By Lindsay Boyle
The Day
NEW LONDON, Conn. — With the first day of February came a change to the state Department of Correction program that allows well-behaved inmates to receive sentence reductions.
Established in 2011, the Risk Reduction Earned Credit Program originally gave all offenders who qualified — regardless of their security risk level — a reduction of five days off their sentences per month.
On Feb. 1, though, the number of days a qualifying inmate’s sentence can be reduced per month began to be based upon his or her security risk level.
In the state’s corrections system, those levels range from one to five, with level five representing the highest level of risk.
In the newly revised program — authorized by Department of Correction Commissioner Scott Semple — offenders at level four will be able to receive three days of credit per month by participating in programs or activities, displaying good conduct, obeying rules and otherwise behaving in ways that suggest they are getting ready to safely re-enter the community.
For the same actions, inmates at levels two and three will earn four days off their sentences per month and those at level one will receive five.
Offenders classified as a level five security risk aren’t able to earn risk reduction credits.
Speaking by phone Tuesday afternoon, Karen Martucci, acting director of external affairs for the department, said the revisions take “a common sense approach.”
She said those who are in lower security prisons — who’ve either worked their way down or didn’t commit a crime serious enough for a high-level placement in the first place — should be able to earn more time off their sentences than those who aren’t.
Many of them, she pointed out, already are preparing to go back out into the community.
“We can’t force inmates to do programs, and even the higher security level inmates are all going home eventually,” Martucci said. “It makes sense, as a public safety response, to say, ‘Let’s do everything we can to incentivize getting better.’”
Not all inmates are able to earn time off their sentences, though.
Among others, those who are convicted of murder, first-degree manslaughter, first degree-manslaughter with a firearm, first-degree aggravated sexual assault or aggravated sexual assault of a minor, as well as those who are persistent dangerous felony offenders or persistent dangerous sexual offenders, are ineligible.
According to Martucci, a team consisting of counselors, data experts, a deputy warden and others first began reviewing the 2011 risk reduction credit program in February of last year, seeking ways to refine it.
What they came up with they hope will not only improve inmate behavior, but also improve staff safety, Martucci said.
The measures also fit into Gov. Dannel Malloy’s ongoing “Second Chance Society” initiatives, she said.
“Second Chance is just about a smarter approach to criminal justice,” she said. “I think this definitely fits in with that — it’s a smarter approach to correction, public safety and re-entry.”
But the work isn’t over just because the changes have gone into effect.
“With all of these new projects we roll out, Commissioner Semple stresses a lot of performance measures,” Martucci said. “He’s going to ask what we’ll be looking at to know how well it’s working.”
One of those measures, she said, could include looking at the history of disciplinary reports before and after the rollout of revisions in each facility to check for trends.
Another statistic the department may keep an eye on, Martucci explained, is whether inmates begin to progress from higher to lower levels more quickly than before.
She said officials hope to firm up the measures of choice — as well as when and how often they’ll look at them — in the near future.
“You really have to be able to measure what you’re doing,” Martucci said. “If it’s not working, why continue it?”
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