I want to take this
opportunity to extend to each of you best wishes for the New Year. Also, I want to talk about an issue
youíll be hearing more about in the coming months-how best to handle Dane
County’s burgeoning jail population.
In November I used my partial
veto to improve, in my judgement, that section of the county’s 2002 Capital
Budget which deals with jail expansion in the Public Safety Building. A
majority of the County Board, by voting to allocate $1 million for jail
planning, took the first step toward adding three floors of new jail space onto
the Public Safety Building.
In his budget request,
Sheriff Gary Hamblin estimated those costs at $42 million. Those were, of course, the construction
costs and do not include the costs of new staff for those three floors. At $42 million, this project would more
than double the debt load we are committed to for the new Courthouse. That is simply too much money to spend
for jail expansion.
My partial veto had the
effect of directing the $1 million in jail planning money toward planning for
secure facilities that provide treatment to jail inmates with alcohol and other
drug abuse problems. The reason I did
this is to improve public safety, reclaim lives, and save money. The fact that
most Board members now agree on the need to provide some treatment to jail
inmates with AODA problems is extraordinarily significant and, I hope, will be
the basis for our cooperation on this issue. The drunk driver, the spousal
abuser, the petty thief, the street corner drug dealer, who all leave our jail
without learning to control their alcohol or drug addiction are dangerous to
all of us and a detriment to our community. If we increase the number of inmates with AODA problems who learn
to stop their drinking and drug abuse, we all will be safer. They and their families will also have
productive lives, with a chance for happiness. The waste of human life and
family that occurs when a person repeatedly lands in jail because of AODA
problems is incalculable.
As we discover the most
cost-efficient ways to detain and treat inmates with AODA problems, I
anticipate that the additional AODA beds will be in maximum, medium, and
minimum security settings. I have directed the Department of Administration to
study and recommend the facilities and programs Dane County should develop to
deal with inmates with AODA problems, and report back to my by July 1, 2002.. There
has for too long been a knee jerk response to handling people who break the
law. Put them in jail. It is the worst type of tunnel vision that
costs too much, gets poor results and leaves people right where they were-in
situations that make them likely to commit another crime. Now is an opportune
time to break that cycle. Crime is
down, we have a growing number of people who want to see alternatives to
incarceration, and we have a need to keep property taxes down.
I would appreciate hearing
your views on this subject. You may contact me by e-mail at falk@co.dane.wi.us,
or by mail at 210 Martin Luther King Jr., Blvd., Room 421, Madison WI 53703.
-Kathleen
Falk, County Executive