NCJ Number
205876
Journal
Crime and Delinquency Volume: 50 Issue: 3 Dated: July 2004 Pages: 458-482
Editor(s)
Elizabeth P. Deschenes
Date Published
July 2004
Length
25 pages
Annotation
Using interviews and surveys of criminal justice leaders in a large southern metropolitan county, this study examined perspectives on jail crowding and perceived interagency relationships.
Abstract
The problem of crowding and the efficient management of jail resources have concerned criminal justice researchers and decisionmakers for decades. Because various criminal justice agencies use jails for their incarceration needs, the problem of jail crowding is not an issue exclusive to jails and local correctional administrators. To provide insight into the issue of jail crowding on a local level, the current study assessed the views of practitioners and policy makers in one southern jurisdiction with regard to several aspects of jail crowding. The study focused on the perceptions of policy makers in Orange County, FL, which maintains one of the largest jail systems in the country. Twenty-nine local leaders participated in the study. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and questionnaires. All interviews were completed and 27 of the questionnaires were returned. The data from the survey suggest that the respondents believe jail crowding is problematic, and nearly two thirds considered it the most important issue of all those that the county must confront. However, knowledge about the precise extent of jail crowding was not broadly shared, and views on the point at which jail crowding becomes problematic varied widely. The findings also show that the respondents largely agreed on the possible consequences resulting from jail crowding, and they also recognized the symbiotic nature of local corrections and other criminal justice agencies. When it came to considering ways to alleviate crowding, however, a broad and unified vision that could facilitate a systems approach did not exist. 5 tables, 6 notes, and 23 references