DRUGS A MAJOR FACTOR IN GA CRIME LEVELS, AUTHORITIES SAY

More Americans are under some form of court-ordered supervision than ever
before, according to a report by the United States Department of Justice.
More than 3 percent of the adult population is either incarcerated, on
probation or on parole. In Georgia, 6.8 percent of the population is under
court-ordered supervision --- that's one out of every 15 Georgians.

Georgia is the state with the highest percentage of residents under
court-ordered supervision. The next highest state is Texas, where 5 percent
of the residents are incarcerated, on parole or on probation.

Most officials blame the numbers on drugs.

"We've got a significant drug problem around here," said Bibb County
District Attorney Howard Simms. "Seventy-five percent of what we deal with
here is drug related."

In the mid-1980s, Simms said, Bibb County saw its first case involving crack
cocaine. That year, the number of felony indictments more than doubled.

The State Board of Pardons & Parole lists property crimes as the most common
reason people are put into the state corrections system. Property crimes
include auto theft, purse snatching, burglary and similar incidents that
involve stealing. The second most common Georgia crime is drugs. But
officials said the two go hand-in-hand.

"A lot of property crimes are drug related," said Kathy Browning, a
spokeswoman for the pardons and paroles board. "People are stealing to
support a drug habit."

Asked why Georgia has such a high percentage of people in the state and
local criminal systems, Browning said there are few other places to put
them.

"We don't have any alternatives to incarceration," she said.

Many other states have drug treatment options and education programs.
Georgia is lacking in those departments, she said.

Bibb County Sheriff Jerry Modena said crimes in general are on the decline
in Georgia. Still, he said, he knows Bibb County has seen increases in auto
theft and burglaries.

Like Simms and Browning, Modena listed drugs as the main culprit.

"The No. 1 mitigating factor since the 1970s has been drugs," he said.

In the early 1960s, Bibb County saw a lot of amphetamines --- people taking
"uppers" in pill form. By the 1970s, marijuana became prevalent. By the time
crack hit the scene, crime skyrocketed, Modena said.

"People will steal and they will sell and they will do anything to get that
drug," he said. "By '85, that's when crack cocaine hit our community, it got
mean."

Where to put them

With 2.7 percent of its population in state prison, on parole or on
probation, Bibb County has the eighth highest criminal supervision rate in
Georgia. Fulton County has the highest rate with 7.1 percent of its
population under some sort of court-ordered state supervision.

Conversely, several Georgia counties run quite low.

Glascock County, for example, has only 24 people in the state system among
its 2,500 residents. That's less than one-tenth of one percent.

But none of those numbers includes felony probation or parole, misdemeanor
probation or those in the county jails.

In Bibb County, for example, 1,156 locals are in state prison. But another
3,670 residents are on felony probation, 539 are in the Bibb County jail and
7,500 to 8,500 are on probation for misdemeanors.

Modena said the jail is near its capacity of 585 people. Occasionally, the
jail gets so close to capacity, he has to make tough decisions.

"When we hit 585, I have my people scanning the computer to look for the
least dangerous person to make room for someone more dangerous," he said. "I
don't like that."

So far, in his nine months as sheriff, he has only had to release a few
female inmates held on minor crimes. They were released to make room for
more violent offenders.

But more jail space is not going to help, Modena said. If the jail doubled
in size, he said, the jail population would double right with it. Nonviolent
offenders are often given probation rather than jail time just because the
jails are so full.

Modena said the court system recently set up a special drug court to handle
first-time offenders. The court, when possible, hands down
mandatory-rehabilitation sentences rather than jail time. Modena said this
helps keep people out of his jail so he can focus on violent criminals.

Modena said he is also working with state officials to brainstorm other
alternatives to jail time. One idea is to provide medical services to the
mentally ill to keep them out of jail, off probation and off parole. DA
Simms said the philosophy behind the drug court is to help first offenders
seek treatment for their drug problems so they are less likely to enter the
system again.

"Instead of putting these people on probation or parole, we try to get them
treatment so they don't come back," he said.

The revolving door

Unfortunately, many parolees in the current system do come back.

Robert Akin, chief parole officer for the Bibb County circuit, said 15
percent to 20 percent of the people he sees on parole will probably be back
in prison some day.

Violations of parole or probation come in two forms, Akin said. A technical
violation or a new offense.

If a parolee or probationer commits a new crime, they are automatically
incarcerated again, Akin said.

On the other hand, technical violators may simply have their supervision
tightened.

A parolee who tests positive for drugs, is a technical violator. A parolee
who misses an appointment with his parole officer is in violation. Not going
to counseling or not paying parole fees are other ways to violate.

"They don't tend to put them back in hard-bed cells unless it's a real
serious technical violation," Akin said.

Melvin Harris, 42, has been on parole for one year since his most recent
stint in prison. He has come in and out of prison three times. Finally, he
said, he is six years off drugs, working hard and living right.

"I kept violating (parole) because I kept with the lifestyle," he said. "I
was still on drugs. I thought it was cool."

But, Harris said, he had to learn for himself that drugs and prison were not
the way he wanted to live his life. Asked if a first-time-offender drug
program could have helped him when he was first arrested --- at 17 years
old --- Harris paused and thought.

"Well," he said slowly. "It probably would have helped. But I might have
just blown it off."