Allowing non-violent offenders to serve their sentences in home detention sounds like a good way to ease Denver’s current jail crowding. It also holds the promise of stretching the useful life of the city’s yet-to-be built new county jail.
The Denver Sheriff’s Department and county judges have been fine-tuning the program that will reduce overcrowding at the downtown city jail and the county jail on Smith Road. Currently, the jail population on any given day is about 800 inmates over capacity in facilities designed to hold just over 1,600 prisoners.
The new program will allow unemployed inmates who have been convicted of non-violent offenses to be considered for home detention (with court approval). Currently, only employed inmates have been eligible to serve their time at home.
Of course, some inmates who previously held jobs are unemployed as a result of being sent to jail. Division Chief Bill Lovingier says, “A key element of the program as they move from jail to home detention is providing them with job-search opportunities. Our goal is to help them reintegrate back into the community while we still maintain a custodial relationship with them.”
In plain English, that means the inmates will still be jailed if they violate the rules. Deputies will stay in contact with the home detainees at a “bare minimum of once or twice a week,” Lovingier said, and will try to help those who have problems. “It will be more intensely supervised than just [regular] home detention,” he said.
Initially, the sheriff’s department will pay for the electronic monitoring of released inmates who are unemployed. But, as they get jobs, the detainees themselves will cover the costs, Lovingier explained. Information will be gathered on inmates to make sure they have places to live and adequate community support and resources, as well as about employment history and other factors that might affect their success in the program.
And, according to Lovingier, the program will be more than just a stop-gap measure until new jail facilities are built. “We envision it as being a long-term program, a component for sentencing the population that fits this program,” Lovingier said.
Denver’s Chief County Judge Andy Armatas thinks home detention for non-violent misdemeanor or city ordinance offenders should work if it’s properly monitored. The number who would qualify isn’t great, Armatas noted.
But critics, like Denver defense attorney David Lane, look askance. “These criminal justice systems are almost a self-fulfilling type of system,” Lane said. ” ‘If they build it, they will come.’ The Denver County Jail is undoubtedly crowded, but with people many of whom have absolutely no need at all to be in jail. The real issue is why does Denver … feel the need to incarcerate so many pre-trial detainees that aren’t a worry? Instead of the public being all upset about releasing prisoners, they ought to be upset about incarcerating people.”
Even though the sheriff’s department would pay monitoring costs until unemployed detainees find jobs, Lane worries that “if an inmate has some money, you get out. If you don’t, you won’t.” Lane questions the wisdom of making a $6-an-hour restaurant worker, for example, pay for electronic monitoring.
These are reasonable concerns, and the program, like the inmates, must be monitored. Overall, the idea of having inmates living at home (under restrictions) and gainfully employment is worth trying.
