The City of Philadelphia Prison System

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The City of Philadelphia Prison System
John F. Street, Esq. Mayor Leon A. King, II,
Esq.Commissioner
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Public Safety

• There is no longer any debate about what is
  effective in improving public safety.

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Public Safety

• There is no longer any debate about what is
  effective in improving public safety.
• There is, however, considerable debate about what
  is politically acceptable to reduce the risk of
  re-offending.

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Public Safety

• There is no longer any debate about what is
  effective in improving public safety.
• There is, however, considerable debate about what
  is politically acceptable to reduce the risk of
  re-offending.
• But, if we know what will improve public safety,
  it is an obligation to make it happen.

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Misconceptions

• Longer sentences result in reduced criminal
  activity.
• Being tough-on crime is always effective.
• Being soft-on crime is more humane than being
  hard on crime.
• Nothing works, incarceration deters crime,
  harsh jail conditions deter crime,
  ex-offenders are responsible for high crime
  rates and our crime laws are perfect.
• Most inmates are violent and every returning
  offender is dangerous.

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A Snap Shot of 15,000 PPS Inmates Most Serious
Charges over 6 months in FY 06
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Why We Cant Rely on Incarceration

• Incarceration has been estimated to be
  responsible for about a 5-20 reduction in
  criminal activity at present. Other research
  found a 10 increase in incarceration yields a
  1.6-3.1 reduction in crime this is
  short-sighted and clearly not efficient.
• However, in the long-term, 95 of all inmates are
  released, and the risk of offending for
  ex-offenders is 20-50 times greater than
  non-offenders.
• This occurs for several reasons
• A criminal record impedes prospects for future
  employment, housing and educational
  opportunities these are risk factors for later
  criminal activity.
• Criminogenic behaviors and attitudes are learned
  while incarcerated this is a risk factor for
  non-serous/violent criminals.
• The increased resources on incarceration leads to
  decreased resources for other, more effective
  public safety interventions, and publicly funded
  services.
• With increases in persons incarcerated, the
  deterrent effect of incarceration decreases for
  some, incarceration is a right of passage.

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Our Inconvenient Truth

• Law enforcement and crime prevention are
  not always the same.

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Our Inconvenient Truth

• Law enforcement and crime prevention are
  not always the same.
• This is the law of unintended consequences.

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Our Inconvenient Truth

• Law enforcement and crime prevention are
  not always the same.
• This is the law of unintended consequences.
• Three such cases housing, jobs and educational
  possibilities. Each are affected by current
  background-check legislation.

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Unintended Consequences
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Unintended Consequences
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Unintended Consequences
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• The bottom line is that we need to ask
• What will it take to keep released offenders
  from committing crime after incarceration?

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The Outcome of Risk Reduction Interventions
With no intervention
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The Outcome of Risk Reduction Interventions
With housing intervention
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The Outcome of Risk Reduction Interventions
With housing jobs interventions
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The Outcome of Risk Reduction Interventions
With housing, jobs criminal mindset
interventions
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The Outcome of Risk Reduction Interventions
With housing, jobs criminal mindset
interventions
We will never have 0 recidivism or 0 crime, but
we can
decrease the risk of re-offending and improve
public safety.
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Ex-Offender Background Check

• Ex-offender background checks are, at present,
  one of the tough-on crime approaches.
• With respects to housing, ex-offender checks are
  an approach used to help keep certain offenders
  away from potential victims.
• With respects to employment, ex-offender checks
  may also be necessary to keep some offenders from
  harming employees or others from stealing from
  the employer.
• With respects to educational opportunities,
  ex-offenders are precluded from many sources of
  funding.
• However, this legislation has unintended
  consequences and it is, therefore, incomplete.

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Ex-Offender Background Check

• The current ex-offender background check
  legislation has three primary problems with it
• It does not make provisions for reducing
  subsequent risk of criminal reoffending
  associated with ex-offenders increased
  impediments finding housing, employment or
  educational opportunities.
• It is not supported by the evidence in that
  lifetime bans for all convictions is not
  consistent with the fact that desistance in
  criminal offending occurs overtime.
• Only about 10 of young offenders actually go
  onto a lifetime of crime, while 100 have a
  criminal record.

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Ex-Offender Background Check

• The evidence supports the notion that legislative
  provisions can reduce the criminal risks
  associated with difficulty in finding housing,
  jobs and education.
• This can be accomplished on two levels.

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Ex-Offender Background Check

• We could improve public safety by reducing the
  risks of re-offending with,
• Two Possibilities
• Legislative provisions that assist or require
  jobs, housing and educational opportunities for
  returning offenders upon release.
• Legislation at the state and local level that
  seals or expunges the criminal record of some
  criminals (but excludes some such as the violent
  or predatory) who have not been involved with any
  criminal activity for at least seven years from
  their last offense.

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Ex-Offender Background Check

• We could improve public safety by reducing the
  risks of re-offending with,
• Two Possibilities
• Legislative provisions that assist or require
  jobs, housing and educational opportunities for
  returning offenders upon release.
• Legislation at the state and local level that
  seals or expunges the criminal record of some
  criminals (but excludes some such as the violent
  or predatory) who have not been involved with any
  criminal activity for at least seven years from
  their last offense. This research was done using
  police arrest data on 13,000 Philadelphians.

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Ex-Offender Background Check

• Ex-offender background checks are intended to be
  a public safety tool. However, for offenders,
  they are a constant punishment, even after a full
  sentence has been served. This increases the risk
  of reoffending.
• For employers concerned about re-offending,
  because a criminal record offers vanishingly
  little relevant information once a critical
  period has passed, but for the violent and
  predatory offenders, why keep the additional risk
  factor for those who were petty offenders?

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Ex-Offender Background Check

• A concept already in use
• Many auto insurance companies clear driving
  records after 3 years.
• Credit records are expunged after 7 years of
  maintaining a clean record.
• A federal statue on background checks for hazmat
  truckers limits the use of criminal history
  records in hiring since 7 years since the time of
  conviction.
• And! 17 states allow certain convictions, such
  misdemeanor offenses, to be expunged or sealed,
  often for first-time offenders.
• At the local and state level, by eliminating the
  barriers to housing, jobs and education, sealing
  or expunging the criminal record of some
  ex-offenders reduces risk of criminal
  re-offending.

Example the non-violent and non-predatory, and
other petty criminals
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Ex-Offender Background Check

• Provisions that secure housing, jobs education
  for released offenders decrease the risk of
  reoffending by giving former offenders a stake in
  society.
• Provisions that seal or expunge certain types of
  former offenders record after seven years
  decreases the risks of reoffending by making it
  easier to be a self-sustaining citizen.

Example the non-violent and non-predatory, and
other petty criminals
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Ex-Offender Background Check

• At present, existing legislation makes it
  difficult for offenders to become up-right
  citizens.
• But it need not be this way.
• With careful deliberation of unintended
  consequences and thoughtful crime policy,
  legislation can directly reduce the risk of
  criminal re-offending.

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Public Safety

• We know what works, we know what doesnt work,
  and we know what reduces crime risks.
• There is no debate among the experts about what
  is effective in improving public safety.
• So, if we knows what will improve public safety,
  it is an obligation to make it happen.