City of Atlanta CDP

Corrections

Current Conditions

The Department of Corrections provides safe, secure and humane conditions of confinement for persons arrested by various local and federal law enforcement agencies for criminal activity occurring in the City. In addition, the DOC provides diversion and treatment programs for offenders who are mentally ill and substance abusers in an effort to deter crime and reduce recidivism.

Anticipated Future Conditions

A staff of 464 employees, including 340 sworn personnel, in three detention facilities, provides correction services.  The City Detention Center processes and houses nearly 25,000 pretrial arrestees per year, and approximately 6,000 sentenced ordinance and traffic offenders annually.  The City Detention Center manages the custody of federal prisoners awaiting trial -over 1,200 per year, pursuant to a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service.  The Court Detention Center supervises more than 55,000 prisoner movements for judicial proceedings in the Municipal Court each year.  And, the Grady Detention Center provides custodial services for almost 6,000 prisoners  – patients at the general hospital. The facilities collectively detain an average daily population of more than 800 inmates  (see accompanying graphs).

Anticipated Future Conditions

The Atlanta Department of Corrections will continue to address the impact of a high prisoner population on operations, particularly in the context of budget reductions. An increased emphasis will be placed on programming to reduce offender re-arrest and on technology to improve operational efficiency.

The priorities of the Department will be to board out under utilized bed space to generate revenues; divert mentally ill arrestees charged with minor, non-violent offenses to community based treatment; expand addiction treatment programs for convicted substance abusing offenders; and implement technological initiatives support of correctional and criminal justice system goals.

Current Policies

1. Reduce and prevent crime by providing meaningful treatment opportunities for highly recidivistic offenders.
2. Reduce personnel overtime expenses by providing additional permanent positions and working conditions and benefits that promote the attraction and retention of career-seeking employees.
3. Deter inmate assaults, vandalism and medical crises by promoting the direct supervision and observation philosophies in correctional institutions.
4. Advance technological applications, which improve personnel effectiveness and operational efficiency.
5. Develop partnerships with other agencies and community organizations that enhance the Department’s capabilities to achieve its mission.
6. Maintain compliance with institutional health and sanitation regulations, state fire safety regulations, and national professional standards for detention facilities.
7. Maximize the recovery of incarceration costs from non – indigent offenders.
8. Upgrade the quality and scope of the inmate health services program.

Current Programs and Projects

Inmate Programming

The Department of Corrections provides rehabilitation programs, funded by inmate service charge backs, grants and inter-agency agreements, to promote successful offender integration into the community upon release from incarceration.

1. Computer-aided literacy training is provided for offenders serving court-imposed sentences.
2. Post-release transitional housing, addiction treatments and job placement are provided for substance abusing ex-offenders.
3. An on-site psychiatric team provides enhanced mental health treatment for the inmate population who has chronic mental illness.
4. Medical, dental and pharmacy services have been expanded to address the high incidence of serious health conditions in the inmate population.
5. Inmate legal library services have been upgraded.
6. An HIV/Aids counselor works with inmates who have these conditions.
7. A community based medical assessment and treatment team provides on-site services for female inmates.
8. Clinical evaluators work with the Community Court team to complete assessments and referral of special needs inmates when they are released from incarceration.
9. A community-based addiction treatment program provides in-house counseling for substance addicted female inmates.
10. The chaplaincy program has been strengthened and expanded.

Technology Initiatives

The Department of Corrections progressively seeks to enhance department efficiency and accountability, expand interdepartmental and interagency communication and augment management decision-making using available information systems.

1. The Corrections component of the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) has been enhanced to generate more comprehensive and timely information for strategic planning and is being restructured to allow features such as real time reports and implementation of key features, previously unused to automate manual tasks.
2. The mug Shot Photo Imaging System (Police Central) has been upgraded to provide law enforcement agencies on-line access to more accurate criminal photographic identification.
3. The Automated Fingerprint Information System (AFIS) has been updated to enable nearly instantaneous computer verification of prisoner fingerprints and electronic transmission of records to law enforcement agencies.  To reduce redundancy and improve efficiency, CJIS, AFIS and Police Central now are partially integrated to allow data to flow seamlessly in speeding the Booking and Identification process.
4. The Network infrastructure has been expanded to allow all facilities access to the Local Area Network  (LAN) and Wide Area Network (WAN).  The LAN is currently being expanded to allow users better access of shared resources.  Numerous manuals and logs are being digitized to allow more readily available information.          
5. The Positive Identification System (PID) is being implemented to ensure a valid identification of a detainee upon entering the facility and upon being released, using photographic and fingerprint identification technologies.

Revenue Generation Programs

The Department of Corrections continuously seeks opportunities to shift jail system costs from taxpayers to financially able offenders and others system users.

1. An inmate commissary has been implemented to require non-indigent offenders to pay for hygienic and other supplies.
2. The federal inmate-boarding program is being expanded to increase revenues available to supplant city appropriations for jail operations.
3. Surcharges on offender fines have been statutorily implemented to fund jail operations.
4. The cost of property damage, telephone use and selected medical services are recovered from non-indigent inmates.

Partnerships With Other Agencies

The Department of Corrections has developed partnerships with other organizations to promote interagency cooperation and effectiveness.

1. Mutual aid agreements have been developed with area jails and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to ensure adequate emergency preparedness and response.
2. Traffic offender initial court appearances are conducted daily at the main jail to preclude the high logistical costs and security risks inherent to transporting approximately 12,000 prisoners to Traffic Court each year.

State Prisoner Re-routing Initiative

Arrestees charged with state offenses are now booked directly into the respective county jails at an annualized savings to the city’s criminal justice system of about $12 million.  The Department of Corrections, as a result of this action, can better allocate its resources to provide treatment and programs that reduce offender recidivism.

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