New Dimensions in Probation - Georgia's Experience With Intensive Probation Supervision (IPS)

• NCJ Number: 102848
• Author(s): B S Erwin; L A Bennett
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 7 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: National Institute of Justice Research in Brief

Annotation

This evaluation, which analyzed data on all probationers in Georgia's Intensive Probation Supervision (IPS) program between 1982 and 1985 (2,322 probationers), found that IPS reduced the prison population, cost less than prison, and produced less recidivism than regular probation.

Abstract

The IPS mandates five officer-probationer face-to-face contacts per week, 132 hours of community service, curfew, employment, a weekly check of local arrest records and automatic notification of arrest elsewhere in the State, and regular unannounced alcohol and drug testing. Evaluators tracking comparison groups for 18 months measured the number of arrests, convictions, and incarcerations. To determine the extent to which IPS probationers were diverted from prison, the researchers analyzed factors that predict the prison-versus-probation decision. Georgia sentencing statistics for 1982-1985 show a 10-percent reduction in the percentage of felons sentenced to incarceration. The IPS selected serious but nonviolent offenders who would otherwise have been imprisoned. IPS was more costly than regular probation but less costly than prison. IPS offenders committed fewer and less serious crimes than regular probationers and prison releasees. 2 data tables.