NCJ Number
240983
Date Published
October 2008
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study investigated whether or not low risk offenders could be supervised in large caseloads without increased risk to the public.
Abstract
Results indicate that large caseloads do not increase the risk of arrest for low risk offenders. There was no difference in either the rate of any arrest or an arrest for a serious offense between low risk offenders supervised in large caseloads and low risk offenders supervised in standard caseloads. Also showed was a significant reduction in the number of absconding warrants issued against low risk offenders. In addition to its having no effect on arrest outcomes, low risk supervision also resulted in significantly less resources being used; and low risk offenders in the large caseloads were seen less often in the office, and were sent by their officer to take less drug tests than those in the control group. The significantly reduced rate of resource delivery within the low risk caseloads enables the Philadelphia Adult Probation and Parole Department (APPD) to direct services at high risk offenders who pose the greatest risk and therefore stand to benefit the most from those services. And because those reduced services did not result in any increase in arrests or absconding, APPD can be confident that reduced supervision of low risk offenders poses no significant threat to public safety. Expanding the low risk supervision program across the department allows APPD to free up both officers and resources to supervise high risk offenders in small caseloads. Risk-based stratification of the entire APPD caseload, along with the reallocation of the agency's resources like drug tests, serves to maximize the impact on public safety while still maintaining the ability to confidently carry out orders of the court in a manner that is both efficient and effective. Tables and figures