JAIL POPULATION CHANGES OVER 4 YEARS

More people were booked into the Hamilton County Justice Center in
2006 than in 2002 and more of them had multiple charges filed against
them.

But - with the exception of those charged with very serious crimes -
inmates did not stay in jail as long.

The findings were among many released Tuesday in a study aimed at
finding ways to reduce the county's jail population.

It is unclear how much of the decline in the length of stay was
because of rehabilitation and intervention programs and how much was
because of early releases.

The study found that those jailed on drunken driving and other motor
vehicle charges spent less time in jail in 2006. Hamilton County
Municipal Judge Nadine Allen attributed the drop to new intervention
programs.

Barbara Tombs, senior fellow for the Vera Institute of Justice, which
conducted the study, said the decreases in length of stay,
specifically among lower-level crimes, indicate Hamilton County is
starting to address some issues to reduce its inmate population. But
it still has a long way to go, she said.

"It's very positive that we're seeing changes from 2002 in that
direction, but at the same time there are still process problems and
other problems," she said.

Hamilton County has been grappling with the chronic problem of too
many inmates and too few jail beds. Last November, voters defeated a
countywide sales tax increase that would have built a bigger jail.

Officials hope the Vera study will help them decide how to focus their
resources.

"This will allow us to shape a lot of what we do as a community and a
county," said County Commissioner David Pepper.

The study examined and compared jail bookings in 2006 and
2002.

In 2006, for example, 31,020 t people were booked on 48,267 charges.
In 2002, 29,488 people were booked on 44,459 charges.

The results were released during a meeting of the Criminal Justice
Commission, a group of local leaders in the criminal justice field
working to increase public safety.

The Vera Institute recommended the group study those jailed on drug
and property charges. Those offenders took up a lot of jail beds and
could potentially benefit the most from diversion programs, Tombs said.

It also recommended the county look into getting a new data management
system, streamline its criminal justice procedures, create a tool to
measure recidivism and adopt a program to assess inmates risks and
needs.

The report didn't cost county taxpayers anything; Vera paid for it
using federal grant money.

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Sidebar Summary
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Slightly more people were booked into the jail in 2006 than in 2002.

Fewer young people and more older people were booked in 2006 than in
2002.

More people were booked on multiple charges in 2006 than in
2002.

In 2006 drug and property offenses accounted for the highest
percentages of the total charges filed, whereas in 2002 motor vehicle
offenses did.

People were not staying in jail as long in 2006 (15 days average) as
in 2002 (20 days average) with the exception of people booked on
weapons charges or for crimes against another person such as rape,
murder and assault.

The percent of jail bed days used by those booked on drunken driving
and motor vehicle offenses was much lower in 2006 than in 2002. In
contrast, the number of bed days used by those booked on drug charges
increased significantly.

In 2006, people booked for drug and property crimes had more extensive
criminal histories than others.

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