NCJ Number
213323
Journal
Corrections Today Magazine Volume: 68 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2006 Pages: 18-20
Date Published
February 2006
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article examines the functions that jails are expected to perform in a local community and how jails are meeting those expectations.
Abstract
Jails were initially built to serve the interim needs of defendants between arrest and subsequent conviction, after which any incarceration would likely be served in a State prison. Now, however, jails are expected to house people whose behaviors are offensive or problematic to the general public, primarily because there are few institutions that are willing or able to house and serve them. These include the homeless, the mentally ill, and those with serious medical problems who cannot afford insurance. Various corrections professional associations and organizations do their best to prepare jail staff to address all the needs of inmates they are called on to serve. The Association of State Corrections Administrators has begun distribution of its initial standards for best practices in jails after nearly 2 years of assessing prison operations. The best practices include insight into safety audits and accreditation, classification, emergency preparedness, technology and equipment, security threats, health and mental health, facilities and construction, policy review and enhancement, training, staffing, and adverse-event reduction strategies. One measure of progress in jail management and services is reduction in inmate suicides. The August 2005 Bureau of Justice Statistics report on suicide and homicide in State prisons and jails shows significant reduction in suicides in jails over the past 25 years. This has occurred during a period of dramatic growth in jail populations.