NCJ Number
78706
Date Published
1981
Length
62 pages
Annotation
Prepared in response to the jail crisis in New York State, this handbook addresses research techniques that community groups can use to top expansion of jails or penitentiaries and advocate less costly and more humane altenatives to incarceration.
Abstract
An introductory outline of key strategies for reducing the use of imprisonment covers stopping new jail or penitentiary expansion, removing offenders who do not present a danger to society from institutions, and using more community-based sanctions and services. Themes for community education are suggested. The manual emphasizes that the basic issue in New York State's jail crisis is unnecessary imprisonment rather than overcrowded and antiquated facilities. Costs of jailing and the influence that citizens can exercise over jail policies are discussed. Sources of information on the size, composition, and characteristics of New York's jail population are identified. Methodologies for forecasting jail populations, determining existing jail capacities, and estimating the size of the jail population are detailed. Because characteristics of the jail population are important in discussing issues of unnecessary imprisonment, statistical categories which should receive special attention are noted. The section on jail costs outlines methods to calculate operating and capital expenditures. Standards developed by the State Commission of Corrections are recommended as a checklist for citizens who wish to research jail conditions. Excerpts from a report of the Genesee Judicial Process Commission on alternatives to incarceration are provided as an example of effective data presentation. Tabular data and illustrations are given. A list of agencies working to reduce jail populations and informational materials on similar community programs are appended.