Washtenaw County officials discuss challenges with county jail at forum
Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton spoke candidly Thursday night of the challenges facing the county's jail.
Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton talks about the challenges facing the county jail system at Thursday's forum hosted by the Ann Arbor Area League of Women Voters.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
Of the 7,901 people detained at the facility at 2201 Hogback Road last year, he said:
- 75 percent had substance abuse problems.
- 63 percent were unemployed.
- 36 percent had no high school diploma.
- 27 percent were diagnosed with a mental illness.
- 14-17 percent were homeless.
"It gives you insight into where we need to start focusing our efforts to address the question about whether we have enough jail beds," Clayton said.
"My belief is simply this: We will never have enough jail beds. You can build us out to 1,500 and 2,000 beds - there will never be enough if we do not change the manner in which we decide to interact and manage that behavior. It is not just a jail issue. It is a societal issue. The jail is, to some degree, just a cog in the system."
Clayton was joined by three other county officials for a panel forum Thursday on issues facing the county jail. The county is in the process of expanding the jail to add 112 beds to the 332-bed facility by this time next year.
The Washtenaw County Jail is the smallest per capita of all the county jails in Michigan, which has led to overcrowding challenges for the last several years.
Joining Clayton for the panel discussion at the Ann Arbor District Library were County Prosecutor Brian Mackie, County Commissioner Barbara Levin Bergman, D-8th District, and Christine Negendank, a jail diversion psychiatrist. The forum was hosted by the Ann Arbor Area League of Women Voters.
While adding new beds may help confront part of the overcrowding problem, Clayton said the county's job doesn't stop at locking people up. It will take more work to address the issues that led inmates to the jail in the first place - substance abuse, mental illness and lack of education.
Clayton inherited the responsibility of overseeing the jail expansion, a project that was already under way when he took office in January.
"If you drive by, you'll see all the construction going on with the new facility - two new housing units that will increase the beds by 112 and a new admissions center," Clayton said. "But there are also other buildings on the campus, and our vision is taking those buildings and turning them into what we call a social justice campus."
Clayton said the long-term vision includes bolstering work-release and probation-residential programs to help with the reintegration of inmates into the community.
"Someone who doesn't need to be in jail shouldn't be in jail," Clayton said. "But if they present a different kind of risk or challenge that may require them to have some level of supervision, then we can facilitate that while they work, while they get treatment."
Washtenaw County Commissioner Barbara Levin Bergman, D-8th District, talks about overcrowding in the jail. "We are not able to provide the kind of sanctions that the prosecutor would like, that the sheriff would like and that I think you as citizens would probably like, because of lack of jail space," she said. "This is a real issue."
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
Bergman said the jail expansion will cost the county money -Â a scarce supply in the current economic climate. She said the new jail should come online next fall.
"I'm one of the people who voted to build that jail in times when things were better," Bergman said. "One of the questions that's facing the Board of Commissioners right now and Sheriff Clayton is how we're going to fund staffing at that new jail. And it is a source of tension and concern between friends."
County Administrator Bob Guenzel said in September when he released his proposed 2010-11 county budget that modifications to the corrections budget may be coming. He said the county knew when it decided to expand the jail that new positions needed to be created, and talks are occurring with the sheriff to determine those levels.
The recommended budget included the original assumption of a $1.2 million cost increase in 2010, in addition to a previously allocated $1.5 million reserve for jail overcrowding. But it may take more than that.
"The final questions around the finances are still to be answered," Clayton said Thursday night. "The sheriff's office has forwarded a staffing recommendation to the county administrator. We are still in discussions in terms of those numbers."
Because of overcrowding, Washtenaw County judges may be sending people to state prison that ordinarily would be sentenced to the county jail, Mackie said. He said the county's prison commitment rate has steadily crept up from about 16 percent to somewhere closer to the statewide rate of 23 percent, which is the percentage of convicted felons who end up in prison.
Mackie agreed having a bigger jail isn't a cure-all for the county's problems.
"We need to look at our juvenile system in Washtenaw County and in the state," Mackie said. "If we had some meaningful alternatives there, some diversion programs, I think we would prevent a lot of the people who give us business later on. Because, ultimately, the answer is prevention and intervention. As the sheriff said, we can't just keep doing what we're doing."
Mackie also spoke of the need for a probation residential center at the jail campus.
"Say you have a repeat drunk driver," Mackie said. "Nobody feels safe having that person out with a car and keys. We would like to be able to have them work if they have a job, be out of the jail a portion of the day, but be monitored so that we know they're not drinking, and we can all be safer. It would be both cheaper, more humane, and just a better use of resources."
Advocates of a bigger jail say the Washtenaw County Jail was built in another time, in 1978, and was originally intended to house 215 inmates.
Overseeing the 332-bed facility today - soon to be 444 - is a jail administrator, commander, three lieutenants, eight sergeants, and 84 corrections officers.
Clayton and other county officials have a long-term vision to see the jail population reduced.
"We have to look at the entire criminal justice system and see if we can identify opportunities to address people who have significant needs," he said. "Those people that aren't a risk ... don't need to be in our jail. They need to be in alternatives to incarceration and we need to link it up with the appropriate services and programs so we can address some of the issues that contribute to criminal behavior."
Negendank said the county already does a lot to serve inmates with mental illness and substance abuse problems, services that aren't mandated.
"We are very fortunate in Washtenaw County. We have a wide array of services," she said. "We have two psychiatrists who come in for medication clinics. We can provide medications for any mental illness that we come across, as far as anxiety disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia - we can do lab tests. We can do all the things that we need to do."
Ryan J. Stanton covers government for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529.
Comments
Zoe
Fri, Nov 13, 2009 : 4:18 p.m.
I would like to clarify a couple of items that have been posted on Reader's Comments. The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan political organization dedicated to the education of voters. The Ann Arbor Area League does not have a position on the Washtenaw County jail and did not support or oppose the millage to expand the jail. Last night's meeting was not about the jail expansion, it was to educate the public on the Washtenaw County Jail System. It involved a panel discussion with representatives of the current jail system. Please visit the Ann Arbor District Library website and watch the video of this program that the library videotaped last night. Zoe Behnke President LWV-Ann Arbor Area
KeepingItReal
Fri, Nov 13, 2009 : 1:53 p.m.
Darknyt: I thought this blog provided an opportunity for readers to respond and offer their thoughts about news items that appear on AnnArbor.com. Other than making personal attacks, I didn't realize that my comments had to conform to guidelines that you have set forth. Please let me know if its ok with you if I used this forum to express my comments of if I should clear them through you before I do. Keep in mind, you do not have to read comments that are posted here.
rick888
Fri, Nov 13, 2009 : 1:37 p.m.
Just because those people don't have high school diplomas or have a substance abuse problem doesn't mean they shouldn't be sent to Jail. I would really like to see the statistics on the actual crimes committed. Jail is a way to let people know that they need to change their ways or else they will end up in prison. The answer to a better society with less people in jails and prisons isn't to decrease sentences (this won't solve the issue). It involves the much harder task of getting mothers and fathers to raise their kids properly, which can almost never be done successfully through laws.
Ryan J. Stanton
Fri, Nov 13, 2009 : 12:55 p.m.
It may be worth clarifying that jails in Michigan are county-operated facilities that house accused and convicted misdemeanants and felons, while prisons are state-operated facilities where some convicted felons are sentenced. Jails are intended to detain suspects short-term after an arrest and before they are arraigned by a magistrate or judge; hold pretrial defendants - both accused felons and misdemeanants - who are not released on bond; and serve as the facility where some convicted of misdemeanors and felonies serve their sentences. A sentence to a county jail cannot exceed one year in Michigan. This information was shared by the county prosecutor.
Ricebrnr
Fri, Nov 13, 2009 : 12:36 p.m.
"As a matter of fact, once a young person is introduced to the system as a juvenile, it is almost impossible for that young person to get out of the system. " So I guess NOT committing more crimes can't be a viable solution to this problem? Really?
Ryan J. Stanton
Fri, Nov 13, 2009 : 11:53 a.m.
A few more statistics that were thrown out last night include the fact that Michigan has the lowest prison commitment rate in the Great Lakes region (about 23 percent as opposed to the regional average of 40 percent). According to Prosecutor Brian Mackie: Michigan has the highest violent crime rate in the Great Lakes region. Between 2000 and 2007, the national rate of violent crime declined by 8 percent while Michigan's remained relatively unchanged. In 2007, 28 percent of violent crimes in Michigan resulted in arrest, compared with a national average of 44 percent. The state also has fewer police officers per capita. In Michigan, 49 percent of convicted felons are sentenced to jail. The national average is 30 percent. The lowest prison commitment rate in Michigan, coupled with higher parole rates in recent months, means that dealing with convicted felons in Washtenaw County is an unfunded mandate from the state to the county that must be resolved.
David Briegel
Fri, Nov 13, 2009 : 10:50 a.m.
We are using the jail, courts and prisons to make up for the failure of society to adequately address it's failures. Substance Abuse, Mental Health, Unemployment, Homelessness, School drop outs and you can add foreclosure and bankruptcy to the sheriff's list. The people administering those programs are the "beast" that must be starved according to the philosophy of conservatives. Then Law Enforcement gets to attempt to put a band aid on the problem. We can and must improve the services we provide these fellow citizens!
darknyt
Fri, Nov 13, 2009 : 10:41 a.m.
Your opinion matters but please keep it simple Zulu. Just like Mr Clayton said "prevention and treatment services is the only rational answer. Job training and work intergration would help deter thousands from entering the system over and over. Keep up the good work Jerry.
KeepingItReal
Fri, Nov 13, 2009 : 10:08 a.m.
The League of Women Voters are obviously supporters of the jail expansion program otherwise there would have been some opposition voices present on the panel at this meeting. I did not read any of the comments from these individuals expressing reservations about the jail because every panel member had a vested interest in the expansion of the jail. I was and still am an opponent of the jail expansion program simply because I think there is too much of an emphasis on incarceration in this county especially incarceration of young African Americans. 56% of the inmate population housed at Washtenaw County jail at any given time are African Americans. Many of them are housed there longer than they should because they initially cannot make bail and are jailed until their court date or until they are sentenced. As the Sheriff stated in his presentation, many have substance abuse problems in which they do not have access to professional counseling like others in our community, and so they receive little of no assistance in addressing their problem which may serve as a prevention to keep them out of jail. Many have low educational achievement with no marketable employment related skills and therefore are prone to get in trouble with the law. Many African Americans, when they appear before a judge, incarceration is more apt to be a first strategy as oppose to exploring alternatives strategies for incarceration. Also, as Commissioner Bergman stated, she was a proponent of the jail expansion project during a time when the economy was good but now that the project is well underway and the economy is doing poorly who will pay for the cost of operating the jail. That cost will be covered on the backs of those poor individuals who will be incarcerated. It seems to me that Commissioner Bergman and others who supported this expansion should have given more prior thought to the ongoing cost to operate this facility than was given. It seems that in their fervor to expand the jail at all cost,they forgot to share this critical piece of information with the community. Since jail services are mandated by the state and the county is reimbursed on a per inmate basis, you better believe that when that expansion project is completed, those extra beds will be filled immediately and will be at all times. The correction system is big business and many people and communities livelihoods depends on that system. There is absolutely no real honest to God discussion about diverting these young people out of the system. As a matter of fact, once a young person is introduced to the system as a juvenile, it is almost impossible for that young person to get out of the system. Instead, they are kept in the juvenile system until they become adults and then are introduced to the adult system. What is truly amazing however, is the lack of outcry or any substantive involvement from the African American community when it comes to the decision making and planning process. Therefore, I see nothing but an increase in the incarceration of young African Americans in this system.
Anonymous Commentor
Fri, Nov 13, 2009 : 9:01 a.m.
hyp0static: is that like "Process Server" rather than "Protest Servant?"
hyp0static
Fri, Nov 13, 2009 : 8:56 a.m.
Ryan: for the record, Christine Negendank is a jail DIVERSION psychiatrist, not division. thanks!
Awakened
Fri, Nov 13, 2009 : 8:30 a.m.
With people fleeing the state there should be plenty of empty houses to give these folks so we don't have to house them in jail. Detroit is littered with empty homes.