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| Jails become shelter for the homeless |
| By cleveland.com |
| Published: 08/17/2009 |
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(AP) — CINCINNATI - Jails have become the shelter of last resort for the city's homeless. The average homeless inmate spends more time in jail than in homeless shelters, according to an analysis by The Cincinnati Enquirer. At $65 a night, jailing homeless suspects cost taxpayers as much as $3 million a year. On a typical day, at least six homeless people are arrested and booked into the jail, the newspaper reported. That's 5 percent of the people arrested-a number that has doubled over the past decade, even as a jail space crisis mounted. The analysis shows that despite committing relatively minor crimes-most often drinking in public and disorderly conduct-homeless people typically stay in jail three to four days longer than those who aren't homeless. Even after Sheriff Simon Leis Jr., who closed a county jail in December because of budget cuts, said the jailed homeless population has barely dropped. "It's always been a problem as long as I've been around," Leis said. "We've become the facility that handles people with mental problems or the homeless, people with nowhere else to go." On average, homeless suspects spend 16 days in jail per booking, according to jail data. A typical non-homeless arrest nets 12 days per stay. The problem is illustrated by Bennie Crabtree. By one officer's estimation, Crabtree has been arrested and released more than 1,000 times. Read More. |
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