Fueling an Even Bigger Public Safety Problem

In a press release issued last Thursday, organizations representing state chief executives and fiscal officials had nothing good to say about the outlook for municipal finances:

"NGA, NASBO Say States Will Continue to Face Fiscal Difficulties in Coming Years"
 
Preliminary Findings of Survey Show Fiscal Conditions Continue to Deteriorate

In a preliminary review of the biannual report The Fiscal Survey of States, officials from the National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) today forecasted continued fiscal difficulties for states.

In fiscal 2009, states were forced to reduce General Fund expenditures by 4.8 percent and are expected to reduce fiscal 2010 General Fund expenditures by at least 4.0 percent, marking the first time that state spending has declined in back to back years. The severe national recession drastically reduced tax revenues from every revenue source during fiscal year 2009, and revenue collections are forecasted to continue their decline in fiscal 2010. As state revenue collections historically lag any national economic recovery, state revenues will remain depressed throughout fiscal 2010 and likely into fiscal years 2011 and 2012.

Overall, state revenues declined 7.5 percent in fiscal 2009, which for most states ended June 30, 2009. Revenues will likely continue on this downward trend for another one or two quarters before turning up slowly.

The weakening of state fiscal conditions is reflected in the $250 billion in budget gaps faced by states between fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2011. Of the $250 billion, states closed $72.7 billion in budget gaps during fiscal 2009 and $113.1 billion before the enactment of their fiscal 2010 budgets to bring them into balance with drastically declining revenues.

"These are the worst numbers we’ve ever seen in the decades of putting together this report," said NASBO Executive Director Scott D. Pattison. "States have been forced to lay off and furlough employees, raise taxes, drain rainy day funds and sharply cut state spending in ways that impact every part of state government."

In fact, few services have been spared, including public safety. Just this past week, for example, numerous reports have surfaced detailing proposed or actual cuts in police budgets in places such as Grand Rapids (Michigan), Colorado Springs (Colorado), Tulsa (Oklahoma), San Diego (California), Milwaukee (Wisconsin), and New Orleans (Louisiana), among others.

With illegal activity poised to keep rising as economic conditions remain depressed (despite what Washington keeps telling us) -- especially given that many formerly law-abiding Americans now feel compelled to join the dark side, as I noted in "Hard Times and Bad Behavior" -- that suggests crime could touch the lives of many more Americans than it already does.

But that's not the end of it. According to a report in the Financial Times, "US Jails Set to Empty as States Reduce Deficits," some states could end end up fueling an even bigger public safety problem in their hasty efforts to address large-scale fiscal woes.

Freedom came early this week for 62 inmates of Illinois state prisons.

The former prisoners became the first of 1,000 low-level, non-violent offen-ders in the state to be let out of prison early over the next few months as Illinois battles a budget deficit that could reach $12bn (€8bn, £7.2bn) next year.

The Illinois department of corrections says monitoring the offenders rather than incarcerating them will save $5m a year. In recent months the state has also taken probation and drug-treatment measures aimed at curbing the growth in inmate numbers.

Illinois' early-release scheme is one of a string of measures that states across the US have taken as they face the twin headaches of a bloated prison population and falling tax revenues. All but two states face budget shortfalls for fiscal 2010, according to a report out this week by the Pew Center on the States.

Some 28 states have planned cuts in prison budgets next year: Kansas opted to cut 22 per cent, Nebraska 18 per cent, Illinois 17 per cent and Georgia 15 per cent - although the use of federal stimulus money has softened the blow.

The result is that the US could see the first fall in prison population since the early 1970s, says John Pfaff, a professor at Fordham University in New York who studies prisoner numbers.

States have cut budgets in previous down-cycles - such as in 2001-02 - but the extent of the current measures is larger, as states both try to stem prison admissions and release inmates early.

The measures are being taken in response to a steady growth in states' prison and associated budgets to $52bn last year.

"It costs about $35,000 a year to imprison a person," says Bernard Harcourt, a law professor at the University of Chicago. "We're now beginning to start processing some of the costs associated with some of our penal practices in this country."

More than three-quarters of state spending on prisons goes on staffing costs and a string of states have opted to cut staff and facilities.

Michigan, for example, which has a $2.8bn budget deficit, is closing six prison camps and five prisons, while New York state plans to close three minimumsecurity prison camps and parts of seven more facilities. Kansas, New Jersey, North Carolina and Washington are also closing prisons, while Alaska and Colorado have frozen prison-building plans.

While hard decisions may be unavoidable, many are concerned at the possible effects of the cost cuts.

In Michigan, for example, prison officers are on strike, saying closing facilities has led to such overcrowding that prisons are unsafe for their members and for inmates. In other states, communities have complained that prison closures will take away jobs.

There is also a worry about the consequences of letting more prisoners out during an economic downturn.

"Even if people all had sterling résumés, this is a tough time to get work," says Bill Johnson of the National Association of Police Organizations, the US's biggest union for active-duty officers.

"The fear is that many will return to a life of crime on the streets, and the citizens who live in metropolitan areas will bear the burden in terms of decreased public safety and increased crime," Mr Johnson says.

Comments

[Donald]

Legalize drugs and tax it. Make money and reduce criminal offenses to deal with more serious matters(alcohol prohibition may good money for criminals so why do the same for drugs) but this has too much social stigma to happen.So lets keep paying for more prisons and guards.

[Gary]

This is typical bureaucratic response to funding shortfall. Pick the thing that taxpayers least want to cut and cut that (while fulling funding all the wasteful stuff). The idea is to pressure taxpayers to demand higher taxes.
In schools they cut sports and art classes but never the useless, bloated administration.
The US Air Force used to cut flight hours for pilot training (so much for "Fly and Fight") but would never touch the "essentials" like golf courses whenever there was a funding shortfall.
The current political system cannot be repaired, it can only be rebuilt after it collapses under its own, bloated weight. There is suffering ahead for the public, mostly inflicted by our ruling class, before this happens.

[kevinearick]

the economic motor is dead, and has to be replaced.

the Internet prototype has to be replaced with the next model.

all the enterpise information systems have to be replaced.

all the hardware driving distribution must be replaced.

there's plenty of work, but it cannot be done incrementally; it has to be done simultaneously.

the first step is to install a real education system, globally.

currently, we only have the personnel to build out the kernel.

talking is one thing; doing is another.

the sun is rising on America, and it doesn't like what it sees.

in effect, the last fool has entered the market, and building bridges to nowhere in Asia is a wind-down operation.

tick-tock
(the intel business model is quite ironic)

[roger]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zj8TWETFFXQ
Welcome to the new USA

[Chris]

Sad. The United States may lose its huge lead as having the greatest number per capita of imprisoned citizens of any nation on earth...more than China, Russia, and all the nations we look down our noses at and lecture on the virtues of liberty and problems of human rights abuses. It's just sad, is all.

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=842545237]

This article is propaganda to scare everyone.

A lot of the people in jail are there for victimless crimes, which actually are not crimes at all.

Drugs, gambling, and prostitution too name a few.

Other scary victimless crimes we need protection against include:

Driving without wearing a seat belt
Smoking on the Beach
Using your cell phone while driving
Driving without registration
Driving without insurance
Riding a bicycle without a helmet

And very soon to be added to that list will be:

Walking down the street without Healthcare

As far as I am concerned, hooray, I won’t be happy until there are no police officers except a properly elected sheriff, and the Militia.

Aloha

[David Stanley]

losing the title of most imprisoned ?I fear not,America has more imprisoned than the rest of the world combined.

What I see is corruption from tip to top
I see the police corrupt I see the politicians corrupt and Is see the citizens corrupt.
What I don't see is any backbone to do anything about it.
In a year or 2 at most Americans will be so poor they won't be able to do anything about it.
the Govt will be taking care of them.
in 2 years I wager Americans will still be flat on their backs doing nothing.
they will stagger into reality in the foggy bottom Barrio of the third world, realizing they were gutted ,looted and raped.The One world govt,NWO can not come about,but on the backs of Americans at their expense .But America will be left in the third world for there can never ever be a possibility that USA ever challenges the NWO when it comes into being.
The American people have no more back bone ,no more fight ,no more time.

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=842545237]

oops...

I left out owning a real firearm in California.

And by February 2010:

Buying Ammunition!

Thanks Arnold, you Nazi!

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=842545237]

David;

Put some energy into educating people.

There are a lot of people out here working to change the tide.

Join the InfoWar! www.infowars.com

As long as there is life, there is Hope!

Aloha

[Roxan]

Yes, check out Jeff Rense, Alex Jones and there's some anti illegal aliens sites as well. A great petitian site is Numbers USA, ALIPAC, CAPS.

And do your own frequent writing to the prez and other "representatives" to end: NAFTA, GATT & the WTO. Tell these traitors to do something meaningful instead of just mouthing that they're going to do something about jobs.

And pass the word around about these things. Alert other people, (hopefully, you don't wind up telling somebody that thinks you're crazy or a conspiracy theorist), though.

[farang]

"Even if people all had sterling résumés, this is a tough time to get work," says Bill Johnson of the National Association of Police Organizations, the US's biggest union for active-duty officers.

"The fear is that many will return to a life of crime on the streets, and the citizens who live in metropolitan areas will bear the burden in terms of decreased public safety and increased crime," Mr Johnson says."

Translation: "all of our cushy $120,000/yr jobs flying around in helicopters looking for that Killer Weed, raiding medicinal marijuana outlets serving cancer patients, and hiding by the roadside radaring commuters going to work in the morning will end! Where else will we find a job driving around in a car, with our guns, bullying and frightening the masses, then retiring at age 40 at full pay???? Waaaaaaah!!!"

Legalize drugs. Regulate them like the worst drug: alcohol. Empty the prisons nationwide of non-violent drug offenders.

Fire every drug cop and DEA agent, and ship their useless butts to Afghanistan: they enjoy using guns and wearing uniforms, now make them find out what it is like when the masses shoot back.

Drop every cop's pay to $10,000/year less than teachers, nurses and bus drivers in their area. Track the lower amount of trials this change brings, and close courts and fire judges no longer needed.

If any cops are under contract and cannot be immediately fired, have them investigate Fraud on Wall Street, and have them claw back the billions stolen from the US Taxpayer by the likes of Goldman-Sachs and other bankers "doing God's work." Or would that be "anti-semetic", ADL?

[Stan Rains]

Why is it that no one takes a hard look at the impact of Feminist family policy in our social expenditures and the fiscal impact? One recent study put the figure at $115 Billion a year to support and incentivize single mother households (welfare). A short investigation into the fact that between 75% to 95% of men and even higher figures for women in prison come from single mother homes. In one year in Texas 100% of the women self reported they were raised in mother only households.

The men aren't leaving. Falsely based feminist policy is driving them off and jailing innocent fathers in divorces where even the courts admit the men have "No Fault", then deprive them of home, savings, assets, and most destructive, of their children.

Combine the costs of Feminist policy based on fraudulent data of violent and abandoning men and the social costs of dealing with the economic negative wealth creation of the children from these single mother homes and you will see very rapidly where our nations wealth has gone.

A simple graphing of the progression of the debt and our Feminist ideological spending speaks very loudly.

For starters, you might wish to read "Taken Into Custody" a book by professor Stephen Baskerville,PhD. It has been on various best seller lists for almost two straight years and there are almost no used copies available. His arguments and documentation is solid, though unpopular with the National Organization of Women and their sycophant politicians.

Just "follow the money trail".

[kevinearick]

no one gets out of containment, until full disclosure, with 8 billion watching the circus. Containment is now closing in on healthcare, education, and state government, then it will move in on the cabal of nation/state cartels run by the multi-nationals.

there is no point in rolling out a new economy just to replicate the old economy. As time runs out, the pressure increases, and the volume decreases. watch for a distribution system failing near you. "computer said, so I did", computer-driven scripts, was a really ignorant policy implementation.

[BellaStanley]

[Quote: There is also a worry about the consequences of letting more prisoners out during an economic downturn.
"The fear is that many will return to a life of crime on the streets, and the citizens who live in metropolitan areas will bear the burden in terms of decreased public safety and increased crime," Mr Johnson says.]

Absolutely, our civilization is not getting safer and this economic downturn only adds more of a burden on every aspect of life. It's become a domino effect and we haven't seen the worst, unfortunately.