NCJ Number
152643
Journal
American City and County Dated: (February 1990) Pages: 28-32
Date Published
1990
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Municipal officials are increasingly having to confront problems related to building new facilities for expanding jail populations in order to conform to court-ordered overcrowding remedies and public demands for offender punishment.
Abstract
While many communities currently resist having prisons or jails built in their vicinity, the prison overcrowding problem may force a rethinking of this position. Many jurisdictions are exploring alternatives to incarceration for offenders who pose no threat to the community. Nonetheless, public fear of crime and the political interests of law enforcement agencies often forestall the implementation of various community-based alternatives. The New Directions Program, implemented in Chino, California, combines crime prevention education, training, rehabilitation, and family counseling, to reduce the ranks of career criminals and repeat offenders. The program is aimed specifically at intervening with young juvenile delinquents immediately after they first commit a crime; 60 percent of juveniles involved in the program did not commit another offense. Other experts claim that only sentencing reform will solve the problem of prison overcrowding.