Public safety requires thinking outside the cell

Moreover, research suggests key populations should focus on prioritizing costly prison space for those likeliest to commit serious crimes, even with the most rigorous alternative. For example, incarcerating someone for a nonviolent offense for six months in a state lockup results in higher recidivism than a community-based sanction. Once classification occurs, there is little time to administer any programming, and the short period of incapacitation is offset by criminogenic effect of separation from employment, family and other pro-social influences. In contrast, for those who violate supervision terms, jail stays of a few days, which can be on a weekend to preserve employment, have been highly effective as part of the Hawaii HOPE Court, and in North Carolina as a sanction to encourage compliance with probation.
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Another opportunity for safely reducing incarceration is improving the effectiveness of probation and parole systems, which together account for 40 percent of prison admissions. Nearly half of these result from technical violations, such as missing appointments, leaving the county without permission or drinking alcohol. Swift, certain and commensurate sanctions coupled with positive incentives can promote compliance with conditions without resorting to revocations. Using such graduated responses, South Carolina achieved lower recidivism and re-incarceration rates for those on supervision. Similarly, after capping first-time technical probation revocations at 90 days, Louisiana saw returns to custody for new crimes fall 22 percent while saving taxpayers more than $17 million.