PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: Jail populations across the country are dropping as communities try less expensive alternatives to locking inmates inside publicly funded facilities. Locally, the efforts are working so well that Allegheny County might want to plow more resources into them.
According to a study released last month by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the average jail population in large jurisdictions was down 2.3 percent in 2009 from the previous year, and the reduction in Allegheny County was even more significant. Warden Ramon C. Rustin said there were 11 percent fewer commitments in 2009 than in 2008, and he said preliminary figures for 2010 suggest the numbers aren’t going back up.
He credited the court’s pretrial and probation departments with helping to reduce the number of inmates sent to jail. The departments work with county judges to monitor offenders and provide treatment, to such a large extent that there’s a waiting list for electronic monitoring anklets worn by people serving house arrest. The system has about 1,200 of the devices in use and, as of Wednesday, another 870 people were on a waiting list for them… (more)
