If you don’t want to know the answer, don’t ask the question.
However, there are questions looking for answers before Denver breaks ground on the $378 million Civic Center Justice Center.
It’s been more than a decade since Denver officials began to examine the need for additional jail capacity. Three mayors, dozens of city councilors, several managers of safety and various experts churned the numbers, explored potential sites and avoided asking tough questions about efficient prisoner management.
Wellington Webb lost an initiative to build a new jail in 2001. Last May, Mayor John Hickenlooper persuaded voters to spend $378 million on a 1,500-bed jail, 35-criminal-court courthouse on 5 acres fronting Colfax between Fox and Delaware Streets, plus some new beds to replace obsolete facilities at Smith Road.
In April 2005, the National Institute of Corrections – at the request of the mayor and council – completed a technical assistance report, led by principal investigator William Woodward. Woodward served for 15 years as the director of criminal justice for the state. The NIC is the key adviser to national, state and local corrections agencies for training, technical assistance, data and policy/program development.
The NIC report raises important questions that should have been answered before the justice center bond issue was scoped:
Denver’s criminal justice system is operated by a number of independent agencies without a unifying vision. Vision informs design. Is the purpose of the jail to punish or to reduce victimization? If it’s the former, the design will reflect the minimum standards. If Denver wants to reduce victimization, then significant space is required to reduce recidivism, such as drug/alcohol therapy rooms, training programs, etc.
The 1,500-bed downtown jail is supposed to hold pre-trial, pre-sentencing prisoners but is designed as a maximum-security prison. The cost per bed is estimated at $113,000, considerably higher than the national average of approximately $90,000. Why? What is Denver’s vision and how is it reflected in the program design of the new jail?
Investigators found no evidence that a program plan was used to design the new jail. Such a program would have addressed a vision and needs assessment, a master plan to determine how each bed is used and managed, and a detailed risk assessment for each prisoner – both pre-trial and post-trial.
What’s the profile of the prisoner in Denver’s jail? Is the pre-trial detainee a chronic offender, too poor to post bail or serving a sentence and out on parole?
Denver doesn’t know and has never fully examined the risk profile of its pre-trial inmates. Though Level of Service hardware and software is easily and inexpensively procured, Denver has no trained personnel to access the system and analyze the data.
How did Denver scope, program and price two jail proposals during the past seven years without solid information on the prisoner population or the ability to track reliable data?
The answer has huge ramifications for management of the jail population. Like many cities, we have chosen not to be pro-active about managing prisoners. It’s not sexy, and no one gets elected or re-elected based on strategic prisoner management.
On the other hand, the implications for the general fund budget are substantial. The current annual staffing cost for managing each prison bed is $33,000. That does not include the cost of operating dual laundries, kitchens, heating, cooling and electric plants, etc., as Denver must do when the new downtown jail opens and Smith Road continues to operate.
Last week, Denver’s jail population hit an all-time high, with nearly 2,600 inmates in facilities designed for 1,672. City officials were taken by surprise because a five-year-old study said the population wouldn’t hit 2,600 until 2025.
City leaders hope the recently convened Crime Prevention and Control Commission will set the agenda for a pro-active approach to managing the prison population.
It’s too bad the commission wasn’t convened years ago, before the justice center was approved by the voters. There are too many questions that should be addressed before Denver spends nearly $400 million of taxpayers’ money.
An ancient proverb is appropriate in this case: “Not to know is bad. Not to wish to know is worse.”
We cannot afford to go from bad to worse.
Susan Barnes-Gelt (bs13@qwest.net) served eight years on the Denver City Council and was an aide to former Denver Mayor Federico Pena.
