Thread:
On October 1st, Alderwoman Clark-Hubbard asked Commissioner Glass about the average length of stay (ALOS) for black vs. white pre-trial detainees. Glass responded: “it’s about the same, there is a little difference, but not much.” Tuesday, Alderman Guenther followed up,

asking for hard numbers. This time, Commissioner Glass admitted that there is an over 100 day disparity, and that black detainees are locked up for an average of over 331 days. Reminder: these detainees are awaiting trial - our system cuts people off from their families, jobs,

and support systems, for almost a full year, all without a trial. The city’s administration claims that closing the workhouse would only save $1.5M next year. You can check out our full response here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DxgkQ8vYD6d8If68G6ohKX2963qhBOV9VZMusMyKd20/edit?usp=sharing but here are some highlights:

The city budget funds the CJC at 356 positions - that’s more than the currently occupied positions at the workhouse (91) and CJC (237) combined!
This would make the CJC one of the most over-staffed jails in America, with a ratio of 2.4 employees for every detainee. According to

a Department of Justice report, the average inmate-to-correctional officer ratio was 4:1 in 2016
The administration also assumes that MSI positions will be fully transferred to CJC, leaving total personnel costs the same. The truth is that DoC is hemorrhaging employees. Occupied

positions have fallen from 464 in FY20, to 375 in FY21, to 328 right now. We propose freezing the CJC personnel budget at its historical level of 300 employees. This preserves funding for most of the correctional officers at the workhouse, but would require 28 to either retire,

or transfer into one of the city’s hundreds of vacant positions.