The Cincinnati Beacon - Getting people out of jail who don’t need to be there

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Getting people out of jail who don’t need to be there

Photo courtesy of here.

For those on the political left, opposition to the jail plan sometimes took different forms than the reasons advanced by the right: progressives maintained the first priority was getting people out of jail who should not be there in the first place. While the campaign rhetoric from the right—claiming, sometimes, a need for more jail beds and not “nicer” jail beds—may have seemed to undermine the progressive objection, the failure of Issue 27 has now forced the issue upon the Hamilton County Commission. And it looks like they are implementing some new concepts that will finally get the important work started of cleaning up the process problems that clog our jails with people who don’t need incarceration.

Commissioner David Pepper, who chairs the Structure and Process sub-committee of the Criminal Justice Commission, has released some new, low-and-no-cost plans which can address the problem of unnecessary imprisonment.

“The debate about the jail is over,” explains Pepper. “There will be no tax. There will be no new jail. We will no longer have Butler County at the end of the year. We are going to have to find new solutions.”

In many ways, perhaps newly proposed measures by the sub-committee will be more receptive in the post-election environment. Since Hamilton County, as a whole, tends to vote conservative (with a hard-line towards “criminals” ), measures which could be conceived as “loosening” penalties might have been unpopular just a month ago. But now, faced with budget shortfalls and shrinking jail space, everyone can agree that it is time to re-evaluate our current criminal justice practices.

What are some of the big “front-burner” issues identified by Pepper’s sub-committee?

“Old warrants are clogging up the system, and most of them are ultimately dismissed,” explains Pepper. Eliminating this symptom could ease the problem of incarcerating people who are not a real threat. Pepper also identifies treatment in lieu of conviction as an underutilized option. “This is a judicial order that is rarely used, but it could help deal with the overcrowding.”

Pepper’s committee also identifies the “Separation of Charges” as a big issue.

“Court and jail time and resources are being wasted because cases are being jointly pursued at both the common pleas and municipal court level,” explains Pepper. If one person has two charges, why not deal with them at the same time? This inefficiency clogs our justice system unnecessarily.

The committee has also targeted “holds” as an area in need of further study. This is when people are arrested in Hamilton County, and they get held because another jurisdiction wants them. “We need to get our arms around ‘holds’ in the system, and their impact on the overcrowding,” said Pepper. “They may be taking up numerous jail beds unnecessarily.”

One idea that has gotten some press attention recently is the idea of charging jurisdictions for local ordinances. Would the Cincinnati prosecutors, for example, take such a hard line on pursuing convictions if the City’s shrinking budget could not afford to fund the expenditure? Would that force City prosecutors to stop towing such a hard line, arguably for no other reason than to beef up their resumes?

The committee still has work to be done, which will be easier once the results from the Vera Institute come in December. How many people, for example, get arrested due to “homeless crimes”? Do we have homeless people in jail for public urination? Could other out-of-the-box concepts address these problems (like port-o-lets made available in areas with high incidences of such arrests)?

The next few months could be big for Hamilton County in terms of fixing a broken justice system that puts more people behind bars than need to be there.

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JFD says:
24 Nov 2007 at 03:48 pm | #

Dexter Ford is homeless. Should we provide semi-unconscious women so that rape is not classified as a “homeless” crime? The “crime” is the criminal activity one is engaged in; not where one lives.

says:
24 Nov 2007 at 04:08 pm | #

JFD,

Thanks for giving me a chance to clarify.

“Homeless crimes” does not refer to crimes committed by homeless people; instead, it refers to “crimes” that tend to be committed by virtue of homelessness. Public urination is a good example. If one does not get into the shelter for the night, during the middle of the night, where is one to urinate? A homeless person has no choice but to do it outside. If seen by an officer, that can cause arrest and a night in jail, taking up jail space.

Should jail space be used for homeless people who need to pee in the middle of the night?

This is not to say that property owners should be forced to tolerate homeless individuals urinating in their yards. That’s why, in the article, we posed the hypothetical port-o-let. It could be that public urination decreases when people are given a place to urinate.

Jones says:
24 Nov 2007 at 05:43 pm | #

Samuel Broomfield is homeless. In fact, he was dismissed from a group home in Avondale. Mr. Broomfield somehow manages to get to my neighborhood in sloppy state of intoxication, has been found by the police & post office box renters sleeping it off in the post office foyer. Not once, but twice.

The day before the Thankgiving holiday, Mr. Broomfield was highly intoxicated, at a bus stop, fondling himself. Children were out of school at that time & people were finishing their shopping for the holiday.

As an aside, Mr. Broomfield gives his address as the Drop In Shelter. Residents & businesses throughout the City know the motto by heart, “It isn’t what goes on inside the Drop, it’s what goes on outside.”

I am supposed to be tolerant, forgiving & understanding of such crass behavior that taints the image we, as residents & community volunteers, are working so hard to overcome? Are we to put ourselves in such a position accept this? More importantly, would you accept this on your street? In your neighborhood? Personally, I’ve had my fill of homeless individuals utilizing my property for a laundry list of their needs.

Port-o-lets in high crime areas is not the answer. Great place for the drug dealers to stash their inventory & cash. Fabulous place for the crack prostitutes to score a fast $20. Not in my neighborhood will there be a port-a-potty, unless it’s for those working on infrastructure in the community. Actually, the Miller Pipeline contractors had to remove port-o’s because of criminal behaviors.

says:
24 Nov 2007 at 06:47 pm | #

Port-o-lets is an example of trying to think of another solution, not necessarily THE be-all-end-all-answer.

Mr. Broomfield, I believe, is not indicative of the criminal behavior of the majority of those arrested for “homeless crimes.” Surely you do not suggest that most people arrested for public urination also fondle themselves at bus stops in front of school children.

The point of this strand is not to complain about criminal behavior, but to wonder if there are ways to lessen the jail load by not incarcerating those who do not need incarceration. Decriminalizing homeless is just one of several ideas articulated above. What do you think about the others?

cincysuz says:
24 Nov 2007 at 07:10 pm | #

I think Broomfield is typical of a certain population of mentally ill people whose illness encompasses perhaps addiction, manic depression, maybe bi-polar, that have been neglected for a long period of time without support services to keep them functional. Sick people do sick things. Society has an obligation to take care of them. There shouldn’t be one homeless person in America. Not one.

says:
24 Nov 2007 at 07:40 pm | #

From the article above:

Pepper also identifies treatment in lieu of conviction as an underutilized option. “This is a judicial order that is rarely used, but it could help deal with the overcrowding.”

Cincysuz, that reminds me of your comment—and it looks like something Pepper is trying to address.

I also remember Lynn Ausman’s report about homelessness, and I’d like to know more about permanent supportive housing. She claimed—I think on Newsmakers—that it was cheaper than jail. (Yet another reason why jail is not the answer.)

cincysuz says:
24 Nov 2007 at 10:08 pm | #

I just looked up Samuel Broomfield on the Clerk of Courts. He has over 100 arrests for open flask, public indecency, public intoxication, trespass, etc. 100 ARRESTS. With all the resources that have been funneled into this one individual’s addiction and mental problems it seems like it would be cheaper for the taxpayers to put him up in an apartment where he could do his business in private. I admit I didn’t read every single entry but after about 2 dozen or so, it seemed obvious that he’s not a violent criminal, a danger to society, but a terminally troubled person and surely not a welcome addition to any neighborhood. He should be the “poster guy” for what’s wrong with the system. This is disgraceful that someone has had that many encounters with the legal system and after 10, 20, 50, 80 arrests he still hasn’t been helped. Some will say that he, or people like him, don’t want to be helped but no one wants to live in the streets on somebody else’s garbage with only the demons in their head for company.

Freedom Fighters says:
24 Nov 2007 at 10:49 pm | #

Then there was Longview until more humane ways to deal with mental illness. Now, they are just homeless.

Every city park should have restrooms and showers.
.

anon says:
24 Nov 2007 at 11:21 pm | #

I think homelessness is a symptom of the real issues: mental illness or addiction. I think it is cruel to continue to ignore this fact and that our current system is inadequate to address their needs.

I’m soo glad our progressive leaders are still addressing the issues to the best of their ability - regardless of the funding challenges.

Vera Z says:
25 Nov 2007 at 02:17 am | #

Hey Cincysue, I agree with you, The problems of the homeless have been neglected by all of us far too long, and jail is not the answer.

Dean, Permanent supportive housing sounds like one possible answer, I too would like to know more about it. Vera Z

Quim says:
25 Nov 2007 at 09:37 am | #

Speaking of peeing.
It’s not always just a homeless thing.
I encountered a young woman urinating on one of the public hillside stairways in northern OTR awhile ago. She was not homeless. She was very embarrassed. I don’t think she was intoxicated or mentally ill.
She just had to go & had chosen a fairly secluded spot.
She apologized to me, but as I went past & told her, “donworryboutit”, I thought about where the nearest public restroom was. Near as I could figure - at least a mile & it might not have been open at the time.
We live in a rather cage pilot centric environment that is, frequently, not too friendly to the ped.
To think this girl could have faced charges is ludicrous.

says:
25 Nov 2007 at 09:51 am | #

I suppose that, sometimes, public urination is done with malicious intent. But I believe that, usually, it comes from necessity.

I’m reminded of that big open restroom project from some Eastern country…

Maybe 3CDC could do one of those in OTR!

says:
25 Nov 2007 at 09:53 am | #

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/5414

Jones says:
25 Nov 2007 at 10:09 am | #

Cincysuz, by giving a sketch of Mr. Broomfield, you went off the strand, in complaining about criminal behavior. I was chastised by Jason at the get-go when I initially brought up Broomfield. I was chosen as the complainer of criminal behavior. I’ve witnessed too many times mental illness go hand in hand with criminal behavior in my neighborhood.

The point of this strand is not to complain about criminal behavior, but to wonder if there are ways to lessen the jail load by not incarcerating those who do not need incarceration.

We’ve got to be careful of what we have to say on this blog & to ensure it fits with the mindset of the blog owners. That’s the new rules.

Given that, I’m not a licensed, professional social worker, nor am I in practice in the medical arena. I don’t believe anyone who submits comments here are in these practices, either.

However, I agree the entire mental health help system has failed those in need of care. But the system has no shame, no compunction about sticking their hands in our money for tax levies & have proven virtually nothing.

This city & others nationwide, are faced with the same scenarios. Since the demise of professional facilities, such as Longview, there are individuals not receiving the daily care & treatment they need to live a decent life. Some individuals are not candidates for their own living quarters.

It seems to me that the Dexter Fords, the Sam Broomfields, the Tameka Johnsons, the Colleen Smiths, need to be provided with a setting where they can be properly assessed for all medical conditions, including mental health problems, placed on a sensible care plan & worked with on a daily basis to overcome the items that are holding them back. That goes without saying that there are some who are so profoundly ill that such a path will not work. I believe residences need to be established to provide such care. I don’t like using the word institution or insane asylums. That’s ancient medical history. I’d like to think medical-mental health has progressed enough to understand how to manage each individual’s health & well being so they may lead a better, safer, cleaner life.

The mental health community has gone largely unchecked, not questioned about their goals, objectives & benchmarks. They need to be challenged about exactly what they are doing. Until that happens, we are going to have the Fords, the Broomfields, and so on, upset & annoy the greater community with their felony & misdemeanor behaviors. No one wins. The neighborhoods suffer & those individuals with problems that need to be addressed will continue their downward trends & negative behaviors.

cincysuz says:
25 Nov 2007 at 10:18 am | #

Of course there are answers. Provide housing choices including subsidized independent living, group homes and mental health facilities like Longview (but better) with concentrated support services including qualified individuals dedicated to assisting with medical and mental health care, addiction, medication management, job and life skills training. In other words, all the services that a concerned society felt morally obligated to provide pre-Reagan years. It wasn’t ideal but we didn’t dump mentally ill people into the streets and mental illness wasn’t a crime and neither was poverty. Of course that takes money and those that propose new programs may be accused of trying to actually create more mentally ill people rather than help them or that necessary funding is regressive. So nothing will change. There are very simple solutions and they all take money.

When people decide they’re not their brother’s keeper, they shouldn’t bitch when their brother has no place to piss but in their backyard.

komarek says:
25 Nov 2007 at 05:08 pm | #

When people decide they’re not their brother’s keeper, they shouldn’t bitch when their brother has no place to piss but in their backyard.

This is so true. I was for the jail tax primarily because of the increased availability of treatment (not to mention the inhumane/unsafe/insecure conditions at Queensgate - so bad that no one is allowed to even photograph them!).

I’m glad that people are reacting to the levy defeat by addressing some of the system-driven issues. But it is after all the decisions of police officers, prosecutors and judges that practically speaking drive up prisoner numbers.

- We are criminalizing children by turning the most minor school incidents into crimes. Nowadays schools have police officers onsite whose standard procedure is to issue citations in cases that should be resolved with conversations with parents.

- We criminalize men and women who get out of hand in low-grade domestic violence situations. Police have no choice but to haul someone in. There are no warnings, no cool-downs anymore. I am sympathetic to all sides in this debate, but the “criminalization” trigger is just too quickly pulled right now. The rate that these cases get dismissed for non-cooperating witnesses is staggering.

- While Hamilton County does have a mental health court that will divert people from confinement to treatment, it only serves (as of September) some 35 persons. Even trivial violence kicks someone from eligibility for the service. Many defense attorneys advise people to take the 30 days instead of getting treatment.

- While some Hamilton County jurisdictions have mental health response teams, the local model does not have all the features of the “CIT” program (also known as the Memphis Plan), a national model.

My question is how well we will do to resolve the disputes that could be criminalized, but really shouldn’t be.

--pk---

anon says:
25 Nov 2007 at 08:00 pm | #

I think the elephant in the room is going to turn out to be the mental health system itself.

Helping a client dealing with an unruly teenager - I sought help for 3 weeks before giving up thinking that counseling/services would help put some restraints on her son’s behavior and address normal teenage behavior run amok.

I thought my client was full of baloney when she said she couldn’t find any immediate intervention services and that there was a 3 month wait list. Until I made calls myself

The Central Clinic kept saying - refer him to court - I was flabbergasted! I told them, look we just passed a mental health levy and voted down a jail levy - so where are the services to teenagers? I couldn’t believe it. They actually want parents, teachers and advocates to file criminal charges on these kids rather than create a system that addresses the need

(My uncle once said we need a 1-800-CALL DAD line where some big, strong male walks in the door of these homes without fathers and puts the fear of God into these kids while also giving them some good, respectable role models to talk to them father-son or father-daughter)

komarek says:
26 Nov 2007 at 06:51 am | #

Anon:

You are right about the need for a better mental health system. Mental illness drives the criminal justice system just as hard as drugs and liquor.

The publicly-funded mental health system is a travesty for people across the US. Ohio has a relatively good one, and Hamilton County a better one than many places in Ohio. Still there are very many problems, especially with access to care. The best information on the intersection of mental health and criminal justice is Crazy by Pete Earley.

Unfortunately there are too many physicians in the mental health system who believe - quite falsely - that calling the police will lead to treatment. It does not. Every time I hear stories like yours I see tragedies in the making.

The best choice to connect with treatment is to call the mental health access point - 513-558-8888 - to connect with the mobile crisis team. Or take a juvenile to Children’s Hospital, an adult to University Hospital’s psychiatric emergency room, or a veteran to the VA. You can get help immediately at these places if the person is really psychotic.

For the merely distressed, non-suicidal but troubled person—good luck. You are right about having to wait. Every one involved in the local mental health community knows this. You may be able to connect with a private doctor if you have good insurance, but even that can be hard. For example, Anthem cut its reimbursements to psychotherapists last year, and many of the largest treatment sources stopped taking Anthem patients.

The local mental health board knows that care for the “non-severe” (that is, for people who are suffering but are not chronically disabled, psychotic, or criminal-justice involved) is not adequate. They have good intentions about providing the care, but are reluctant to ask for a tax levy big enough to really fund that level of service.

The just-passed mental health levy barely holds the local system even for the next few years. The jail tax would have funded many programs that would have benefited persons with mental illness caught up in the criminal justice system, including prevention programs—programs pretty much as you described. “Fear of God” and “some good, respectable role models” are among the basic techniques used by many of the best youth services/prevention programs.

The best place to meet with people who have experienced mental illness in their lives, or who have lived with its effects on family members is NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The website is http://www.nami-hc.org.

--pk---

anon says:
27 Nov 2007 at 01:46 am | #

The mental health access point, mobile crisis unit, Lighthouse, and Children’s psych intake social worker - were the most frightening purveyors of bad advice.

One of few times - I was at a loss to help. It felt terrible. The mother said she was going to file a criminal complaint - but 20/20 is full too - so that oughta stoke the fires of turmoil for them

Geez

cincysuz says:
27 Nov 2007 at 06:44 am | #

Dealing for more than 30 years with the “system” on behalf of a bi-polar, manic depressive relative (no, not me), my family has watched services evaporate until now there’s nothing left but a few days’ emergency treatment and then turned out with a bagful of whatever meds are approved on his plan and no followup. Case workers no longer have time, blood levels (medication monitoring)not measured because medical plans won’t pay, visits with psychologists or psych social workers only on an emergency basis. Those with mental disease that could have some successes, work jobs, maintain independent living, with good services and care have joined the lost population. Families aren’t equipped to do it and many of those that are homeless don’t have families or are abandoned because they’re too difficult to handle. If my relative didn’t have a large involved family he’d also be incarcerateed and that may yet come. In fact when a high profile case, constantly in the news, gets into his head he inevitably begins to believe he committed the crime and the anxiety and guilt cause him to turn himself into the police. A day in the life.

komarek says:
27 Nov 2007 at 07:12 am | #

Anon -

Finding good care is a challenge. You aren’t the first to report “frightening” advice from the mental health system. I am aware of several families who have practically had to go to war with these agencies to get proper care.

But there are hardly ever any quick cures for these conditions either. Resolving these issues for any person, any family, can take years. When a person is in crisis, the number one concern is often mere safety. The system struggles to provide even that. When it can’t it’s easy to see the jail as the “safe place.”

Corrections officials locally know that mentally ill persons need treatment, not incarceration. But where is the treatment for people in crisis in our community?

Would you support a tax increase to pay for more access to the costliest services the mental health system can offer? Services that would benefit people whose conditions are truly stigmatized, whose behavior is appalling, and who, for the most part, are not dealing with their problems at all?

--pk---

cincysuz says:
27 Nov 2007 at 05:30 pm | #

If you’re talking to me Komarek of course I’d support a tax increase to provide good quality comprehensive services for the mentally ill. I would also support a tax increase to provide safe housing for homeless families so children can thrive and not live in hopelessness. It’s the right thing to do. For those that don’t have a heart, it’s practical because when people are desperate, they’ll eventually come and take what you’ve got. And for those with a social conscience, it’s just the moral, right thing to do. Win-win.

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