City Councilor Tim Burgess has asked to restart dialogue with King County regarding available jail space for its misdemeanants, a move that has delighted The Committee for Efficiency and Fairness in Public Safety (CEFPS), a grassroots group opposed to building a jail in Seattle.
Dialog will not be enough to stop current spending by the city on an expensive municipal jail, nor is the city legally compelled to actively seek alternatives to incarceration, according to CEFPS, which is hoping to get its Initiative 100 on the ballot this November.
The initiative, CEFPS said in a press release, will keep the choice of a new jail before Seattle voters and require the City to examine the root causes of incarceration, disparity in jail populations and to seek alternatives.
The CEFPS has 100 members and now has 36 organizations strong, is moving full-steam-ahead to put Initiative 100 on the ballot. Then Seattle voters will be able to compel the City, by law, to:
Place the matter of the new municipal jail before the electorate in a public vote.
Negotiate openly, publicly and in good faith with King County to explore alternatives to a municipal jail, including extending the existing City-County contract for jail services.
Conduct a rigorous, public analysis of how incarceration rates could be decreased in the short and long term while increasing public safety and positive outcomes.
Develop and make publicly accessible a strategy to address racial disparity issues in arrest and incarceration rates.
The initiative, according to CEFPS, promotes safety and security by requiring the City to explore cost-effective alternatives such as child early care support, educational opportunities, active and ongoing mentoring, and treatment and rehabilitation centers for mental illness and chemical dependency-all of which it said is far more cost effective than incarceration.
"I think we all acknowledge that incarceration rates have been trending downward in King County and that the rush to build a large misdemeanant jail-or two-now seems premature," said Dow Constantine, King County Councilor. "We need to explore every alternative before we spend millions of dollars of taxpayer money.
"The numbers indicate that a new jail may not soon be needed, particularly if we increase the capacity and use of less expensive alternative programs, drug and mental health treatment, and housing."[[In-content Ad]]
