NCJ Number
133440
Journal
American Jails Volume: 5 Issue: 5 Dated: (November-December 1991) Pages: 22,24,26-27
Date Published
1991
Length
4 pages
Annotation
At the recent American Jail Association meeting in Atlanta, 20 jail managers and administrators met to discuss their experiences with overcrowding in order to begin developing a useful scale to measure crowding.
Abstract
The tentative model of jail overcrowding is comprised of seven key factors. The first aspect is the inmate-to-capacity ratio; it was generally agreed that beyond the 80 percent mark, administrative flexibility is severely reduced. There are also timing issues -- certain times of the year, week, or day when problems associated with crowding are worse than at other times. Intake fluctuations can also contribute to crowding problems; jail managers are especially concerned by inmates with health problems. These inmates as well as substance abusers, pregnant inmates, and suicidal inmates tend to exacerbate crowding problems. Another item in the model deals with the actual jail structure; certain architectural features can exaggerate or ameliorate crowding. The experts agreed that the level of disruption of jail operations can be a good indicator of the level of jail crowding. Some management issues related to crowding include overtime, scheduling, employee stress, and grievances and lawsuits arising from crowded conditions. The final issue discussed, which had not been included in the original model, related to the jail's contacts with outside organizations including the courts, other criminal justice agencies, and public interest groups. The proposed crowding index must provide managers with timely and useful information based on the specific nature of their crowding problems. The index will be constructed on the basis of the Atlanta discussion and a nationwide survey of jails.