvania-based Pew Charitable Trusts. Claire Shubik-Richards is author of the report, which finds that locking people up when they're charged with or convicted of a crime, has been getting more costly for cities and towns at a time when many are seeing shrinking law enforcement budgets.
"When dollars count, that's been a motivator for jurisdictions reexamining their policies around who's going to be in their local jails and for how long."
The reasons for the decline are varied, ranging from more plea agreements to looser rules on minor offenses to more inmates being transferred to state prisons.
Shubik-Richards says that in many cases the way inmates are processed is getting a second look.
"Who's going to be detained prior to trial and who can be released to the community awaiting trial? How long does it take to try a case? These are policy and administrative decisions that impact the population."
She says alternatives to time behind bars as a punishment are becoming more common, too.
"Diverting lower-level offenders from the formal court process, or saying that this is the type of person that would benefit from a sanction other than formal incarceration."
Civil rights complaints about jail overcrowding have also prompted local jails to try to get a handle on their population numbers.
The full report can be viewed at www.pewtrusts.org
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