Elimination of Incarceration?

Does it really surprise you?? I would think that the Police would at least get an invite, that is crazy.

Coming from out-of-state law enforcement, I hear that Kentucky uses centralized booking and processing. However, my home state relies on the "old school" system where the arresting agency is responsible. Ultimately I do think that the centralized booking system has more advantages than ours does, but for persistent public nuisances (drunkards, dope heads, etc) it gives an advantage that we can take the person into custody and hold them at the station in a holding tank for a few hours until we believe they have sobered enough to be sensible again, then cite them and kick them loose.

Would such a system be practical for Kentucky? Ultimately it does give a disadvantage since you need at least one officer to check-in on the person(s) from time-to-time, but since they are incarcerated and their liberty is more greatly suspended than by taking them to a half-way home, and we (police) tend to be less inviting than the personnel at a half-way house, it isn't too often I arrest the same person twice in a week, or more frequently.

Let's not be deceived by the obvious on this issue. Jail crowding will continue to be an issue and paying for it is draining public coffers. However, this is not the fault of the Police or the community it is the fault of the criminal. I get tired of hearing all the tripe about how much we have to spend to house a criminal. SPEND IT! I would rather see criminals in jail rather than on the street victimizing me and my family. I would rather we spent the money to increase the jail system whether it is subcontracting like they used to do at Dismass House than to have a revolving door on the jail. I would rather my elected officials spent money to protect me and my family rather than installing fancy wrought iron designer garbage cans and granite curbs.

I would rather see criminals behind bars without cable tv or all the ammenities of a social club and have them regret being incarcerated. Jail is too easy on the scum that broke into my home. Do like that Sheriff in Arizona does and feed them baloney sandwiches and keep them in tents. You don't like it then don't commit crimes.

Uncle Jerry is looking for ways to save money so he will have criminals released so that they can get locked up again so that each time the state pays him twenty bucks. Sounds like he is banking on the chance that nobody will get murdered or they won''t break into his house.

We all know this is about the far left democratic idea that all people are inherently good. I am a dem. but I am of the idea that bad people should be punished, not felt sorry for. Here we have the Mayor talking about how to save money on jail overcrowding, but every time I go to court the fines and fees that are supposed to deter crime are set aside. Maybe if they charged them the money they are supposed to, and kept them locked up until they paid it, we could afford to keep the garbage in the trash heap! If we charged the parents of these FFA (Future Felons of America) club members the fees and fines of the crimes their "kids" commit, maybe they would take more of an active roll in their kids lives, instead of blaming the police for catching them and "hurting their baby's."

The city charges Officers 60 dollars a month to work off duty in their cars to help set aside the cost of fuel. I know it's an old issue, but hear me out. Rather than charge the police for trying to make a living, why don't they charge the garbage we hall to the heap a fuel surcharge for being arrested? Does the jail not charge a processing fee? What would be the difference? I think that if all of these idiots we have to deal with on a daily basis started having to pay for the fuel we use to take them to jail, they would think twice before causing us to take them there.

Mr. Mayor, do not forget that we do not cause the people we arrest to commit crime. Your lenient judicial system in this city does. If we were as hard on every criminal as we are on the ones who do not pay child support, crime rates would go down and you wouldn't have to lie to the public about how safe our city is. Police are not a necessary evil as you like to say, we are the blue line between you and those who would do you, or anyone else harm for that matter. Of course I realize I'm talking to myself which is why I highly encourage the people of this city to pay attention to the things that Jerry does, and not just what he says. Does he really represent you and your ideas of the way things should be? That's his job! To represent the public and serve us. Not the other way around. Think about that during the next election. This city hall needs an ENEMA!

I believe that you should be held accountable for your actions and therefore suffer the penalties associated to those actions (criminal); so if your actions merit going to jail, then off to jail you should go. If the cost of housing a person in jail were to decrease than additional funds would be available to allow for housing more criminals. However, if the time spent in jail were more undesireable (no frills like cable TV, A/C, real beds, etc...) than more of these criminals would be less-likely to repeat offend and more jails would not be necessary. Than the resulting additonal funds could be better spent on rehabilitation programs and crime prevention measures. Why is it that a New Mexico Sherriff can put inmates in tents and make their time in jail miserable enough to keep them from returning and we can't? Maybe we don't need the tents but the principle is the same. Make jail a terrible experience and many of our repeat offenders will think twice before offending again. Just a thought.

Dear Mr. Mayor

Please spend my tax dollars on important stuff like keeping criminals behind bars, hiring enough police to keep arresting them and enough corrections officers to house them. If you would like a suggestion you can save some money by cutting the cable tv and other ammenities at the jail. Maybe if you make it unpleasant for them to be locked up they won't want to get locked up again. As a disclaimer I must admit that I have never been a guest of the jail because I am a law abiding taxpayer. I am only suggesting that the guys that get locked up maybe aren't the ones that will be voting in the next elections and you might want to appease the people that do vote.