NCJ Number
111006
Date Published
1988
Length
44 pages
Annotation
Despite an unprecedented facility expansion program and a focus on alternatives to incarceration, the problem of jail and prison overcrowding in Connecticut persists and is worsening.
Abstract
Projections of prison populations in the State indicate that the alarming increases since 1982 will continue. Current construction projects should add 1,600 new beds to the correctional system by 1992. Alternatives developed to ease overcrowding include the bail commission, the Alternative Sentencing Center, the Connecticut Center on Sentencing Alternatives, halfway houses, supervised home release, intensive probation, electronic surveillance, and adult probation programs. Given the intensity of effort and financial outlay that has already taken place without solving the problem, it is evident that while facility expansion and alternative programs are essential, they are insufficient. Additional approaches will be needed. Possible options include a change in sentencing practices to reduce the number of persons incarcerated and the length of sentences and the expansion of programs to reduce the probability of criminal behaviors among high-risk populations. A study of these two initiatives is recommended. 9 figures.