By Jacqueline Koch and Monica Mercer
Chattanooga Times Free Press
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Repeat offenders continue to trouble local and state law enforcement officials, who say a new approach is needed to prevent criminals from repeatedly cycling through the prison system.
“Our job needs to be, ‘How do we reduce recidivism?’ That’s the enemy,” said Charles Traughber, chairman of the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole, during Monday’s meeting with members of the Chattanooga Times Free Press editorial board.
The Department of Correction now supervises 69,000 felons under probation or parole. State prisoners experience a 42 percent recidivism rate, which includes all major and minor violations, Mr. Traughber said. The department hopes eventually to cut that rate to 25 percent, he said.
To hit that goal, the Board of Probation and Parole and the Tennessee Department of Correction are starting an assessment program to identify those who are out on probation or parole most likely to reoffend with petty crimes who do not pose a significant risk to the community. Violent offenders would remain behind bars.
State funding -- $4 million from the current budget, mostly for personnel -- will allow the departments to offer specific treatment and supervision based on the assessment’s results, officials said.
If a person needs help finding transportation to meet with a probation officer, treatment for substance abuse or employment, the state will assist in providing those at the local level under the program.
Department employees already have inquired to local companies, including Volkswagen, about providing jobs for parolees and probationers.
“The reality is they’re coming back to Chattanooga and Hamilton County, and if they see no way of surviving, they’ll go into an area that can have them reincarcerated,” said Yusuf Hakeem, a Board of Probation and Parole board member and former Chattanooga city councilman.
The cost per inmate per day in a state facility is about $63, according to correction department records. The state expects to save $64 million over two fiscal years by using the assessment, he said.
If the program is not used, the state will be faced with increasing prison populations, he said.
“If you keep more people out and they don’t come back and you cut the rate of return, over time that’s going to save dollars,” Mr. Traughber said.
The Hamilton County Jail does not house state felons, so the parolees and probationers helped by the program would not directly alleviate the cost of housing prisoners at the downtown facility. There are, however, more than 3,400 Hamilton County residents on state probation and 400 on state parole, records show.
The Hamilton County concurrent and regular grand juries also recently addressed the issue of recidivism in their latest reports, but they offered a different suggestion for the state.
Grand juries are the bodies of citizens who hear preliminary evidence of crimes and decide whether to indict people for those crimes.
The group said it found that cases involving repeat offenders operating vehicles under the influence of alcohol or drugs, with a suspended or revoked license or no liability insurance were the most numerous.
“The state legislature needs to study this issue in order to determine if additional jail time is needed for the individuals committing these types of crimes,” the grand jury noted in its final report.
“This Jury, as well as prior juries, is very concerned about the number of repeat offenders,” the report stated.
Copyright 2009 Chattanooga Publishing Company