Does the new increase really reflect the realistic percentage of arrests that show effective policing? I was interested to see that letter writer Matteo Tamburini was also struck by the Skagit example. However, I wonder if it would be more accurate to interpret the Skagit incarceration increase as reflecting the natural adjustment from a state of unmet need in the old overcrowded, small jail to actually being able to keep those in jail who needed to be there. How should we interpret the usage data there? In the guest commentary by Andrew Reding, he states that “incarceration rose by more than a third while arrests remained steady.” He cited this as proof that there must be limits on jail capacity to reduce incarceration and that a small new jail should be chosen. The new Skagit County Jail: I would like to see more details of this. The crowded kitchen provides hundreds of meals each day, and mold grows on the walls. Joe’s South” building be converted into a forensic psychiatric hospital, linked with the new jail?Īn inmate drains a vat of pasta in the kitchen of the Whatcom County Jail. More psychiatric beds are desperately needed - could the “ St. If those problems could be more effectively resolved, then hopefully the “in and out of jail” repetitive cycle could be reduced. It seems that the prison population includes many people who also fit that description. Mayor Seth Fleetwood said that 75% of homeless people in Bellingham self-describe as having a mental illness and/or drug/alcohol addiction (when he spoke at the Bellingham City Club mayoral candidate forum). schizophrenics) or do they divert those people to a local forensic psychiatry hospital? How long is the program that arrested people go through there? What are the rates of recidivism after program completion? What follow-up programs have they developed? Do these have mental health professionals on staff - psych nurses, psychiatrists, addiction specialists? Do they treat serious mental illness patients there (e.g. The Nashville, Tennessee urgent care center and behavioral care center next door to the jail there. Some aspects I would like to see addressed in greater detail are the following: I hope Cascadia Daily News will continue to explore this topic. Hopefully, we will all become better prepared to vote wisely when the new jail plan is next presented on our ballots. All this helps one become better informed. It clearly shows how dilapidated the current jail is and how desperately a new one is needed. The streaming video guided tour of the jail is also well worth viewing. I had never heard of the LEAD and GRACE programs, which sound like important interventions. I looked forward to the next installment each week. It was balanced, interesting coverage of a wide range of issues and options. Your recent series about new jail plans was excellent. The last time we were asked to vote on plans for a new jail, I didn't know much about it and wasn't sure how to vote.
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