A man was arrested late last year in East Toledo and charged with two counts of rape.
 
Both victims were underage.
 
The man has an extensive felony record including attempted possession of crack cocaine, carrying a concealed weapon, and attempted receiving of stolen property, according to records at the Lucas County Common Pleas Court.
 
Why was he walking the streets?
 
Unfortunately, that question will be more common as the state targets the department of corrections in its bid to slash its $8 billion deficit.

Look for less incarceration of low-level offenders, shorter prison sentences, an expansion of community control programs and privatization of services or prisons.
 
The Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions provides insight into the State of Ohio’s prison system in its recent report Smart on Crime, authored by Marc Levin, director of the Center for Effective Justice, Texas Public Policy Foundation.
 
The report attempts to answer this question, “How can we remain tough on crime and spend less?”
 
First, let’s look at the trend.
 
Ohio in 2008 spent $1.29 billion on prisons. The state projects it will need another 5,330 beds by 2018, which would cost $424 million in construction costs and $501 million in annual operating costs.
 
The report claims substantial savings can be had by reducing the number of non-violent criminals it sends to prison. It found that almost half of those admitted to Ohio’s prisons in 2008 were assessed low-risk and half received sentences of 12 months or less.
 
This revolving door leaves these low-risk felons worse off than before they were sentenced and reduces their job prospects.
 
Speaking of jobs, between 2000 and 2008, burglaries rose 14 percent, robberies 18 percent. Meanwhile, the violent crime rate only rose 4 percent. Ohio’s crimes-against-property rate is also larger than other Midwest states, suggesting our moribund economy contributes to our increased corrections costs.
 
Drug offenders are also a big segment of the prison population.  In 1981, they accounted for 10 percent of Ohio’s prisoners. Then, we got tough on drugs. Today, they account for 15 percent of Ohio’s 51,100 inmates. During the same time, violent offenders decreased as a percentage of population from 39 percent to 12.6 percent.
 
More than 10,000 felony property and drug offenders are sent to prison annually for an average stay of nine months.
 
Ohio’s get tough on drug policy has beaten up our wallets.
 
The key question, Levin states, is not how many Ohioans we send to prison, but how much public safety and victim restitution we can obtain for each dollar.
 
The report urges the following:

• Increase diversion programs in which offenders earn wages to pay restitution, court costs, fines and child support;

• Divert prison bound offenders to county jails where costs are lower;

• Increase electronic monitoring, curfew, drug testing and halfway house programs;

• Reduce medical costs by releasing incapacitated elderly prisoners who do not pose a threat to the public;

• Release inmates who have served 85 percent of their sentence. There would be exceptions for life-term or serious violent offenders;

• Increase the threshold for felony property offense from $500 to $1,000;

• Use community control sanctions instead of prison for repeat child support offenders.

The report also advocates a wider use of drug courts and drug treatment programs. The average cost of drug treatment is $1,600 compared to $25,269 for a prison stay.
 
The report also encourages the state immunize employers who hire ex-offenders from lawsuits that may arise from “negligent hiring.”
 
Governor John Kasich has spoken about his support for some of these programs and both the Ohio Senate and House have bills pending that would address the growing cost of Ohio’s corrections system. In addition, Gov. Kasich earlier this month appointed Gary Mohr director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Mohr most recently provided consulting services to privately-owned corrections facilities, which could be a harbinger of what’s to come.
 
The $8 billion deficit is real so be prepared to run into more low-level criminals on your streets.

Comment at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it You can read the full report at www.buckeyeinstitute.org

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed