CORRECTIONS
Declining inmate population means major changes in corrections
BRIAN DAWE
Declining crime rates, decreased inmate populations, prison closings and counties consolidating all signal major changes ahead for our profession. The majority of these issues are beyond our control. The best we can do is to position ourselves to have a seat at the table when the policy changes that these issues will foster are being debated. No one knows better than we do the impact that change can have in a correctional environment. And no one will be more affected by these changes than the men and women who work there and the incarcerated who reside there.
For the past 25 years, the crime rate has dropped in almost every category. Even though the homicide rate ticked up slightly last year, it is still only a notch above its 47-year low. Violent crime overall has steadily declined since 1990, approaching rates we have not seen since early 1970. Our juvenile detention facilities have seen a population decline of more than 54 percent since 2005. The number of federal inmates has declined by more than 15 percent since 2014.
The current administration in Washington D. C. has reversed the prior administration’ s decision to end private prison contracts. Instead, we will be sending immigration detainees to these private vendors( already 11 percent of all federal inmates, and more than 18,000 in private prisons). Today, nine of the 10 largest federal detentions centers for immigrant detainees are run by private prison corporations. Just hours after the current president was elected, the two largest private prison companies saw their stock prices skyrocket. CoreCivic( formerly CCA) and GEO( formerly Wackenhut) jumped by 43 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
State legislatures nationwide are eyeing ways to decrease the inmate population, increasingly relying on GPS and house arrest policies. The success of bail bond legislation in New Jersey is setting the tone for other states considering bail reform, which greatly reduces intake at our county jails. Drug laws are being relaxed, with drug courts adjudicating and rehabilitation centers housing offenders, taking the place of county jails. Mandatory minimums are being struck down and three-strike laws challenged. Segregation is under attack and can undermine our ability to control certain segments of the inmate population. Change is coming, and fast.
Under this climate, is anyone surprised when counties look to consolidation to save costs or the state looks to close prisons because of the declining inmate population? Our criminal justice system is undergoing a major makeover, even when it comes to personnel. All law enforcement agencies and officers are under the microscope. Even venerable and respected organizations like the CIA and FBI are under unprecedented scrutiny.
Not all of these changes are bad. It’ s not unreasonable to look for alternatives for nonviolent offenders rather than incarceration. From a security standpoint, fewer inmates usually results in fewer violent outbreaks and a safer environment for all of us behind the walls, and as taxpayers, it costs less. When it comes to bail reform, in the land where we are all presumed innocent until proven otherwise, should freedom be determined by an individual’ s ability or inability to pay, or it should be based on the danger presented to the community if the individual is given bail and released? The results and implications of three-strikesyou’ re-out laws and mandatory minimums can be debated with equal passion and resolve from both sides as well. These are not always black-and-white issues. They are societal and deal with norms, demographics and the mood of the country on a macro level or a community on a local level. But they do foretell changes, and we do see them coming.
Historically in corrections, these challenges were often faced after the fact. We find ourselves cleaning up the messes of dogood legislation or backwards policies at every turn. Every election or new appointment to a position of authority in corrections results in change. Some people think they have a better way, or they simply want their name on a sheet of paper showing their authority.
As a profession, we often let things happen to us rather than make things happen for us. So, I am grateful for the opportunity to work with proactive organizations like the NJSPBA and the Michigan Corrections Organization. New Jersey has commissioned forward-looking reports to address the issue of population decline, so be prepared for it. Michigan has started the One Voice Initiative, inserting our voices into the national legislative and policymaking apparatus. There are other great forward-thinking organizations out there as well. The FOP in D. C., CWA FODCOP in Maryland and the NJSOA right in New Jersey are only a few of the organizations with which we work closely.
Change is in the air, and our failure to recognize it and get ahead of it is at our own peril. Being proactive isn’ t for the other guy to do. Being proactive also means being a realist and seeing change for what it is: inevitable. What isn’ t inevitable is how we react to it. d
Brian Dawe spent 16 years as a state correctional officer in Massachusetts, beginning on May 31, 1982. He is a co-founder of the Massachusetts Correction Officers Federated Union, administrator for the Corrections and Criminal Justice Coalition and the executive director for Corrections USA and the American Correctional Officer. He is the originator and owner of the American Correctional Officer Intelligence Network.
20 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ MAY 2018