Jfa Institute Report on La County Jail Population 2012
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The JFA Institute Denver, CO/Malibu, CA/Washington, D.C. Conducting Justice and Corrections Research for Effective Policy Making Evaluation of the Current and Future Los Angeles County Jail Population Prepared by James Austin, Ph.D. Wendy Naro‐Ware Roger Ocker Robert Harris Robin Allen April 10, 2012 720 Kearney St. Denver, CO 80220 Ph. 3033771556 www.JFAAssociates.com Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank a number of people who helped prepare this report. In particular, Sheriff Leroy Baca made himself and senior staff available at all times during the course of the study. Among his senior staff, Chief Alex Yim facilitated all of the data requests and onsite visits. Commander Gerald Cooper and his staff assisted in the extracting of the data needed to conduct the statistical analysis. In particular Sgt. Ryan Vienna and Deputy John Jansen were very helpful in gathering the data required for this study. About the JFA Institute Founded in 2003, the JFA Institute is a multi‐disciplinary research center whose mission is to conduct theoretical and applied research on the causes of crime and the justice system’s responses to crime and offenders. It receives diverse funding from federal, state, and local governmental agencies, as well as from foundations interested in developing and evaluating innovative crime prevention, law enforcement, sentencing and correctional policies and programs designed to reduce crime and to improve the quality of the adult and juvenile justice systems. We disseminate our studies and policy recommendations through research reports, criminal justice and criminology periodicals, books, and seminars. Since the recent creation of the new JFA organization in 2003, we have become actively involved in conducting research and providing technical assistance to state and local agencies in several states. Our major clients include the National Institute of Corrections, National Institute of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, and over 20 states and local public correctional and law enforcement agencies. JFA is currently conducting similar jail studies for the New York City Department of Corrections, Orleans Parish Prison, Maricopa County (Phoenix), Baltimore City Detention System, Santa Cruz County, and San Francisco County. 1 Project Summary Population, Crime and Arrest Trends 1. There has been a dramatic decline in the County’s crime rate since 2000 and it is projected that the crime rate will continue to remain low. 2. The number of adults being arrested for felonies has declined, but the number being arrested for a misdemeanor level crime has not. The major reason why the misdemeanor arrest numbers have not declined is large increases for people arrested for possession of marijuana, violation of city ordinances and Failure to Appear (FTA) violations. 3. Collectively, the county’s demographic, crime and arrest trends suggest no increases in the Los Angeles County Jail bookings. 4. While the County population will continue to increase, it will become an older population and have a smaller proportion of the at‐risk population. County Jail Trends Bookings 5. There were approximately 400,000 admissions to the LASD’s jail and field stations in 2011. Of this number about 143,000 were actually admitted to the jail custody division. Due to multiple bookings within a year, there were about 118,000 people booked into the custody division. 6. Consistent with the demographic, crime and arrest trends there has been a decline in bookings. Specifically, in 1990 there were 260,765 bookings. In 2000 it was 162,406. In 2011 it had dropped to 142,862. Jail Population 7. Consistent with the decline in bookings, the jail population had significantly declined from a peak in 1990 of 22,000 to slightly under 15,000 by September 2011. 8. The decline in the jail population has served to lower the county’s jail incarceration rate to 152 per 100,000 population which is well below the state rate of 189 per 100,000. 9. Jail population is largely composed of three separate legal statuses; pretrial (45%), sentenced with a pending charge (18%), sentenced (37%). The majority (78%)of the jail population is either charged or sentenced for a felony level crime. 10. About half of the pretrial inmates are charged with a violent or sex crime. Conversely only 25% of the sentenced population has been convicted of a violent or sex crime. 11. There is a very large medium custody population (about 70%) which is atypical of most California jail systems. The Northpointe Institute’s classification system – in particular the re‐classification system‐ is not being used properly which is causing some level of over‐classification. 2 Length of Stay 12. The length of stay (LOS) has not been declining, remaining at the 40 day range. This number is significantly higher than the state average LOS of 17 days. 13. The longer LOS is related to a lack of pretrial release program, delays in court processing of criminal cases, and the sentence lengths being imposed by the court. 14. About 1/3rd of all bookings are released within three days – nearly 40 % are released within 7 days. Those who are not released within 7 days will remain in custody an average of 87 days. 15. Most (about 2/3rds) of the inmates are being released to community and/or under the supervision of probation and state parole. 16. There is a large number of inmates being released to ICE. These ICE inmates occupy about 2,100 beds on any given day in the jail. Projected Jail Population Projections 17. Had AB 109 not passed, the current jail population would have likely remained at the 14,500 – 15,000 level. 18. With the passage of AB 109, the sentenced population will increase by about 7,000 over the next two years and then stabilize. 19. AB 109 will also serve to reduce the technical parole population and the CDCR inmate population waiting to be transferred to state prison. 20. The overall jail population will reach nearly 20,000 by the end of this year and peak at 21,000 by the end of 2013. Recommended Alternatives to the Projected Population and Capacity Options 21. The projected 21,000 inmate population can be safely reduced by about 3,000 inmates by implementing the proposed LASD pretrial supervision and a re‐entry program for sentenced inmates using the innovative EBI programs. 22. The bed capacity of the entire system can be increased by about 1,500 beds by modifying the NCCF facility and assuming the management of the several CDCR Los Angeles County conservation camps. 23. If the above two recommendations are implemented, the Central Jail can be closed within two years and the LASD would still have sufficient bed space. At a minimum it is feasible to move all men out of Central jail by end of 2013. But this assumes the proposed LASD pretrial and re-entry programs are implemented. 24. Other bed capacity options such as constructing a new female facility at the PCD and/or re‐purpose the use of the Mira Loma facility collectively show 3 that should be more than sufficient bed capacity to manage the long‐term projected jail population without the need for the Central Jail facility. Other Issues 25. The Northpointe re‐classification custody system needs to be adjusted to reduce the current level of over‐classification of males and female inmates. 26. The COMPAS risk assessment instrument needs to be validated on a sample of released inmates. This is especially the case for the FTA risk instrument. 27. Since the LASD plans to expand the application of the EBI education programs, it would be appropriate at this time to begin a formal impact evaluation. Such a study can and should be done in tandem with the revalidation study of the COMPAS instrument. 28. The LASD should develop a dedicated Research, Planning and Evaluation division. Several existing LASD staff can be recruited to staff this unit. Summary of Population and Capacity Options Current Trend 23,910 5,260 21,519 Option A 21,700 1,500 19,530 Option B 20,700 500 18,630 Option C 21,700 0 19,530 Populations by 2015 Pretrial County Sentenced Awaiting Transfer to CDCR CDCR Tech Violators ICE Mira Loma AB 109 Totals 10,325 1,830 600 400 625 7,096 20,876 9,325 1,830 600 400 625 5,096 17,876 9,325 1,830 600 400 625 5,096 17,876 9,325 1,830 600 400 625 5,096 17,876 Surplus Beds @90% Occupied 643 1,654 754 1,654 Item Capacity Central Jail Functional Bed Capacity@ 90% 4 Summary of LASD Suggested Bed Capacity Options Facility Central Jail Twin Towers CRDF Peter Pitchess DC NCCF South South Annex East Out Patient Conservation Camps New Women's Facility Totals Mira Loma Grand Totals At 90% Capacity Current 5,260 4,820 2,380 Option A 1,500 4,820 2,380 Option B 500 4,820 2,380 Option C 4,294 1,536 1,624 1,944 600 0 0 22,458 5,294 1,536 1,624 1,994 600 500 0 20,248 5,294 1,536 1,624 1,994 600 500 0 19,248 5,294 1,536 1,624 1,994 600 500 1,500 20,248 1,452 1,452 1,452 1,452 23,910 21,519 21,700 19,530 20,700 18,630 21,700 19,530 0 4,820 2,380 5 Los Angeles Jail Population Projection 2011· 2015 Current Criminal Justice Policies "= ,i , ,i, , ,- ,~ >""," '",IS' n;n, ..:'I" ','''' '.0" "n "" " ,m "...' l S,roo ~ 1, '" 10,000 ! '.' ,= ,~ 0 un "" - "n NonAB109 - NooA8109 "n - Tot>! J. il Popol>_ Los Angeles Jail Population 2011·2015 Current versus Alternative Policies ,• ,• • j ,, ! 13.CW /' / ~ 16.CW 1<.CW 11.001 2011 2011 - /oJto ' n . ti~~ jc;.. lOll - C",non' PoIk~ "" "" 6 Introduction This report is designed to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the Los Angles County jail population in terms of its attributes, current and future population trends. More importantly, it provides a plan that will allow the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) to safely manage its jail population within its current jail facility capacity by implementing evidence-based policies that have been adopted in other jurisdictions. The plan has been reviewed by Sheriff Baca and he agrees with the plan’s recommendations that will allow him to close the antiquated Central Jail facility and still safely manage the growing number of AB 109 inmates and thus avoid costly jail construction. The study was requested and funded by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). However, it was conducted with the strong support and cooperation of LASD and Sheriff Leroy Baca. A wide array of data were collected to complete the analysis and recommendations that was largely provided by the LASD. These data included detailed data on people admitted and released from the LASD jail system as well as aggregate level data on historical trends in Los Angeles County crime, arrest, jail bookings, releases and overall jail population. These data were used to better understand what factors are driving the jail population and what options can be employed to better manage that population in the future. In September 2011, the Vera Institute released a major study on the Los Angeles jail system titled “Los Angeles County Jail Overcrowding Reduction Project”. 1That report was based on over two years of research and analysis conducted by Vera. It’s fair to say that the report found many inefficiencies in the current criminal justice process that were, collectively increasing the jail population and costs. Over 30 recommendations were made by Vera, most of which were designed to reduce the jail population. Unfortunately to date, none of the recommendations have been adopted by the County’s criminal justice system. Vera warned that there would be no impact unless “…every criminal justice agency leader must commit to reducing unnecessary detention and incarceration in the interest of justice and the efficient use of taxpayer resources” (p. iii). This level of commitment has not occurred as of yet. The recent passage and implementation of AB 109 (California’s Realignment Plan) makes it more urgent that action be taken. We estimate and the LASD concurs that the transfer of state sentenced inmates from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to the local jail will increase the County’s jail population by as much as 7,000 inmates by the end of 2014. This study focuses on actions that the LASD and Sheriff Baca can take to minimize the impact of AB 109 as well as the other issues noted by Vera that serve to inflate the jail population. Just two basic recommendations are offered which if implemented, will lower the projected jail population. 1 Los Angeles County Jail Overcrowding Reduction Project, Final Report, Revised, September 2011, Vera Institute of Justice. 7 Los Angeles County Population, Crime and Criminal Justice Trends A jail population is the product of the number of people being admitted and how long they remain in custody. In estimating the future size of any local jail population, it’s important to understand some of the key factors that influence the number of jail admissions. One such factor is the current and projected size of the County’s resident population that is most likely to be arrested and booked into the adult jail system. This high-risk group consists of males between the ages of 18 and 39. According to the California Attorney General’s Office, approximately 70% of the 1.2 million adult arrests that occurred in 2009 were people between the ages of 18 and 39. Further, 85% of these arrests were males. The demographics of the at-risk population is also credited by criminologists with the nation’s and in particular California’s declining crime rate. The California Department of Finance provides projections of the state’s and each county’s future resident population. For Los Angeles County, the total county population is projected to grow by 24% over the next 40 years. However, for males age 15-39, the population grows, but at a much slower pace. Further, the proportion of the males age 15-39 year population declines slightly from 18% to 16 % (a relative rate decline of 9%). Table 1. Projected Los Angeles County Populations 2010-2050 Year 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 % Change Total 10,514,663 11,214,237 11,920,289 12,491,606 13,061,787 Males Age 15-39 1,871,503 2,019,401 2,050,341 2,014,661 2,111,033 24% 13% % Of Total 18% 18% 17% 16% 16% -9% Source: California Department of Finance The next factor to review is the County’s crime rate. The California Attorney General’s Office is the repository for all of the crime data that is submitted by each county’s law enforcement agency. Within each county are multiple law enforcement agencies which always include the county’s sheriff. The total number of serious crimes, which consists of murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft and arson, has been declining for a number of years. Between 2000 and 2009, the most recent time frame available for California counties, shows a sharp decline in the total number of serious crime since 2000 (Chart 1 and Table 2). Specifically, there has been a 22% reduction with the largest decline being for violent crimes (53% decline). 8 Table 2. Los Angeles County Reported Serious Crimes 2000-2009 Category/Crime 2000 2009 Violent Crimes Homicide Forcible Rape Robbery Aggravated Assault Property Crimes Burglary M.V. Theft Larceny-Theft Arson Total Crime 90,037 1,000 2,761 28,416 57,860 293,735 60,597 64,265 164,602 4,271 383,772 54,747 699 2,114 24,528 27,406 244,672 50,558 46,710 144,589 2,815 299,419 % Change -39% -30% -23% -14% -53% -17% -17% -27% -12% -34% -22% Source: California Attorney General, Criminal Justice Statistics Center 9 Both the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and LASD (the two major sources of jail bookings) are reporting more current crime data. The LAPD is showing that serious reported crimes dropped by 7% between 2009 and 2010. The LASD has just released data for 2011 and 2012 for the months of January and February. In its comparison, the LASD notes an uptick in the overall crime rate per 10,000 population the crime rate for those areas patrolled by the LASD (violent crimes have increased 6% while property crimes increased 10%). However, the five-year trend for the same two-month time period shows a 14% decline. More significantly, the crime rate today in the areas patrolled by the LASD is what it was in 1975 and the homicide rate is what it was in 1966.2 The number of people being arrested is a more central statistic as it reflects people who have the potential for being booked into the LASD jail system. In terms of adult arrests, the 2000 to 2009 patterns are somewhat mixed. The total number of arrests per year has increased 287,640 to 328,182. For felony level arrests there was an increase from 2000 to 2005 followed by decline by 2009. Basically, the number in 2009 was almost the same as it was in 2000 despite an increase in the county population. So, the rate of arrests per 100,000 population has actually declined. The only increase with the felony level crime group was “other” which is not described in any detail. Misdemeanor arrests represent a much larger group. Here, the trend has been upward but only for three crimes – possession of marijuana, violation of a city ordinance and Failure to Appear (FTA) for court orders. If one removes these three crimes from the total number of misdemeanor arrests, the adjusted total is unchanged. The significant fact about the FTA number is that such an arrest will result in a jail booking. While this study does not directly concern FTA’s, the sharp increase in these arrests suggests flaws in the current pretrial release process. For example, the Vera report noted that once released on bail or bond, the defendant does not receive any reminders from the court for the next scheduled court date. 3 In terms of more recent data, the LASD reported a total of 48,370 adult felony arrests and 82,589 misdemeanor adult arrests or a total of 130,959 in 2010. This compares to 46,829 felony arrests in 2009 and 80,023 misdemeanors or a total of 126,352. The LAPD reported 129,133 adult arrests in 2010 versus 140,212 in 2009 – a 8% decline. If we combine these two major agency arrest numbers, we see no major increase in total adult arrests between 2009 and 2010. 2 http://file.lacounty.gov/lasd/cms1_148405.pdf 3 Vera Institute, 2011, page xv. 10 Table 3. Adult Arrests for Los Angeles County 2000-2009 Crime Type Adult Felony Total Felony Violent Property Drugs Other Sex Other Rate per 100,000 Adults Adult Misdemeanor Total Marijuana City Ordinances FTA Total Adjusted Rate per 100,000 Adults Grand Total Rate Per 100,000 Adults 2000 2005 2009 108,318 35,596 28,245 31,894 1,685 10,898 1,727.40 131,176 31,260 32,073 46,411 1,617 19,815 1,992.20 112,264 30,808 29,302 30,780 1,739 19,635 1,626.50 179,322 9,044 28,277 18,154 123,847 2,859.70 197,487 10,801 36,178 25,589 124,919 2,999.20 215,918 14,727 37,052 40,281 123,858 3,128.20 287,640 4,587 328,663 4,991 328,182 4,755 Source: California Attorney General, Criminal Justice Statistics Center Historical Jail Admissions, Length of Stay and Average Daily Populations We now shift our focus to the three key attributes of a jail system: The number of admissions, their length of stay (LOS), and the resulting daily jail population. In many ways, the size of a jail population is the product of decisions made by other criminal justice agencies. Certainly, the number of people arrested each year is a function of law enforcement deciding whom to arrest and for what charges. Once arrested, the courts decide whether to allow a defendant to be released on pretrial status (either vial bail or own recognizance). If not released, the defendant will remain in custody until the court disposes of the charges that have been filed by the prosecutor. Once sentenced, the now offender may have to serve additional time in the jail until the sentence is completed. There are other nuances in the factors that drive a jail population. If a defendant fails to appear in court and is re-arrested, he or she will be returned to custody. If an offender fails probation or parole, that will also often result in admission to the jail until that matter is resolved. In the next section of the report additional data and analysis is presented on these and other matters affecting the jail population. 11 As noted in the Vera report, once arrested, there are several locations a person can be detained. The LASD operates over 20 field stations where an arrestee can be held in custody for a short period of time. The LAPD has its own detention facility, as do other law enforcement agencies. Since the focus of this study is the Los Angeles County Jail system which consists of eight major facilities (excluding the Mira Loma facility which is reserved for ICE inmates), we only analyzed people who were admitted to that core jail system. As shown in Table 4, there has been a dramatic change in all three key jail population indicators. Since 1990, when the jail population was just over 22,000, it had dropped to just below 15,000 by September 2011. Similarly, the jail incarceration rate per 100,000 had dropped from 247 to 152 by October 2011. The primary reason for decline was a dramatic reduction in the number of bookings – from 260, 765 in 1990 to 142,862 in 2011. The decline in bookings appears to be the result of more persons being diverted at the LASD field stations and greater use of field citations. More recently, as noted above, there has been a decline in the number of persons arrested for felons. The LOS data shows that since 2000, it has remained at the 40-day level. Compared to other large jail systems, this number appears to be high. For example, Maricopa County (Phoenix), Broward County (Ft. Lauderdale), and New York City, have lengths of stay that are below the 30-day range. But it may be that the LOS has not declined to the levels reported in other jurisdictions because as the Los Angeles jail population has declined, the residual jail population has become increasingly composed of persons charged with or sentenced for felony level crimes. Table 4. Los Angeles County Jail Bookings, Length of Stay and Population 1990 - 2011 Attribute 1990 2000 2010 2011 Jail Bookings ALOS Jail Population Incarceration Rate 260,765 31 days 22,003 247 162,406 43 days 19,297 203 151,932 40 days 16,663 170 142,862 39 days 14,863 152 County Population Crime Rate 8.9 million 4,595 9.5 million 2,754 9.8 million 2,021 9.8 million NA Source: California Department of Finance, California Attorney General , and LASD Booking and ADP Daily Reports 12 Table 5 makes some direct comparisons between the Los Angeles County jail population and overall California jail population. These data come from the California Department of Corrections (CDCR), Correctional Standards Authority (CSA) website plus data provided by the LASD. What is striking is that the only two statistics that distinguish the Los Angeles County jail population are the much longer LOS (39 days versus 17 days) and the much lower jail incarceration rate. The state’s LOS would be much lower if Los Angeles was removed from the calculations. One would have expected the longer LOS to generate a much higher incarceration rate, but it does not. Table 5. Comparisons Between Los Angles County and State-wide Jail Populations September 2011 Indicator Total Population Pretrial Felony Incarceration Rate per 100,000 population Average LOS Source: CDCR, CSA Jail Survey, 3rd Quarter 2011 California Los Angeles 71,293 14,749 71% 70% 80% 78% 189 152 17 days 39 days Current Los Angeles Jail Admissions, Releases and the Daily Population Attributes The next section of the report evaluates in greater detail the more current trends in Los Angeles County jail admissions, releases and the daily population. The analysis is necessarily separated into two time frames – pre and post AB 109. As most readers are now aware, the passage of AB 109 is and will continue to have a profound impact on both the state prison and local jail populations. Effective October 1, 2011, the state courts began sentencing state prisoners convicted of non-violent crimes and who have no prior violent or sex convictions to serve their sentence in the local jails. It is estimated that over 20,000 inmates labeled as the N3s will now be housed in the local jails. Of that number, about 7,000 are projected to be housed in the Los Angeles County jail system. Consequently, all of the analysis must now take into account the sudden surge in the local jail populations. Relative to AB 109, the legislation will have no impact on total bookings and releases. The same number of people who are arrested and convicted of N3 crimes will continue to be processed by the court system. The only difference is that after being sentenced, the prisoner will remain in jail until the sentence is completed. All of the good time he or she would have received in the state prison still applies. A major difference is that there is no longer any parole supervision requirements for the offender. Once the sentence is complete, the person’s sentence is ended. Chart 2 shows the most recent trends in the key legal statutes of the LA County jail population. Significantly the two key non-AB 109 populations (pretrial and county sentenced inmates) have actually declined slightly. 13 - Chart 2. los Angeles Jail Population by Sentenced Status July 20l0-February 2 12 - 0 -" - Total - Pretrial - - County Sentenced - " Chart 3. Los Angles Jail Bookings Per Month July 2010· December 2 1 i ~ t ,,",, ~ < ,,",, - • 1 L - M.I~ - Fom. lo. - ,." - :J 14 In fact, were it not for AB 109 the LA jail population would have been approximately 14,000. The increase has come from the AB 109 population which is rapidly approaching 3,500 and is likely to peak in two years at 7,000. If one looks at the bookings since July 2010, one sees a gradual decline in these numbers – again consistent with the demographic, crime and arrest trends (Chart 3). As part of the study, JFA received a large data file that consisted of all persons admitted to the Los Angeles jail system via the Inmate Reception Center (IRC) since between January and December 2011. JFA programmers transformed that large data file into two key sub-files: One was a snapshot of the jail population as of December 2011 which consisted of 16,277 people; the other was a file of all inmates admitted and released in 2011. These two data files offered some detailed analysis of the attributes of people admitted and released from custody each year and the daily population that is housed in the system. We also received a second snapshot data file that was created by LASD staff on February 13, 2012 to verify our initial results and continue to track the growing AB 109 population. The Daily Jail Population Table 6 summarizes the key attributes of the daily population as of December 2011 for each of the major facilities. These statistics may differ slightly from the formal inmate counts reported by LASD on a daily basis, as there are some delays of entering all of the transfer and placement movements in a timely manner. But in general, the population attributes appear to be accurate and reflective of both the overall population and the population assigned to each facility. Each facility and the system as a whole have capacities that exceed the inmate population. In total the inmate population was 16,277 while the total bed capacity was 20,445, not including the 1,624 beds at the temporarily closed South Annex facility. The total bed capacity as of this date was about 22,000. But as will be pointed out later on, the excess capacity will be largely exhausted in the next 18 months due to the influx of AB 109 inmates. The population is largely male (88%) and largely non-white (49% Hispanic, 31% Black, and 15% white) with an average age of 34 years. Approximately 13% of the population is age 50 years or older while 28% are between the ages of 18 and 25 years. Table 6A shows the primary offense of the February 12, 2012 population by sentence status. The primary offenses are homicide, assault, robbery, drug possession, drug possession with intent to sell, burglary and theft. Overall, about half of the pretrial and pretrial/sentenced populations are charged with violent or sex crimes. This profile shows that most of the minor crimes have been quickly removed from custody via the existing pretrial release process. The fact that most of the sentenced population have been convicted of a non-violent drug offense also shows that a sizeable portion of this population may be more suitable for alternative placements. 15 Table 6. Attributes of the Los Angeles County Jail Population by Facility December 2011 Twin Central PDC PDC PDC Out Mira Attribute Towers CRDF NCCF South Jail East Patient Loma Bed Capacity 5,260 4,820 2,380 4,294 1,536 1,944 559 1,452 Totals 3,763 2,814 1,916 3,523 886 1,491 211 737 Gender Female 0% 1% 100% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Male 100% 99% 0% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Race Black 35% 34% 34% 32% 31% 29% 47% 0% Hispanic 44% 40% 39% 56% 45% 59% 38% 91% Asian 3% 4% 3% 2% 3% 3% 2% 9% White 18% 20% 23% 9% 20% 8% 12% 0% Average Age 36 yrs 38 yrs 35 yrs 31 yrs 39 yrs 28 yrs 45 yrs 34 yrs 121 Average Days in 101 106 153 123 `102 Custody to Date 150 days days days days 98 days days days days Security Level Low 12% 0% 20% 0% 21% 0% 7% 100% Medium 68% 74% 67% 73% 79% 100% 72% 0% High 20% 16% 11% 26% 0% 0% 19% 0% Unclassified 0% 0% 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Legal Status Pretrial 42% 50% 39% 44% 25% 44% 46% 100% Pre and Sentenced 21% 19% 15% 21% 10% 25% 18% 0% Sentenced 37% 32% 47% 35% 65% 31% 36% 0% Charge Level Felony 84% 82% 80% 85% 78% 87% 88% 0% Misdemeanor 13% 15% 17% 12% 20% 9% 8% 0% ICE 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 100% Other 3% 3% 3% 3% 2% 3% 3% 0% % of Total 25% 18% 12% 23% 6% 10% 1% 5% Source: LASD data files. Not included is the temporary IRC population (about 500 inmates) and the PDC South Annex facility which was closed as of December 2011. That facility has a capacity of 1,624. 16 Total 20,793 15,341 12% 88% 31% 49% 3% 15% 34 yrs 127 days 15% 70% 14% 1% 45% 18% 37% 78% 15% 5% 3% 100% Table 6A. Los Angeles County Jail Population as of February 2012 Primary Crime by Sentence Status Most Serious Charge Totals Willful homicide Vehicular manslaughter Forcible rape Robbery Assault Kidnapping Lewd or Lascivious Other sex Sub-Total Violence/Sex Drug sale Drug poss w/ intent Marijuana possession Possession/other drug Sub-Total Drugs Burglary Theft MV theft Forgery Weapons DUI Arson Other felony Prob./parole violation Other Pretrial 6306 100.0% 899 14.3% 17 0.3% 67 1.1% 634 10.1% 1,082 17.2% 90 1.4% 169 2.7% 142 2.3% 3,100 49.2% 162 2.6% 167 2.6% 66 1.0% 648 10.3% 1,043 16.5% 549 8.7% 440 7.0% 21 0.3% 75 1.2% 62 1.0% 107 1.7% 32 0.5% 390 6.2% 39 0.6% 448 7.1% Pretrial and Sentenced 3120 100.0% 555 17.8% 8 0.3% 32 1.0% 390 12.5% 665 21.3% 37 1.2% 26 0.8% 65 2.1% 1,778 57.0% 83 2.7% 58 1.9% 34 1.1% 264 8.5% 439 14.1% 280 9.0% 211 6.8% 12 0.4% 47 1.5% 44 1.4% 48 1.5% 4 0.1% 170 5.4% 33 1.1% 54 1.7% Sentenced 7022 100.0% 53 0.8% 16 0.2% 25 0.4% 257 3.7% 1,279 18.2% 10 0.1% 45 0.6% 96 1.4% 1,781 25.4% 298 4.2% 246 3.5% 107 1.5% 1,163 16.6% 1,814 25.8% 763 10.9% 1,087 15.5% 47 0.7% 170 2.4% 161 2.3% 239 3.4% 14 0.2% 305 4.3% 436 6.2% 205 2.9% The inmate classification system used by the LASD to house inmates is based on a decision-tree system that was developed by the Northpointe Institute. The vast majority of inmates are assigned to medium custody with only 14% placed in high custody and another 15% in low (or minimum) custody (Table 7). The proportion of low custody inmates is quite small compared to other jail systems and California jails. The CDCR, CSA jail survey noted earlier reported that for all of the California jails, the proportion assigned to minimum custody is 24%. That percentage would be even higher if the Los Angeles jail data were removed from the CSA statewide data which includes the LASD data. 17 Table 7: Comparison of State Jail and Los Angeles County Jail Inmate Custody Levels as of 2011 Custody Level Max Medium Minimum Total State Total Inmates % 22,478 32% 31,425 44% 17,390 24% 71,293 100% Los Angeles Jail Inmates % 2,148 14% 10,379 70% 2,304 15% 15,341 100% Source: CDCR, CSA and LASD data files There are two probable reasons for the low number of “low custody” inmates. First, the design of the Northpointe Institute decision tree instrument now includes a reclassification instrument that is to be applied to all inmates who have been in custody for 30-90 days depending upon their current custody level. The reclassification instrument, like all custody instruments, is designed to move prisoners to lower custody levels based on their institutional conduct. Since the vast majority of inmates do not become involved in serious disciplinary incidents while incarcerated, there should be a large shift from maximum to medium custody, and, from medium to minimum custody. As shown in Table 6, the average time served for the current jail population is 127 days which means that the vast majority of the current population should be on the reclassification instrument. The Northpointe instrument design is also unique for three other reasons: It uses legal status as a restriction (pretrial versus sentence), it does not use age which is a good predictor of misconduct, and it does not have a separate scale for the females. All three of these omissions tend to over-classify inmates. The Northpointe reclassification instrument also makes it difficult for some inmates to move to a lower custody level even if their conduct is positive. Further, based on interviews with the LASD classification staff and Northpointe representatives, the LASD is not applying the reclassification instrument as designed by Northpointe which is further restricting the movement of medium custody inmates to minimum custody thus causing some level of over-classification. Spot audits of inmates housed at the South Facility found several well-behaved and older inmates who were housed in low security dorms, but were classified by Northpointe as high-medium (levels 7 and 6) custody. Clearly, the Northpointe system and the LASD’s lack of adherence to the system needs to be addressed. Another key statistic in Table 6 is the legal status of the inmate population. We had reported that the LASD aggregate level reports show that 70% of the current jail population is in pretrial status. But what that statistic does not show is that the 70% included inmates who have been sentenced on one or more charges and have at least one pending charge. Thus the percentage of “pure” pretrial cases is 45% and not 70%. 18 And for those that are in “pure” pretrial status (7,316 as of December 2011), 25% of them had a “no bail” order imposed by the court. These and other factors serve to greatly restrict the number of pretrial defendants who can be released on bail, surety bond or own recognizance. These other factors are described later on in the report. Jail Admissions, Releases and Length of Stay Last year, there were over 400,000 admissions into the LASD county-wide custody division which includes the various field stations.4 As reported earlier, only 142,862 resulted in being booked into the main county jail system. This section of the report provides more detailed information on these admissions. What follows are some of the major findings: 1. Of the 142,862 bookings in a year approximately 25,000 were the same person who was admitted more than once in the 12-month time period. The actual number of mutually exclusive people booked into custody is approximately 118,000 (Table 8). 2. The overall LOS for the people who were released was approximately 40 days. 3. Approximately 37% of the bookings are released within 7 days. 4. Those who are not released within 7 days have an average LOS of approximately 87 days. 5. The vast majority (66%) of the releases are people being released to the community (pretrial) or under probation and parole supervision. Only 18% are being released prior to having their cases disposed of by the courts. This statistic shows that increasing the number of pretrial releases will have less of an impact on the jail population as opposed to a) reducing the time people spend waiting for their cases to be disposed of by the courts or b) reducing their time to serve after being sentenced. 6. The most common reasons for people being released from custody are a) completing inmates completing a sentence or b) being transferred to the custody of another correctional agency. 7. There are large number of releases being made to the CDCR for both new court commitments and parole violations. The numbers of releases will decline significantly with the implementation of AB109. Taking their place, in part, will be persons completing their AB 109 sentences at the Los Angeles County Jail. 8. However, the number of CDCR technical parole violation admissions and releases will decline as use of the parole supervision is not longer required for the AB 109 sentenced offenders. 4 This number is consistent with the number reported in the previously referenced Vera Institute study. 19 9. There is a large number of people who are released to the custody of ICE ( 19,725 releases in 2011). These releases are largely Hispanic males who spend an average of 39 days in custody and occupy approximately 2,000 beds on any given day. They are also largely low and medium custody under the Northpointe Institute classification system. Table 8. Summary Statistics on Jail Admissions and Releases – 2011 Total County-wide LASD Admissions Total Jail System Custody Bookings Number of People Admitted Overall Length of Stay % released within 1 day 2 days 3 days 7 days 400,000 142,000 118,000 39 days Number Released after 7 days Average LOS if not released within 7 days 70,000 87 days 19% 30% 36% 47% Source: LASD data files 20 Table 9. Primary Release Reason – 2011 Release Reason Pretrial Releases Sheriff release Pretrial Release to Detainer Bond or Bail Sheriff Misdemeanor Citation Dismissal of Charges Court Ordered Release ROR Sentenced Releases Sentence Expired Sentenced to Probation Transfer to State Parole Supervision Sheriff Shortened Sentence Transfer to Other Custody Transfer to Other State Prison Transfer to CA Prison Transfer to ICE/US Immigration Other/Unknown Total Total 24,742 4,622 611 7,643 3,780 1,437 4,198 2,451 67,182 9,079 4,139 15,153 38,811 38,089 548 17,816 19,725 9,605 139,618 % 18% 3% 0% 5% 3% 1% 3% 2% 48% 7% 3% 11% 28% 27% 0% 13% 14% 7% 100% Source: LASD data files Table 10. Summary of Inmates Released to the Custody of ICE 2011 Total ICE Releases to USIM Hispanic Male Low Custody Medium Custody LOS Daily Population 19,725 18,095 19,002 8,574 10,713 39 days 2,100 100% 92% 96% 43% 54% Source: LASD data files 21 Jail Population Projections Relying upon these trends population projections were developed to estimate the future size of the jail population. These estimates are separated into groups. The first estimate is for the jail population that is not being sentenced under AB 109. In essence, it represents what the population would have been had AB 109 not passed. The second is just for the AB 109 population. It is based on a data file being managed by the LASD which records the offense, sentence length, and projected time to serve as an AB 109 inmate. Non-AB 109 Inmate Population The current trends suggest that bookings and releases for the jail are likely to decline slightly over the next five years. The at-risk population for the County is not expected to increase. Crime rates are likely to remain low. In terms of arrests, they should also remain stable as a function of stable crime rates and no additions to the law enforcement patrol work force due to budget constraints. Overall there should be no increases in bookings for next few years under good trends and policies. The LOS for the non-AB109 releases should also remain constant at the 39-40 day rate. Based on these assumptions, the Non-AB 109 jail population will remain at the current 15,000 with two adjustments. Traditionally, there is a pool of sentenced inmates who are awaiting transfer to the CDCR. Prior to October 1, 2011, this number averages about 1,100 inmates on any given day. Some portion of this group are now the AB 109 offenders who will included in the AB 109 estimate. As of February 1, 2012, the number of state inmates with no pending charges had dropped to 612 or about 500 below the pre AB 109 time period. The second adjustment will be for the CDCR technical parole violators. Under AB 109, there is no post release supervision requirements for the N3 offenders. This means that the number of CDCR technical violators housed in the jail will also decline. Prior to AB 109, that number was 1,259. By February, it had declined to 748. One would expect that number to decline even further over the remainder of the year. Based on these two adjustments, the base projection for the Non-AB 109 jail population declines to about 14,000 by the end of 2012 and remains at that level (See Table 11). Should crime rates continue to decline there would be a further reduction in the jail population but probably no more than another 1,000 reduction by 2015. AB 109 Population Projections The LASD has provided JFA with a data file that records key information about the number and attributes of persons being sentenced under AB 109. As shown in Table 12, as of February 29, 2012 there had been 3,535 persons so sentenced. The average sentence is 765 days with a projected length of stay of 305 days (which includes their pretrial credits). Based on these numbers, this population will reach approximately 5,454 by the end of this year and peak at about 7,000 by the year 2014. 22 Table 11. Current and Projected Los Angeles Jail Population Population Male Pretrial Female Pretrial Male County Sent Female County Sent CDCR Sentenced CDCR Tech Parole ICE Mira Loma Non AB 109 Total AB 109 Males AB 109 Females Sub-Total AB 109 Grand Total 2011 End of Year 2012 2013 2014 2015 9,275 1,062 1,728 367 815 754 751 14,752 9,182 1,051 1,711 363 600 400 625 13,933 9,228 1,057 1,719 365 603 402 628 14,002 9,182 1,051 1,711 363 600 400 635 13,942 9,219 1,056 1,718 365 600 400 625 13,982 1,542 298 1,410 4,482 972 5,454 5,460 1,130 6,590 5,822 1,196 7,018 5,896 1,200 7,096 16,162 19,387 20,592 20,960 21,078 This number of 7,000 is consistent with an early projection made by JFA as part of the federal court order in the Plata/Coleman case governing prison crowding in the CDCR. That analysis also showed that significant percentages of this population were classified by the CDCR using its risk assessment tool as moderate to low risk to recidivate (Table 13). Some California counties have been reporting a drop in probation dispositions as defendants opt out for an AB 109 sentence. This is due to the fact that most of these inmates have already served 3-6 months in pretrial status, and would prefer to serve the rest of their sentence in the jail with no post-release probation supervision. Based on all of these trends it is estimated that the LA County Jail will reach almost 20,000 inmates by this year and peak at about 21,000 the following year and remain at that level through 2015. Again these projections may be reduced is the crime rate and bookings continue to decline albeit at a reduced rate. Any changes in the court processing of pretrial cases by the courts would also serve to reduce the length of stay and thus the pretrial population. Finally the size of the ICE population being held at the Mira Loma facility which numbered about 600 as of March 2012 is subject to change. 23 Table 12. Key Attributes of AB 109 Sentences October 2011 – February 2012 Total AB 109 Sentences Gender Male Female Most Serious Charge Vehicular manslaughter Forcible rape Robbery Assault Burglary Theft MV theft Forgery Marijuana Other drug Other sex Weapons DUI Hit and run Arson Other felony Drug possession Drug possession/intent Drug sale Missing N % Avg. Sent. (days) 3,535 100.0% 765.0 Avg. Days to Serve 305.5 2,898 637 82.0% 18.0% 775.2 718.4 310.2 284.4 4 3 9 115 509 884 39 118 94 4 2 161 102 4 1 197 915 193 170 11 0.1% 0.1% 0.3% 3.3% 14.4% 25.0% 1.1% 3.3% 2.7% 0.1% 0.1% 4.6% 2.9% 0.1% 0.0% 5.6% 25.9% 5.5% 4.8% 0.3% 851.5 730.0 635.2 737.8 691.5 712.8 698.5 654.8 691.5 699.3 486.0 613.0 617.0 608.0 1095.0 715.3 728.9 1189.6 1437.1 - 406.0 216.3 214.7 259.5 286.8 287.2 268.5 261.3 271.2 321.3 55.5 234.5 244.9 214.5 206.0 272.6 288.0 484.3 597.2 - 24 Table 13. Expected Attributes of the Los Angeles County AB 109 Inmates Based on Inmates Housed in the CDCR July 2011. Attribute Total Inmates 7,195 Race Black White Hispanic Gender Male Female Crime Person Drugs Property Other 2,314 1,320 3,245 6,098 1,097 569 3,400 2,724 502 % Attribute 100% CDCR Risk Level High Drug High Property 32% High Violent 18% Moderate 45% Low Mental Health Problem 85% Gang Member? 15% Any Prior Felonies? Any Prior Serious Felonies 8% Any Prior Violent Felonies 47% Committed Crime on Parole 38% Committed Crime on Probation 7% ICE Hold Inmates 958 1,525 927 2,149 1,493 1,050 1,167 4,331 0 0 2,146 1,120 648 % 13% 21% 13% 30% 21% 15% 16% 60% 0% 0% 30% 16% 9% Source: CDCR data file Recommended Population Control Options In order to prevent the projected increase in the jail population two basic recommendations are being made to the LASD – implement a pretrial release program and a comprehensive re-entry program for all sentenced inmates. This section of the report describes what these two programs would look like and their impact on the projected jail population. Pre-Trial Release There is no question that the County lacks a comprehensive pretrial program. Although the Los Angeles County Probation Department operates such a program, it has little if any impact on those people being admitted to the custody division. What is required is such a program that will deal with the significant number of inmates who eventually are being released by the courts but are spending an excessive period of time in custody. To test this proposition a pilot or “stress” test of criteria that could be applied to the pretrial population was conducted with the assistance of the LASD. The focus was on the existing pre-trial population. We began with the total pretrial population (about 10,545) and then applied the following criteria for all pretrial cases that had been in custody for at least 7 days with the number of inmates who are left after the criteria is applied: 1. 2. 3. 4. Original pool of 10,545 pretrial inmates in custody; Less those not already sentenced to another crime (7,044); Less those with no outstanding warrants (4,978); Less those with no “no bails” (2,964); 25 5. Less those with assaultive crimes that prohibit pretrial (1,753); and, 6. Less those in maximum or high security (1,367). Here one can see that the number eligible for pretrial release drops to only 1,367. We then applied to a random sample of the COMPAS risk instrument and found that a large percentage were classified as high risk. However, the COMPAS risk instrument may need to be adjusted for three reasons. First, it has not been normed on the Los Angeles County population. Second, a prior study of COMPAS on Broward County jail population by the Florida State University found the FTA risk instrument was not a strong predictor or FTA. Third, as pointed out by JFA in its study of Broward County, the so called high risk pretrial releases actually have low FTA and pretrial arrest rates. So a better use of risk for this purpose would be higher risk rather than high risk. The LASD has formulated a very comprehensive and detailed plan to implement a pretrial supervision program.5 Based on the stress test noted above, that program, if implemented with a sound risk assessment and supervision component, should be able to reduce the projected pretrial population by 750 males and 250 females.6 Sentence Re-entry Programs The most effective way to safely reduce the jail population will be to develop a re-entry program where sentenced inmates would have their imposed sentences reduced by participating in services that will serve to reduce their risk of re-offending. The LASD has already made great strides in the area through its newly launched Education Based Incarceration (EBI) program. On any given day, approximately 1,200 inmates are receiving counseling and education services that are designed to reduce their risk. As the same time, the County is not using so called “blended” sentences for the N3 inmates. Conversations with Contra Costa and San Diego County Probation Chiefs indicate that their counties are using the blended sentences in a large proportion of their AB 109 cases. But, it does not appear that this will occur any time soon in Los Angeles. However, under AB 109, the Sheriff has the legal authority to place these inmates in the community prior to the completion of their sentence under some form of supervision. In Los Angeles, this supervision would be similar to the level being provided by the proposed LASD pretrial community control division. Prior research also shows that altering the inmate’s LOS does not have an impact on recidivism for this class of offenders.7 The CDCR has also reported that significant 5 “Pretrial Services Project, Research, Roadmap, and Vision. Reducing jail population by target‐ specific measures while maintaining public safety.” LASD, Offender Services Division. 6 Such a program could also be operated by the Los Angeles Probation Department or a program operated jointly by the LASD and Probation Department. 7 California Expert Panel on Adult Offender and Recidivism Programming. (2007). Sacramento: CA: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. 26 proportions of the AB 109 are not high risks to recidivate. So we can be confident by using the EBI program as re-entry program , it will be possible to moderately reduce their LOS without jeopardizing public safety. One way that this could be achieved is for inmates who are sentenced to the county jail (after having served several months in pretrial custody) be given the opportunity to participate in one of the EBI’s many programs. Upon completion of a program, the inmate would be released to community supervision and continuation of services as required. The impact on the AB 109 population can be estimated based on the following assumptions. 1. There will be an estimated 8,500 AB 109 admissions each year. 2. 75% of these inmates will participate in the EBI programs prior to being released. 3. Upon completion, they will have their sentence reduced by an average of four months. 4. 20% of these people will be re-arrested and be returned to custody for an average of two additional months. 5. Based on these assumptions, the projected AB 109 population of 7,000 would be reduced by approximately 2,000 inmates. Bed Capacity Options and Recommendations As noted earlier in the report, the current jail system has over 22,000 beds that if staffed can be used to house inmates. This number does not include the 1,452 bed Mira Loma facility located in Lancaster which is currently used exclusively for ICE detainees. This section of the report describes several immediate and long-term opportunities to further increase the current bed capacity and that ultimately would allow the closing of the antiquated and poorly designed Central Jail facility. These are not the only options available but suggest some pragmatic steps the LASD could take. There is consensus within the LASD and other external observers that the long-term objective is to eventually remove all of the male inmates now housed at the Central Jail facility. But in so doing, the LASD will lose 5,260 beds. The so-called “new” part of Central Jail has 1,836 beds but it is currently closed. The remainder of Central Jail is used for a wide variety of low, medium and high custody inmates. In particular, there are nearly 500 beds that are reserved for administrative segregation inmates and others that must be kept separate from other inmates (K-10s). One option to increase the bed capacity and in particular the maximum security beds that the LASD would lose if Central Jail were to close, is to modify the current space at the North County Correctional Facility (NCCF). NCCF is a modern maximum security complex that is well suited for housing inmates in high and medium custody. It is designed to operate as five separate units and provide for disciplinary segregation and 27 excellent medical and mental health service capabilities. It also contains three large vocational service areas for printing, sign painting and clothing production. One option we would recommend is to transform the three vocational training units into secure housing units. We estimate that the vocational area space could hold 600 cells, each being capable of being double celled for a total additional bed capacity of 1,200 inmates. But assuming that 100 of the cells would only be used for single cells, the more realistic bed capacity would be 1,000. This would be more than sufficient to cover the K-10 and Administrative Segregation beds now being used at Central Jail. The vocational training services would be re-located in the newly constructed and larger vocational training and education service center for the Sheriff’s EBI rehabilitation programs. The second opportunity to add approximately 500 minimum security beds would happen by assuming the management of five CDCR conservation camps (including the Malibu 105 bed female unit).8 These five camps are being relinquished by the CDCR and can be taken over by the LASD. These beds could be easily used to the rising AB 109 population since prior to the passage of AB 109, many of the inmates who are AB 109 candidates were housed in these camps These two options, as shown in Table 14 would increase the overall LASD jail bed capacity by about 1,500 beds. A second option would be to reconfigure and renovate part of Central Jail and use it to house most of the 1,900 women now housed at Century Regional Detention Facility (CDRF). The logic of this alternative would be as follows: The current negative culture associated with Central Jail would be transformed by having a much lower security population there. CRDF would be used largely to house medium and low custody male inmates. Having females would be a temporary move until a more permanent and modern facility could be constructed for the women.9 Finally, there is the potential to construct a new female facility. The LASD has preliminary plans for a 1,500 bed facility at the PDC. If the recommended pretrial and re-entry programs are implemented such a facility would be sufficient to house the entire female population. At issue is whether it would be wise to have all of the women at a single location or be able to house some portion of the population in the downtown area to facilitate court appearances and access to the medical facilities at the Twin Towers facilities. These are details that need to be developed once the full effects of the pretrial release and AB 109 re-entry programs are fully implemented. 8 There are an additional 5 fire camps that the county could add to the ones that are now being used to house state inmates. 28 All of the jail bed capacity figures are reduced by 10% to allow for seasonal fluctuations in the jail population and the need to separate special need and high-risk inmates. The 10% reduction will ensure the jail system will not be crowded for any sustained period of time. Table 14. Summary of Possible Bed Capacity Options Facility Central Jail Twin Towers CRDF Peter Pitchess DC NCCF South South Annex East Out Patient Conservation Camps New Women's Facility Totals Mira Loma Grand Totals At 90% Capacity Current 5,260 4,820 2,380 Option A 1,500 4,820 2,380 Option B 500 4,820 2,380 Option C 4,294 1,536 1,624 1,944 600 0 0 22,458 5,294 1,536 1,624 1,994 600 500 0 20,248 5,294 1,536 1,624 1,994 600 500 0 19,248 5,294 1,536 1,624 1,994 600 500 1,500 20,248 1,452 1,452 1,452 1,452 23,910 21,519 21,700 19,530 20,700 18,630 21,700 19,530 0 4,820 2,380 Projected Populations and Capacity Options Assuming the LASD is able to successfully implement the supervised pretrial and sentenced re-entry programs program, plus make the recommended capacity adjustments, would there be sufficient bed space to safely house the projected inmate population? The answer is yes. Table 15 summarizes the results of the projected effects of each scenario. The “base projection” represents the status quo with Central Jail remaining operational and opening up its now closed units. It would also mean that the LASD is unable to implement the supervised pretrial release program and the re-entry program. Option A assumes that Central Jail remains partially opened by temporarily housing the female population at a renovated portion of the facility and the rest of them at one of the conservation camps. Central Jail may also be renovated to create classroom space to provide much needed treatment services to the female population. 29 Option B reduces the female jail population to 500 and mostly pretrial women whose family reside near downtown Los Angeles. Depending upon the ability of the LASD to launch the pretrial and re-entry programs, it may be possible to relocate a sizeable portion of the female population at the Twin Towers facility. Table 15. Summary of Projected Inmates Population by 2015 and Capacity Options Current Trend 23,910 5,260 Option A 21,700 1,500 Option B 20,700 500 Option C 21,700 0 21,519 19,530 18,630 19,530 Populations by 2015 Pretrial County Sentenced Awaiting Transfer to CDCR CDCR Tech Violators ICE Mira Loma AB 109 Totals 10,325 1,830 600 400 625 7,096 20,876 9,325 1,830 600 400 625 5,096 17,876 9,325 1,830 600 400 625 5,096 17,876 9,325 1,830 600 400 625 5,096 17,876 Surplus Beds @90% Occupied 643 1,654 754 1,654 Item Capacity Central Jail Functional Bed Capacity@ 90% Option C envisions the construction of the new female facility at the PDC complex. Current plans call for a 1,500 bed facility, which may or may not be needed for reasons cited earlier in the report. All of the options provide sufficient bed space with a 10% vacancy rate throughout the system to ensure the jail system can safely manage the inmate population taking into account seasonal fluctuations in the population and the need to separate high risk and special needs inmates. Other Issues Inmate Classification We have already noted that the current inmate classification system is over-classifying inmates for medium custody. This is occurring due to LASD policy and the design of the Northpointe Institute instrument. It should also be adjusted for females so that it does not over-classify them. This latter point will be important as the Department determines the 30 best long-term facility solution for the women. These issues can and should be corrected in consultation with Northpointe. Pretrial Risk Assessment In a similar manner, the COMPAS risk assessment system should be tested and normed for the LASD jail population. In particular, the FTA risk assessment instrument should not be used until the re-validation work is completed. Evaluation of the EBI Programs Since the LASD plans to expand the application of the EBI education programs, it would be appropriate at this time to begin a formal impact evaluation. Such a study can and should be done in tandem with the revalidation study of the COMPAS instrument. Establish a Formal Research, Planning and Analysis Division The LASD is fortunate to have a number of staff that are highly skilled in data extraction and analysis. Yet, it seems much of this work and talent is not concentrated or structured within a single unit. The LASD is like a major corporation without a formal R&D capability. Such a unit would be issuing formal population projections every six months, analysis of population trends and critical incidents, and, cost-benefit evaluations of new LASD programs and policies. Such a division would be directed by a person with an advanced degree in research methods, but experience in local corrections. 31
