The Hudson-Webber Foundation and The Vera Institute of Justice have released a new report focused on reducing Wayne County Jail’s population to provide a framework that will help meet the goal of reducing unnecessary use of local incarceration while increasing equity and public safety.

Safe and just communities is one of the Hudson-Webber Foundation’s mission areas, as the foundation supports innovative, racially equitable strategies that reduce crime and victimization and that improve community well-being. The foundation is particularly focused on deterring crime and reducing recidivism through diversion and re-entry interventions and by strengthening relationships between law enforcement and residents that enable the co-production of public safety.

The foundation has been working deeply in this area for years, co-hosting the Michigan Safety and Justice Roundtable, supporting connected research to provide recommendations for justice reform in Michigan and more.

Melanca Clark, president and CEO of the Hudson-Webber Foundation and CMF trustee shared in a message announcing the release of the report: “This report is being released at a moment of national reckoning occasioned by the senseless murder of George Floyd at the hands of law enforcement. Incidents of police brutality are the most visible manifestation of a broken justice system that has had brutalizing effects on African American communities, including the devastating harm brought on by policies that have resulted in a staggering number of African Americans incarcerated in our jails and prisons.”

The report shares that African Americans are disproportionately represented in the Wayne County Jail. On any given day, African Americans are 3.5 times more likely than white people to be in the jail.

Other key findings include:

• 53% of the average daily population of the jail is people simply waiting for trial.

• 39% of people with bonds of $5,000 or less remained in jail until their cases were resolved because they could not afford to pay bail.

• Misdemeanor charges—such as suspended licenses or lack of insurance—make up 14% of the jail’s bookings.

The findings highlight that there are many opportunities to further reduce the jail population and support the county’s interest in safety and fairness.

Recommendations from the report include:

• Provide oversight for the criminal justice system by creating a permanent criminal justice council to share information regularly with the public.

• Reduce pretrial incarceration by expanding the use of personal recognizance instead of cash bonds.

• Reevaluate approaches to community supervision by expanding pretrial options outside of tethering.

• Reduce the overrepresentation of Black people in the system by collecting information and creating a dedicated framework to address racial disparities.

• Partner with communities to address violence and other harm by clearly identifying what is considered a violent offense and investing in resources to prevent the underlying causes of violent behavior.

The authors of the report acknowledge that much has changed in our world since the report was written, stating in part that while the pandemic “has brought devastation and tragedy, it also has heightened the importance of reducing the population of local jails. Wayne County, like other jurisdictions across the country, has an opportunity to learn from the experience of rapid decarceration and reconceptualize how its jail will be used when the immediate crisis of the pandemic passes and regular life begins to resume.”

Want more?

Read the full report.