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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRESOLUTIONS - 04301985 - X.4 To: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FROM: Supervisor Tom Torlakson Contra Costa DATE: April 23 , 1985 County SUBJECT: CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM--EFFICIENCIES ANALYSIS AND "`� CONCEPT OF A BALLOT MEASURE TO FUND ESCALATING COSTS SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) $ BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION BACKGROUND INFORMATION: As the Board of the Supervisors has been addressing the issue of the location and construction of a new detention facility, I have increasingly become anxious and concerned about our ability to pay for this needed facility. While we have focused much time and attention on the question of location and of finding $12 million to match the $36 million state bond allocation for a new detention facility, we have not yet begun to address the enormous question of staffing such a new facility. I believe the operational and staffing question represents a tremendous threat to the fiscal viability of the county's criminal justice system as well as all the other numerous county programs we are responsible for. The System. I believe we have serious problems confronting the criminal justice system in Contra Costa Costa--serious enough in total to be classified as a "major crisis" My opinion is that the system is not adequately functioning now--from our courts through prosecution and defense and on to the detention system itself. We have enormous current costs and workloads which are not adequately being addressed. Many of these problems are not uncommon to other counties in this state as well as in other states. Nonetheless, now is the time when we in Contra Costa County must confront these problems head on. It is very possible that the enormity of these problems could make the staffing and operation of a new jail a larger crisis than that which we recently experienced with our county hospital and medical system. There are many inefficiencies in the current way we do business in the criminal justice system. Now is the time to work cooperatively with our county departments and other elected officials to bring our system into the . 1980 ' s with the kind of reforms necessary to enable us to survive and adequately serve the public. The costs of fighting crime are gigantic. Almost 30% of our county budget goes toward the criminal justice system. In total dollars that amounts to over $90 million (which is more than our total property tax collections of about $80 million) . We need to stretch these dollars more efficiently than we are presently doing. We must continue the fight against crime vigorously. At the same time, we must inform the public of what the costs actually are--from patrol and arrest to incarceration and prosecution, and from sentencing through the court process to surveillance under probation or longer term incarceration afterwards. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT:_X _YES SIGNATUREAp4t RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S) ACTION OF BOARD ON April 30, 1985 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER REFERRED to the County Administrator for report back to the Board. VOTE OF SUPERVISORS X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT ) I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AYES: NOES: AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN ABSENT: ABSTAIN: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. CC: County Administrator ATTESTED Sheriff-Coroner Phil Batchelor, Clerk of the Board of District Attorney Supervisors and County Administrator Superior Court Judges Municipal Court Judges M3e2/7-83Probation Officer BY DEPUTY Pnhl i r Tlcfanriar `ti Criminal Justice System Page TWO The Costs. The costs of constructing a new detention facility are enormous in and of themselves. The projected $48 million dollars to build a facility for approximately 560 prisoners works out to approximately $85,000 per bed. To build our current main detention facility at today' s prices, it would run approximately $120,000 per bed. The cost of keeping a young person in one of our juvenile treat- ment facilities in Contra Costa County, for example, ranges on an annualized basis from $27 ,350 at the Girls Treatment Center to $32 , 200 at Juvenile Hall. These yearly costs do not include capital costs of the facilities the youngsters are housed in. A repeat juvenile offender may "cost" the county criminal justice system from a quarter of a million dollars to a third of a million dollars before they turn age 21. Incarceration costs for adults in Contra Costa County are an average of approximately $15,000 per year per prisoner (without including capital costs) . They reach a high cost of $21,900 per prisoner per year at the main detention facility. The system then is greatly challenged today by the construction costs of the needed new facility but much more severely challenged by the operations budget of the new facility. It is my opinion, and I believe it has been the direction of this Board, that the new facility should be designed as efficiently as possible to reduce staffing and operational needs and to offer an appropriate but not elaborate environment for the prisoners who will be detained there. Team Effort. The magnitude of the crisis I see developing is such that serious questions need to be answered by all participating members of the criminal justice system and all of these parties need to offer their creative help to the solutions. I would like to use the phrase of the "criminal justice team, " but I am not confident now that a team atmosphere or effort exists. The concept of "team" involves sharing and also a willingness to try new ways of working with others toward a common goal that may not be directly to your benefit or liking but will aid the group as a whole. Questions and Issues. Later in this report I would like to outline some of the questions which I feel need to be addressed--this list is not intended to be all conclusive and should be expanded by the questions that other Board members have and other members of our county staff. One of the issues I would like to refer to the County Administrator, beside a direct analysis of the list of questions we develop, is the concept of forming a task force of the key parties involved in the criminal justice system to generate further analysis of our problem and to develop a greater coordinated "team" effort toward the solutions. I further think it is necessary to take the issue of protecting the public and the high cost of running our system directly to the public. The public does not begin to comprehend the tremendous costs we are incurring in this battle against crime. "Getting tough on crime" is working--but it has a high price tag. Information Campaign and Potential Ballot Measure. We need the public ' s cooperation and financial support for expanded effort in detaining dangerous and criminal persons in the system. An information campaign is necessary to alert the public to the costs involved--and to the consequences involved of not adequately funding the system. Along with the concept of an information campaign, the feasibility of a ballot measure to raise the necessary funds to run the system properly should be considered by the County Administrator in a report back to this Board. Criminal Justice System Page THREE Unmet Needs Today. bast week we heard an excellent report on the concept of a team effort in West Contra Costa County between the cities and the county, the Sheriff and District Attorney, to fight the unacceptable drug problem in certain parts of the community. The estimated county cost to be a part of this team has been put at over $500, 000. The Board is also aware of the great need for further effort in detecting and prosecuting crimes against children. An expanded effort in this tragic- area is again one that would be very costly but have significant positive results. These are only two examples of areas where we need to expand our effort in the criminal justice system. Where are the $ ' s? The most disturbing thought to me in looking ahead to the opening of a new jail is where do we obtain the $5 to $10 million of new operating budget. If we do not get state support, or special state aid for this cost (which seems unlikely) and if we do not seek public support in the form of new taxes, where will we find the money to protect the public through the incarceration of the 560 prisoners projected for the new detention facility? I can see a painful, counterproductive and even destructive process of stripping away money from other county departments and programs. Not only would other elements of the Sheriff ' s Department suffer, such as patrol protection for the unincorporated communities, but the enormity of the staffing need for the new jail would cause millions to be stripped away from other programs including many that directly help in reducing the criminal population. • We are already well aware of the great caseload and great need for more staff in children's protective services. • We are already well aware that our programs in family planning and family support are well below the levels which we feel are necessary to address the problems and needs. • We are already well aware that the funds we can dedicate to mental health programs to assist people in making their lives more productive and in a number of cases less threatening to the rest of the community are inadequate. • We are already well aware that the money we have been able to invest in drug and alcohol prevention programs does not nearly reach the crying need in these areas. So, do we starve these programs further, or in fact, strip away $5 to $10 million annually in this rapidly growing county from areas like these where prevention activities have the real potential of directing people away from the criminal justice system toward more productive and positive lives in our communities? • We know what we could do with more protective service workers. • We know what we could do with more foster homes availabe for troubled youth. • We know what we could do if we had more money to spend on family planning and family support programs. • We know what we could do if we put more resources into nutrition programs for pregnant women and needy citizens. • We know what we could do if we did more job training and more economic development work encouraging creation of more jobs in areas that desperately need them. Criminal Justice System Page FOUR • We know what we could know by investing more money in helping people stop their abuse of drugs, alcohol and tobacco. • We know what we could do if we were able to spend more money on probation staff. • We know what we could do with more Sheriff deputies patrolling and protecting our unincorporated communities. • We know what we could do if we invested more tax dollars in neighborhood crime prevention programs. BUT, WE WILL NOT HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY to make positive, prevent- ative investments in these and other areas if we have to direct such tremendous amount of our resources to the detention facilities alone. The consequences of today not maintaining a balanced appropri- ation of resources will only be the need much sooner in time to build yet another detention facility--for those young people who become dys- functional and evolve into full-fledged criminals. I feel so strongly about this that I would characterize our new detention facility as a "monument to stupidity" if this is the way we go about funding it. Where will we be going? We will be caught in a senseless cycle, an absurd and endless cycle--that may in fact become an accelerating downward spiral. We must depart from the past way of doing things. Where our different departments, different unions, different elected officials in the system can break away from past practices of doing things to make the system more efficient in serving the public, we must do so! SUGGESTED ACTION: Refer these issues to the County Administrator for a report back to the Board. Refer the list of questions attached to this report to the CAO to coordinate answers from the following parties involved in the Criminal Justice System--the Sheriff, District Attorney, Superior Court Judges, Municipal Court Judges, Probation Officer, Public Defender, and the Contra Costa County Police Chief ' s Association. We need every suggestion possible from these parties on how to save money in their program areas or in other areas they work with and on how we might best inform the public of the remaining need the system has after we have addressed current inefficiencies. It would also be important to involve the cities in this process since their police agencies are involved in using the courts and their officers are frequently tied up waiting around at the courts for items to be heard in a backlogged calendar. Also, to the extent the system is not working to its optimal efficiency the cities may not be getting as much fine money as they could be getting or getting it back into their budgets in as timely a fashion as possible. Furthermore, to the extent our many county programs serving city and unincorporated citizens alike are threatened with curtailment or elimination in this emerging fiscal crisis, the city councils have a direct interest in helping us. The County Administrator should coordinate the development of answers to the questions raised here and respond to the concept of a task force to assist or further develop information on these problems. Additionally, the County Administrator should comment on the procedure for considering a public information campaign and the potential of a ballot measure. Previous referrals by the Board and previous board discussions have included consideration for ballot measures to fund pressing mental health program needs and children' s program needs. It is very possible that some combined form of ballot measure to raise revenues in all of thes critical areas is what we need to present to the voters of Contra Costa County. r Criminal Justice System Page FIVE Questions: 1. In detail, what has caused the drastic rise in prisoner population--particularly in our main detention facility? 2. What programs have the Sheriff and Judges implemented to divert prisoner population to alternative programs or community status? What further steps can be taken? 3 . Under current alternative programs and various release programs, what is the profile of the remaining prisoner population held in detention today compared to what it was six or seven years ago? 4. How did the changing polices of the DA affect incarcertaion levels and length and number of trials over the past several years? How did the conviction rate of the DA' s Office on a per person basis and on a per charge basis compare with that of other similar counties? 5. What kind of things can the judges do to move the court calendars more efficiently? What impact can they have on reducing the backlog of untried cases and of prisoners awaiting trial? 6. To what extent are "No Bail Warrants" being issued by judges? What effects in general are the bail policies or trends of the judges having on the prisoner population? 7. What kind of savings and efficiencies can be achieved through consoliation of the marshall and sheriff ' s process serving functions? Can a "non-peace officer" employee category be established to save significant amounts of money in these functions? 8. Can further efficiencies and dollar savings be achieved through consolidation of the bailiff services? Again, can a "non-peace officer" employee category be established to save significant amounts of money in this function? 9. What kind of savings and efficiencies can be achieved through the consolidation of the administration of the municipal courts? 10. What kind of savings can be achieved by much more extensive use of inmates for maintenance activities and work including painting? What kind of savings can be achieved through contracting out some of those services and avoiding the high public works department overhead? . 11. " On previous referrals for analysis from the Board, a critical part of the overall analysis is being studied right now--the question of the type of officer needed in our detention facilities. Can significant dollars be saved by using correction officers instead of full-fledged and fully trained police officers? Can significant savings be realized alternatively with two classes of deputy sheriff? 12. What kind of savings and efficiencies could be achieved through the establishment of the night court (as well as service to the public) ? What efficiencies could be achieved if traffic commissioners were used more extensively? 13. What are .the stumbling blocks to achieving any of the reforms suggested above? TT:gro (pericjs.txt)