Jail to get new system to assess inmate risk.Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard Last Saturday dawned with another nightmare at the Lane County Jail. To relieve overcrowding overcrowding overcrowding of animal accommodation. Many countries now publish codes of practice which define what the appropriate volumetric allowances should be for each species of animal when they are housed indoors. Breaches of these codes is overcrowding. , the jail's release system freed 31 inmates - including one accused of first-degree robbery, two accused of first-degree sexual abuse and one accused of first-degree assault, all violent Measure 11 crimes carrying mandatory prison terms. The current jail management system determined they were the least risky inmates for release that day. They all left jail without any restrictions on their behavior, without posting any money to ensure their return to court, without any supervision in the community. But jail officials are just weeks away from launching a new system to better determine each inmate's risk to the community and to better use the lower-security forest work camp and work release center to reduce the overall risk level of inmates released because of overcrowding at the jail. "It's really population management to the max so that we don't just let people straight out onto the street," says Lane County sheriff's Lt. Bob Hickok, who teamed with court and probation probation, method by which the punishment of a convicted offender is conditionally suspended. The offender must remain in the community and under the supervision of a probation officer, who is usually a court-appointed official. managers 18 months ago to develop the new Defendant & Offender offender n. an accused defendant in a criminal case or one convicted of a crime. (See: defendant, accused) Management Center. The center will serve as the new door into the jail and will be located in the former Lane County Psychiatric Hospital psychiatric hospital n. A hospital for the care and treatment of patients affected with acute or chronic mental illness. Also called mental hospital. adjacent to the jail. At the heart of the new system is a computerized computerized adapted for analysis, storage and retrieval on a computer. computerized axial tomography see computed tomography. tool the team developed to assess risk based on more than 50 factors shown to have some bearing on an inmate's risk of committing crime and failing to show up for court, as well as overall dangerousness. The risk assessment tool replaces the much simpler matrix, which ranks risk by weighing only two factors - the inmate's past criminal history and severity of the current charge. Unlike the matrix, the new system will shift sentenced inmates within all levels of the corrections program to free up jail beds for high-risk high-risk adjective Referring to an ↑ risk of suffering from a particular condition Infectious disease Referring to an ↑ risk for exposure to blood-borne pathogens, which occurs with blood bank technicians, dental professionals, dialysis unit offenders. Lower-risk jail inmates will move into the forest work camp and bump less-risky inmates from the camp into lower-security work release or road crew custody. "We'll have a domino See Lotus Notes. effect to get to the person we feel is ready to graduate," Hickok says. In a time-saving move, every arrested person will be assessed immediately to determine whether he or she needs to be booked into jail at all. Currently, 70 percent of suspects are released within 24 hours anyway, Hickok says. There will always be a need to release jail inmates because of a shortage of jail beds and because the law does not allow suspects in custody awaiting trial to be moved to work programs. Only convicted offenders can be sentenced to work programs. Nevertheless, the new system should level out the average risk scores of inmates who must be released because of overcrowding. Under the current system, those scores vary wildly. For example, the average matrix risk score for inmates released last Saturday was 297 points, with 11 scoring more than 400 points. On the following day, the average score of those released fell by more than half, to 187, and only two scored more than 300 points. While the new system will better manage jail releases, its larger benefit will come over the long term and behind the scenes, says Lane County Circuit Judge Karsten Rasmussen, a member of the county's Supervisory Authority Team, a group established by elected officials and public safety managers to reorganize re·or·gan·ize v. re·or·gan·ized, re·or·gan·iz·ing, re·or·gan·iz·es v.tr. To organize again or anew. v.intr. To undergo or effect changes in organization. the county's correctional system. The Defendant & Offender Management Center results from the team's determination to reconstruct re·con·struct tr.v. re·con·struct·ed, re·con·struct·ing, re·con·structs 1. To construct again; rebuild. 2. local corrections programs, Rasmussen says. The new approach is to use techniques that are proven by research to reduce crime. The approach also requires an assessment of factors in each offender's lifestyle that contribute to criminal behavior - such as antisocial antisocial /an·ti·so·cial/ (-so´sh'l) 1. denoting behavior that violates the rights of others, societal mores, or the law. 2. denoting the specific personality traits seen in antisocial personality disorder. peer groups, drug abuse, anger problems and poor social or work skills. Research shows some types of offenders will commit substantially less crime if corrections efforts focus on changing certain aspects of their lifestyle. "We'll look at what causes them to commit the crime to begin with," says sheriff's Sgt. Greg Fox Greg Fox may refer to:
Although current budgets don't provide the variety or volume of treatment programs to meet inmate INMATE. One who dwells in a part of another's house, the latter dwelling, at the same time, in the said house. Kitch. 45, b; Com. Dig. Justices of the Peace, B 85; 1 B. & Cr. 578; 8 E. C. L. R. 153; 2 Dowl. & Ry. 743; 8 B. & Cr. 71; 15 E. C. L. R. 154; 2 Man. & Ry. 227; 9 B. & Cr. needs, the process will yield two important results, Fox says. The first is efficiency. The assessments will keep extensive records on inmates, with a management plan in place to increase or decrease security according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the inmate's behavior and progress in treatment. The second is data. As resources become available in the future, data will show where the taxpayers can get the best shot at reducing crime for the dollars invested. "We may not be able to address all the needs because the resources are not available, but we can identify the gaps in services and have this hard data for decision-makers," Hickok says. The new program will begin in late June and will require about 30 days to apply to all current inmates before the program can go into full effect, Hickok says. Part of the program includes an ongoing evaluation of the weight given to each of the 56 factors considered in the assessment so that the process becomes more accurate the longer it is used, he says. The current matrix system should expire expire /ex·pire/ (ek-spi´er) 1. to exhale. 2. to die. ex·pire v. 1. To breathe one's last breath; die. 2. To exhale. on July 26 if all goes as planned. INMATE RISK FACTORS Dozens of factors help predict a crime suspect's risk in three categories: committing more crimes, failing to appear for court, or being a danger if released before trial. A new program at the Lane County Jail will assess inmates on more than 50 risk factors to determine future releases. Here are some of the factors: Past restraining order restraining order: see injunction. violation: higher risk in all three of the categories Past violent felony felony (fĕl`ənē), any grave crime, in contrast to a misdemeanor, that is so declared in statute or was so considered in common law. conviction: higher risk in all categories Past alcohol or drug felony convictions: higher risk in all categories Offender is a homeowner or married: more likely to show up for court; other factors the same Offender has made threats: much higher risk for more crime and to be more dangerous |
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