NCJ Number
172470
Journal
American Jails Volume: 11 Issue: 6 Dated: (January/February 1998) Pages: 15,17-18
Date Published
1998
Length
3 pages
Annotation
The experience of Monroe County (Fla.) demonstrates how a cooperative partnership between jail staff and managers and their counterparts in pretrial services programs can have a significant impact on jail population management and other problems experienced by jails.
Abstract
Monroe County includes the Florida Keys and the largely uninhabited Everglades and has a population of 78,000 in a large geographic area. Some four million tourists visit the area each year. About 12,000 arrests occur annually; arrestees are booked into one of three facilities. Severe jail overcrowding in the late 1980s led to the establishment of a pretrial services program in 1988. Correctional personnel initially regarded the pretrial staff as interlopers, but they soon realized that a cooperative relationship could be mutually beneficial. Areas in which this cooperative relationship have resulted in improvements include jail records, fast tracking, health risks, jail overcrowding, judicial liaison, and the improvement of programs both inside and outside the jail. The detention system has been transforming its management strategy over the last several months from an autocratic one to a more collegial, participatory approach. In addition, the jail is being regarded as a facility to address chronic problems presented by the inmate population rather than one that only warehouses prisoners. The pretrial program is shifting at the same time from a strict supervisory role to one based on social service models. As a result, the system may expand to encompass increased defendant programming both in and out of detention.