Controlling a Jail Population by Partially Closing the Front Door

Abstract

This study reports on an evaluation of a strategy designed to reduce crowding of a county jail. The local judiciary sought to reduce the jail population by ordering local police agencies to issue a summons rather than arrest individuals accused of seven misdemeanor offenses. The study compares all cases booked during the first 8 months of the policy with all cases booked during the same months in the previous year. The results indicate that the policy was implemented, that it did reduce the intake population, and that there were minimal side effects; however, the potential impact was considerably overestimated in the planning stage.