TYPICAL JAIL INMATE ISN'T HOMELESS, SURVEY FINDS

Men who are arrested and booked into the Sacramento County jail are not
likely to be homeless, but are likely to have finished high school, and
more often than not, they have a job, according to a new survey. A profile
of the typical male inmate at the jail was compiled in a survey released
Monday by the Institute for Social Research at California State University,
Sacramento.

The results show that at any given time 77 percent of the men arrested will
test positive for drug use, but the overwhelming drugs of choice are
marijuana and alcohol.

The survey, whose data were collected quarterly from 2000 to 2002, is part
of an ongoing federally funded study of jail populations in 35 locations
nationwide designed to examine the link between drug use and criminal behavior.

"The arrest population is more socially grounded than we would have
expected," said Joseph Sheley, co-author of the study and dean of the
college of social sciences and interdisciplinary studies at the university.

And maybe less violent. Of the top five most common reasons for arrests,
domestic violence -- 8 percent of arrests -- was the only type of crime
against other people. Sheley noted that the homeless population, widely
regarded as criminal, make up a relatively small portion of the arrestees
at 11 percent.

The survey, the first in a series, provides a snapshot of who gets
arrested, which could lend insight on issues such as public health and
safety or other social issues, Sheley said.

"Knowing our arrestee population is knowing more than just about our
crime," he said.

The survey will be conducted in future years to measure changes. For
example, an upswing in heroin users -- now 6 percent of male arrestees --
could signal an increase in public health issues related to contaminated
needles such as hepatitis, AIDS or tuberculosis, Sheley said.

Researchers interviewed a sample of inmates, examined arrest records and
collected voluntary urine samples to test for drugs the past three years.

Results from the selected sample should not vary from the whole male jail
population more than 2 percent, Sheley said.

Men are 80 percent of the 50,000 arrests at the jail, and the survey
focused only on them. At least 87 percent of those men had been arrested
before.

Their median age is 31. Other characteristics: 43 percent are white; 26
percent are college-educated; 75 percent graduated from high school; 53
percent work full or part time; 5 percent are arrested on suspicion of
murder, robbery, rape or aggravated assault; 61 percent have no health
insurance; 54 percent are single.

The most likely zip codes of arrested men are 95814, downtown Sacramento;
95815, North Sacramento; or 95823, south Sacramento.

By their own admission, 34 percent will say they are alcoholics, and 48
percent are drug addicts. At least 13 percent of the arrestees have been
mental health inpatients, and 35 percent have been in some kind of drug
treatment.

The most likely to test positive -- 82 percent -- are those arrested for
drug offenses. The next most likely are those arrested for property
offenses, of which 80 percent tested positive. The next is domestic
violence arrestees, 68 percent of whom tested positive.

The other top-five reasons for arrest besides domestic violence are drug
possession, parole violation, driving under the influence and public
disturbance, which altogether make up 51 percent of the charges.

The figures point to the depth of the problem of domestic violence, said
Nicolette Bautista, executive director of Women Escaping a Violent
Environment in Sacramento.

The arrest figures are hopeful in one way, she said. In the past, the law
and attitudes allowed abusers to stay out of jail, she said.

"It means the police officers are doing a good job of taking this issue
seriously," Bautista said.

The relatively low arrest rate for homeless men is not surprising, said
Robert Tobin, executive director of Sacramento Cottage Housing.

A recent study of the Sacramento region concluded that the typical homeless
person is a 7-year-old white girl, he said.

"There is this whole myth that they're bums and they're criminals," said
Tobin, who oversees a transitional housing program.

As the economy declines, though, the numbers could increase along with the
homeless population, he said.