· "The jail is used to house a wide range of inmate types. It is attempting to do too much. Almost anyone can be admitted. A very wide variety of federal, immigration, out of state, state, and local inmates reside there. It is a mixture of three distinct groups: "people we are afraid of, people we are upset with and people we do not know what to do with” (p. 19).
· "Between 2002 and 2006, the Number of Index Crimes Reported to law enforcement in Eau Claire County decreased -14%. . . . . When these numbers are adjusted to account for increases in the countywide population during this period, the decreases are even larger (p. 11). ”
· "Adult arrests in Eau Claire County increased by 24% during this period. This is in sharp contrast to the declining Index crime rates in the County, and in contrast to the statewide adult arrest trends” (p. 12).
· "The Eau Claire County crime prone age group (age 15-24) can be expected to peak in 2010, then decline substantially by the year 2020. This age cohort is expected to grow at about one half the rate of the general county population through 2030 (p. 12). “
· “It appears that a larger number of people have been placed under correctional supervision, under more stringent behavioral requirements, and for longer periods of time.” (p. 12).
· "More clearly defining the purpose of the jail is a first step in managing the flow into the jail and the length of stay. This will help define the number and composition of the jail population. Until and unless this is done, the jail will remain crowded (p. 19)."
· " [Eau Claire's] predominant view, [its] predominant strategy for coping with the growing workload has been to seek additional resources, add jail beds, and add program capacity. This represents a near singular strategy aimed at trying to outrun growth by adding capacity. But the system is up against substantial resource limits and the strategy is coming under increased scrutiny . . . (p. 20)."
· "A first conceptual trap has been the view that jail crowding is "the problem." A related notion is the view that jail crowding is "the Sheriff's problem". It turns out that jail crowding really just a symptom. It is a symptom of problems within the larger justice system. Success requires a system-wide approach. One must literally go outside the perceived "problem" in order to solve it (p. 20/21)."
· "Some of the people who were interviewed seem to believe that a new jail will "solve the problem". In fact, a new jail, by itself, may not change very much. New bed space may be filled quickly. It is also possible that the new emerging programs will expand the total number of people under correctional supervision, also fill to capacity, and have very little impact on the number of people in jail (page 24)."
· "Recommendations include increased public participation and better analysis of existing data to provide information on the jail population, its characteristics and needs, put into a proper form, analyzed and routinely reported out. . . . Understanding these population dynamics is essential to understanding why the number of people in jail is increasing [or falling] (p. 29)."
· "The basic message: These trends do not support the view that the general County population has become more criminogenic. Instead, the increase in the demand for criminal justice services appears to stem from changes in the response of the criminal justice system. In conjunction with the other analyses that have been prepared, it appears that a larger number of people have been placed under correctional supervision, under more stringent behavioral requirements, and for longer periods of time (p. 12/13)."
· "Utilization of the Jail bed space resource is not well understood by justice system officials, general officials of county and city governments, or the public. The jail data was not organized to permit analysis. It was difficult to determine how the jail space is being used. The classification system is a mystery. Bookings and length of stay of the various inmate types are not being analyzed (page 19)."
To read the full report, see http://tyronecoal.com/NIC2008.pdf & http://tyronecoal.com/NICAppendix2008.pdf