Criminal Justice Publications
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Office of Criminal Justice Planning Shift
February 19, 2003 - Given the Office of Criminal Justice Planning's (OCJP's) poor performance in the administration of its programs, and the significant overlap of its mission and programs with those of other departments, we recommend that OCJP programs be shifted to other departments.
Work Credits
February 19, 2003 - Inmates who are being processed in the reception centers or who are unassigned to a full-time work or education program due to a shortage of slots earn less than the maximum level of work credits. We recommend enactment of legislation allowing these inmates to earn day-for-day work credit instead of the one-day-for-two-days participation they currently earn thereby saving the state $70 million while reducing the sentence of approximately 29,000 inmates by only 27 days.
Early Release of Elderly Inmates
February 19, 2003 - Elderly inmates are two to three times as costly to incarcerate in state prison as younger inmates. Yet, research shows they are less likely to reoffend and have greater success on parole. For these reasons, we recommend the Legislature adopt legislation requiring that nonviolent elderly inmates be released early to parole.
Court Security Realignment
February 19, 2003 - The Governor's court security realignment proposal does not constitute a realignment of responsibilities and control over court security, rather, it is a funding source swap. Accordingly, we recommend that the Legislature exclude this component from the Governor's realignment proposal.
An Evaluation of Racial Profiling Data Collection and Training
August 27, 2002 - In an effort to determine the extent to which racial disparity is a factor in traffic enforcement, many law enforcement agencies in California have begun collecting traffic-stop data. In this report, we discuss many of the issues concerning the collection and analysis of these data and recommend a number of changes for racial profiling data collection, analysis, and training in the state.
Rural Crime Prevention Program: Evaluation Shows Some Signs of Success
May 21, 2002 - Reducing losses due to rural crimes poses a significant challenge to policymakers and criminal justice officials. The Rural Crime Prevention program has had mixed results. Should the Legislature decide to reauthorize the program, we recommend steps to more effectively target it, and to improve data collection.
Review of School Crime Reporting
May 15, 2002 - Much of the data being reported to the Legislature and the public regarding crimes on school campuses is of questionable use for the development of effective policies for crime prevention and thus is not serving the legislative intent behind the school crime reporting system. We recommend budget bill language to correct this problem.
California Department of Corrections (CDC) Budget Deficiencies Likely to Continue
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February 20, 2002 - The California Department of Corrections has had several consecutive years of budget deficiencies. Although some significant efforts have been made to control spending, there continue to be ongoing budget problems that will likely result in significant General Fund deficiencies in the current and budget years.
Youth Authority's County Sliding Scale Fees
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February 20, 2002 - We recommend the enactment of legislation to adjust the Youth Authority's sliding scale fees annually to account for the effects of inflation. We estimate that this would generate $9 million in savings in 2002-03.
State Could Close Women's Prison
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February 20, 2002 - The decline in the female inmate population provides the state the opportunity to close one of the women's prisons. We recommend that the California Department of Corrections report at budget hearings on the feasibility, costs, and benefits of closing the Northern California Women's Facility.
Implementing Proposition 36: Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities
December 14, 2000 - We outline the implementation issues and challenges with regard to Proposition 36, the "Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000." We also make several recommendations. In our view, planning must begin now in order to ensure the effective implementation of the measure.
Crime Prevention in California: Building Successful Programs
August 24, 2000 - The rising costs of operating the criminal justice system have prompted policymakers to consider directing resources toward crime prevention programs. We identify several problems with the state's existing crime prevention programs and recommend several actions the Legislature can take to increase the effectiveness of state crime prevention spending.
Criminal Justice Staff
- Anita Lee
- (916) 319-8321
- Courts, Department of Justice, Gambling
- Caitlin O'Neil
- (916) 319-8351
- State Prisons, County Jails, Sentencing
- Jared Sippel
- (916) 319-8335
- Emergency Services and Business Regulation
- Orlando Sanchez Zavala
- (916) 319-8307
- Correctional Health Care, Rehabilitation Programs, Juvenile Justice, Community Corrections
- Drew Soderborg
- (916) 319-8346
- Deputy Legislative Analyst: Public Safety and Business Regulation