Reducing Urban Crime and Violence Forum Discusses Alternatives to Incarceration

Cook County Diversion, Criminal Justice , , , , , ,

The University of Chicago Crime Lab and Urban Education Institute co-hosted a panel discussion on criminal justice and education responses to Chicago violence. The first panel just concluded, with the following participants:

  • Moderator: James Warren, Columnist | Chicago News Cooperative
  • The Honorable Paul Biebel, Presiding Judge | Circuit Court of Cook County Criminal Division
  • Patrick Fitzgerald, United States Attorney | Northern District of Illinois 
  • Garry McCarthy, Superintendent | Chicago Police Department
  • Frank Zimring, William G. Simon Professor of Law | University of California at Berkley
    Chair of the Criminal Justice Research Program | University of California at Berkley

The discussion centered on evidence-based practices, Chicago’s uniquely entrenched gang structure, as well as noted successes in New York. At Chicago Appleseed, of course, our focus is on court reform.

To that end, Judge Biebel made a powerful statement in favor of alternatives to incarceration:

“The Wall Street Journal has written more than one article about the fact that there’s agreement across the political spectrum that there’s too many people in prison and in jails. Some people think there are too many sentences for nonviolent or drug crimes. Some people think it’s too expensive. Regardless, the incarceration rate in Illinois is the highest it’s ever been. So we need to ask, Can we take some monies and put them into treatment? It’s a lot less expensive to do a drug or mental health program in the community than to lock people up. That’s the challenge today.”

We couldn’t agree more. In fact, several months ago, we blogged about the fact that the NAACP and Americans for Tax Reform share the position articulated by Judge Biebel.

Earlier this week, Public Safety was the subject of the latest Chicago Forward Forum, where panelists including President Preckwinkle, Chicago Ceasfire Interrupter Ameena Matthews, and Police Superintendent McCarthy agreed that the war on drugs has failed on many levels. There, as here, reducing the incarceration rate was a primary topic.