Prepared by : Damir Kukec Date: July 16, 2009 (Updated) Research and Planning Manager Criminal Justice Commission

Exploratory Study of the County Jail Population:

HIGHLIGHTS

(Working Draft)

Prepared for: Corrections Task Force, Criminal Justice Commission

RESEARCH & PLANNING PAGE I

Table of Contents  

Introduction: ..................................................................................................................................... 1

Method .............................................................................................................................................. 1

Findings .............................................................................................................................................. 2

Admissions..................................................................................................................................... 2

Inmate Characteristics ............................................................................................................... 3

Admissions Characteristics ............................................................................................................. 6

Case Type ..................................................................................................................................... 6

Inmate Status ............................................................................................................................... 7

Aggregate Bond ......................................................................................................................... 8

Length of Stay .............................................................................................................................. 9

Offense Categories ................................................................................................................... 10

Releases into the Community ..................................................................................................... 11 

RESEARCH & PLANNING PAGE II

Acknowledgments 

The Research and Planning Unit, Criminal Justice Commission would like to thank the Corrections staff from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office for their support and willingness to answer our endless questions. In particular, we would like to acknowledge Major Chris Kneisley, Lieutenant Robert Manley, Sandra Smith, and Denise L. Ellis. We also owe a great debt of gratitude to John Young, the computer systems analyst who maintains the Booking Information Retrieval System (BIRS) at the Sheriff’s Office. Special thank you to Katherine Hatos and Candee Villapando, Criminal Justice Analyst, Criminal Justice Commission who were instrumental in developing the syntax for coding derived variables and charge categories and acquiring “corporate knowledge”. Finally, I would like to thank all Research and Planning Staff who reviewed the report and provided their helpful comments.

RESEARCH & PLANNING PAGE 1

Introduction:  The purpose of this exploratory study is to review the data maintained by the Corrections Bureau, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office inmate database Incarceration Inmate Management and Cost Recovery System (IMACS). It is our hope that the dissemination of these findings will generate discussion and interest so that we may improve and enhance the type of information we provide to support policy and program development. More specifically, these data were developed to inform the policy discussions of the Corrections Task Force, Alternatives to Incarcerations Committee and were recently used by the Re-Entry Committee to submit a federal grant application in late April 2009.

Method 

The following findings are based on an extract from the IMACS Charge Information Table based on “bookings” that occurred between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2008. The date of extract is April 21, 2009, 14:00:00.

These data were then aggregated to calculate the number of unique admissions and inmates that entered the County jail during the above noted period. It is important to note that these data do not include inmates that were already in the jail as of January 1, 2005 when examining the four year cohort of admissions and inmates. When examining the number of days in custody, readers should know that these lengths are calculated using “booking date & time (hh:mm:ss)” along with “release date & time (hh:mm:ss)” expressed in days.

Readers should also be aware that the Research and Planning Unit has used the jail data to derive new variables. For example, using the Inmate Id Number, Booking Date and Booking Time, we derived the variable Admission by aggregating the individual booking records reported by the Corrections Bureau. As a result, the statistics noted below may not match exactly the operational data maintained by the Corrections Bureau, as these data include the derived variables and the dataset is “frozen” as of the date of extract. Lastly, the research dataset will also exclude data that appear invalid, such as release dates occurring before the booking date. Admissions involving Criminal Registrants are not included in these data. Regardless, these data are an important part of better understanding the jail population characteristics and activities.

The Research and Planning Unit welcomes your input, so please do not hesitate to contact us at (561) 355-4943 or CJCRPU@pbcgov.org.

RESEA

Finding

Admissi

Betweenjail, invonumber

The totanumber over thepre-trial

 

10

20

30

40

50

60

Num

ber

ARCH & PLAN

gs 

ions 

n 2005 andolving appro of admissio

al number o above; as

e four year release or

468

0

0000

0000

0000

0000

0000

0000

2

NING

d 2008, theroximately 1ons and inm

of inmates s some inmperiod for cprobation s

22

34382

2005

Table 1: Nu

re were ap100,302 uniqmates admi

in the abomates were

committingsentence.

47199

34327

2006

umber of Ad

proximatelyque inmateitted into th

ove graph admitted i

g new offen

52753

7

200

Year

dmissions an

y 200,480 aes. The follhe County j

(144,374) iinto the Co

nses or for v

5

37501

07

nd Inmates 

admissions ilowing chaail over the

s more thaounty jail mviolating co

53706

38164

2008

by Year

PAGE 2

into the Coart illustratese last four ye

an the repomore than oonditions of

Admiss

Inmate

ounty s the ears.

orted once their

ions

s

RESEARCH & PLANNING PAGE 3

Inmate Characteristics 

We also examined the sex, race, and age group of individuals admitted into the county jail. Understanding the characteristics of the jail population may benefit those who operate the jail as well as those who may want to implement programs or policies targeting a specific population. The majority of inmates entering the county jail are male (76,916), while almost 23% were female (23,362).

77%

23%

Table 2: Sex of Inmates Admitted, 2005 to 2008

Male

Female

RESEARCH & PLANNING PAGE 4

The following chart shows that the majority of inmates admitted into the jail are reported as White (68,306) between 2005 and 2008. In comparison, approximately 32% of the inmates were reported as Black (31,877). The remaining race categories were virtually unreported when compared to White and Black.

68.10%

31.78%

0.01% 0.08% 0.03%0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%

70.00%

80.00%

White Black American Indian/Alaskan 

Native

Asian/Pacific Islander

Unknown

Percen

t

Reported Race

Table 3: Inmates Admitted by Race, 2005 to 2008

The above graph suggests that Blacks appear to be overrepresented in the inmate population as Blacks make up roughly 13% of the population in Palm Beach County. We also examined the variable “language spoken” to further explore the ethnic makeup of inmates admitted to the county jail between 2005 and 2008. Regrettably, this variable is not as robust as Race; however, we found that when language spoken was reported, it showed that 84% of the inmates reported speaking Spanish, and 10% reported speaking Creole.

RESEA

Not surpadmitteshow thFurthermtend to

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Percen

t

ARCH & PLAN

prising the 1d into the cis group to

more, the g“age out o

7.5%

0.0%

5.0%

0.0%

5.0%

0.0%

5.0%

0.0%

17 & Unde

T

NING

8 to 24 yeacounty jail bo be the mraph suppo

of crime.”

27.0%

r18 to 24

Table 4: % In

ar old age between 20

most criminoorts the ove

16.0%

21

25 to 29 30 

mates Admi

group repo005 and 200ogenic, wherall trend t

1.9%

17.8%

to 39 40 to 4

Age Gro

itted by Age

orted the h08. This reflen compahat as an in

%

7.5%

49 50 to 59

oup

e Group, 200

highest numects schola

ared to othndividual g

1.8%0

60 to 69 70

05 to 2008

PAGE 5

mber of inmarly works wher age grogrows older

0.4% 0.1%

0 to 79 80+

mates which oups. they

%

+

RESEARCH & PLANNING PAGE 6

Admissions Characteristics 

Case Type 

Over one-third (73,601) of all admissions are related to felony offenses according to the data. It is important to note that unless otherwise specified, the data have been sorted by Most Serious Offense in situations where the admission contains more than one charge.

36.72%

28.91%

12.19%

7.49%

6.16%

5.92%

0.88%

0.83%

0.48%

0.16%

0.10%

0.09%

0.04%

0.02%

0.01%

0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% 30.00% 35.00% 40.00%

Felony

Misdemeanor

Failure to Appear FTA

Traffic Misdemeanor

Booked for Other/Transit

Violation of Probation

Violation of Contempt of Court

Ordinance

Violation of Supervised OR

Bench Warrant

Bond Surrender

Sex Predator/Offender

Failure to Comply

Military

Career Offender

Valid Percent

Case Type

Table 5: % Admission by Case Type, 2005 to 2008

RESEA

Inmate

The datreportedall felonproperlyas Sentewhich reoverall, 4

 

Se

Se

Inmate Status 

ARCH & PLAN

e  Status 

ta revealedd as a Pre-ty and som

y processedenced. Weeported 9843% of the

P

In‐Tran

Se

entenced ‐ Stat

entenced ‐We

Ta

NING

d that almtrial. Given

me misdemed. Approxime have see8% of the arecords are

1

0.

0.0%

Pre‐Trial

Juvenile

nsit/Hold

ntenced

te Prison

ekender

ble 6: % Adm

most two-th the nature

eanor defemately 7% oen a vast imadmissions e missing th

15.0

8.0%

7.3%

1.3%

3%

10.0% 20.0

mission by I

irds of all e of the Coendants muof the admmprovemen

with a valhe inmate st

0%

0% 30.0% 40

Valid 

nmate Statu

admissionsunty Jail, th

ust be takemissions durin

nt in the daid inmate tatus for the

0.0% 50.0%

Percent

us, 2005 to 2

s into the Chis figure is nn to the Cng this timeata quality status in 2

e study per

68

60.0% 70.0%

2008

PAGE 7

County jailnot surprisinounty jail to

e were repo of this vari008. Howe

riod.

8.1%

% 80.0%

l are ng as o be orted iable ever,

RESEA

Aggrega

From the2005 an(reportebond wfollowingAlmost oand 5,00

No

$

$

$5

Requ

ired

 Bon

d Amou

t 

ARCH & PLAN

ate Bond 

e total numnd 2008, moed as $0.00)was set at z

g up with tone-quarte00.

o amount Spec

$1,001 to $5

$5,001 to $10

$101 to $

$251 to $

$501 to $1

$10,001 to $20

$20,001 to $50

< $

50,001 to $100

$100,001

Table 7: %

NING

mber of adost (41%) o). It is impozero dollarshe Sheriff’sr (18,454) o

2.

0.8%

0.7%

0.4%

0.0% 5

cified

5,000

0,000

$250

$500

1,000

0,000

0,000

$100

0,000

1 Plus

% Admission 

dmissions thof the admortant to ns or bail wa Office to b

of the admi

8.0%

6.9%

6.3%

5.6%

3.6%

2%

%

%

5.0% 10.0%

by Aggregat

at were remission reco

ote that was denied. better undessions requi

15.0% 20.0

P

te Required

eported as ords did nowe are not s

The Reseerstand theired a bond

24.5%

0% 25.0% 3

Percent

 Bond Amou

Pre-trial (75t specify asure if this m

earch and e bond repd amount b

0.0% 35.0%

unt, 2005 to

PAGE 8

5,727) betwa bond ammeans thaPlanning U

porting variabetween $1

41.0%

40.0% 45.0

o 2008

ween mount

t the Unit is able. 1,001

%

0%

RESEA

Length o

The Casinmate betweeexcludinadmissiostay. Segrouped

When wMisdemedays in cof 35.6 dAdmissioMisdeme

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Percen

t

ARCH & PLAN

of Stay 

e Type or Inwill have n two Inm

ng weekenons result inentenced ad in 1 to 30

we examineanor Admcustody bedays in cusons, the aveanant Ad

50.3%

2

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

0.0%

< Day

NING

nmate Statin the Coate Status

nder). Betwn one to 30admissions days in cus

ned the Pmissions, weetween 200stody befoverage nummissions – 1

37.9%

2.1%

32.

y 1 to 30 Da

Table 8: %

tus does seeounty jail. values: Prween 20050 days in c were morestody with a

Pre-trial ane found tha05 and 2008ore being rember of da44.7 and 4

4.5%

0%

14.0%

ays 31 to 60 Day

Length

% Admission 

em to have The followre-trial and and 2008ustody, wite evenly da reported

d Sentencat Misdeme8; while Feloeleased. Aays in cust8.4 respect

4.8%

29.6%

ys 61 to 180 Days

h of Stay

by Length o

e an impacwing chart d Sentence

, the vast th 17 days

dispersed, waverage 10

ced Admiseanants repony AdmissAs can be ody increatively.

1.9%

18.2%

181 to 365 Days

GrO

of Stay, 2005

ct on the le illustrates

ed (local semajority (8as the ave

with 34% of09 days in c

ssions acroported an asions reportexpected,

ased for bo

0.7%4.1%

reater than One Year

5 ‐ 2008

PAGE 9

ength of stathe differe

entenced 88%) of Preerage lengf the admicustody.

oss Felony average of ted an ave for Sentenoth Felony

Pre‐Trial

Local Senten

ay an ence only,

e-trial th of ission

and 3.56 rage

nced and

nced

RESEA

Offense 

Between(includeTraffic Ototal Cri

Since thclosely. (51%) an

 

Dr

Offen

se Categories 

ARCH & PLAN

Categories

n 2005 andes violent ofOffenses anmes Agains

he Other O We found

nd Violation

Cri

riving Under th

P

Ta

NING

s 

d 2008, 22ffenses e.gd Drug Offst the Perso

Offenses cad that bulk n of Probati

Other Of

imes Against P

Property C

Traffic Of

Drug Of

he Influence Of

Public Order Of

Weapons Of

Vice Of

able 9: % Ad

% of all a., Robbery)fenses eac

on, almost o

tegory is so of this cation Admissi

1

0.0%

ffenses

ersons

Crimes

ffenses

ffenses

ffenses

ffenses

ffenses

ffenses

mission by O

dmissions r), and 19% h account

one-quarter

o prevalentegory canons (29%).

4.1%

2.4%

1.7%

1.6%

5.0% 10

Offense Cat

reported C of Admissioed for 11%r are violen

t, we examn be attribu

11.5%

10.9%

0.0% 15.0%

Valid Per

egories , 200

Crimes Agaons were P of Admissi

nt in nature.

mined the uted to Fai

2

19.2%

% 20.0%

rcent

05 to 2008

PAGE 10

ainst the PeProperty Criions. From.

category milure to Ap

26.6%

22.0%

%

25.0% 30

erson imes.

m the

more pear

%

0.0%

RESEARCH & PLANNING PAGE 11

Releases into the Community 

The following data describe “releases” (not admissions) for local sentenced inmates only; therefore, other types of inmates such as pre-trial and those inmates released to the Florida Department of Corrections are not included in this analysis. Local sentenced inmates typically include offenders who were sentenced to a year less a day, regardless of the level of the offense (i.e., misdemeanor, felony, or local ordinance).

Overall, between 2005 and 2008, there were approximately 200,188 releases from county jail in Palm Beach County. From the total number of releases, almost four percent (7,991) can be attributed to releases for local sentenced inmates.

From the total number of local sentenced releases, the average length of days in custody for the four year period was approximately 113 days. When we examined the average number of days in custody for each year separately, we found that the average number of days decreased between 2005 and 2008.

At the time of this analysis, there were 53 different zip codes within Palm Beach County that identified specific municipal and county areas. The following 10 zip codes account for over 50% of the valid addresses for releases reported between 2005 and 2008 in Palm Beach County. The following 10 zip codes are listed in rank order (highest number of releases to lowest): 33404, 33407, 33444, 33435, 33460, 33461, 33401, 33463, 33415, and 33409).

From the total number of municipal and county areas (39) used in this analysis, the top 10 areas account for almost 60% of the valid addresses for releases reported between 2005 and 2008. The following municipal and county areas are listed in order from highest number of releases to lowest:

1. Riviera Beach, Palm Beach Shores, Unincorporated 2. West Palm Beach, Mangonia Park, Riviera Beach 3. West Palm Beach 4. Delray Beach 5. Boynton Beach, Ocean Ridge, Briny Breezes 6. Lake Worth 7. Palm Springs, Unincorporated, Lake Worth 8. Greenacres, Unincorporated 9. Unincorporated, Greenacres, Haverhill 10. Jupiter, Unincorporated.