Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPSCC 07252019 - Minutes (1) PUBLIC SAFETY COORDINATING COUNCIL Minutes of Meeting July 25, 2019 Convened: 3:33 p.m. Adjourned: 4:33 p.m. CALL TO ORDER Commissioner Townsend called the meeting to order at 3:33 p.m. in Conference Rm 3, 2300 Virginia Avenue, Fort Pierce, Florida. ROLL CALL Roll call was taken. Members Present: Commissioner Cathy Townsend, BOCC Bruce Colton, State Attorney, 19th Judicial Circuit Judge Kathryn Nelson, 19th Judicial Circuit Chief Garry Wilson for Sheriff Mascara, SLSO Captain William Lawhorn, SLSO Mr. Timothy Kozlowski, St. Lucie Bail Agents Assoc. Members Excused: Chief Judge Lawrence Mirman, 19th Judicial Circuit Suzanne Caudell, Director of CORE Program Diamond Litty, Public Defender, 19th Judicial Circuit Mike Davis, Circuit Administrator, DOC George Shopland, CEO of New Horizons Others Present: Roy P. Hudson, SLC Atty/CJD Clyde Preston, Salvation Army Trevor Morganti, SLSO Leah Vail-Compton, DCF Ethel Rowland, Taxpayer Broderick Underwood, SLC Atty/CJD Bill Hall, Ft. Pierce Police Dept. Toby Long, SLSO Alicia Foster, SLC Atty/CJD Allison Duffy, SLC Atty/CJD Public Safety Coordinating Council July 25, 2019 Page 2 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes from April 25, 2019 were unanimously approved. UPDATE by SLC Sherriff’s Office: Captain William Lawhorn Captain Lawhorn reported today’s jail population is at 1,370 with 172 of those being for misdemeanors. He also reported there are 23 federal inmates which is the lowest of the year. He shared that of the 1,370 inmates 110 are sentenced and 1260 are either awaiting return to prison or pending trial. Captain Lawhorn shared that TC Palm recently toured the jail. He passed out and presented statistics on the inmate population at the jail. He indicated that 2019 has seen the highest number of inmates that are 55 or older. He went on to explain this is significant because with an aging population comes chronic illnesses and that costs shift to the county for offsite utilization. He also pointed out that bookings have gone down significantly but length of stay has gone up and we are almost double the national average length of stay which is 26 days. Conversation ensued about why the length of stay is so long in some cases. Commissioner Townsend asked Chief Wilson where we were at in de-criminalizing marijuana. He explained that with the passing of the Hemp Law they are not making marijuana arrests because they do not have the means to test THC levels due to availability of labs set up to test, time, and cost constraints. Judge Nelson shared that when someone is arrested for less than 20 grams they have their prescription and card by the time they are in court. Chief Wilson explained that misdemeanors is a small part of the picture and marijuana arrests not really as big of a problem as one might think as it relates to jail population. Captain Lawhorn explained the jail reviews misdemeanors on a weekly basis to ensure they have a court date set and if not they work with Diamond Litty to get the defendant on a judge’s docket. Commissioner Townsend brought up that we need to have conversations about what can be done to assist in reducing days in jail and she gave an example of someone who is a first offender, no criminal history; however, can’t make bail. She indicated she heard Pretrial was not being utilized as much as it could be used. Members discussed Pretrial Program and Roy Hudson explained that the judges are very good at determining if a defendant meets the criteria to be on Pretrial and currently there are 174 defendants on Pretrial in St. Lucie County. Judge Nelson brought up that one county judge does not use the Pretrial Program no matter what. Commissioner Townsend indicated that is a conversation needed with the Chief Judge to see if all judges can get on board utilizing Pretrial as an option. Captain Lawhorn shared that it is a combination of all the programs and the judiciary workflow that will assist in reducing days in jail. He mentioned some programs that are being initiated to help with continuity of care and transitioning inmates back into the community. Captain Lawhorn wrapped up review of handout with discussion of the last two charts which covered mental health medications and offsite utilization. Public Safety Coordinating Council July 25, 2019 Page 3 Timothy Kozlowski questioned if putting more defendants on Pretrial is the answer due to concerns of violations. Robust conversation ensued on the topic of Pretrial and bonds. Commissioner Townsend indicated that with a collaborative effort she thinks there are solutions to lower the jail population and save tax dollars. Captain Lawhorn shared that 56% of the jail population has a bond over $25,000 or a no bond hold. Chief Wilson explained that those are violent felons that we do not want in the community victimizing people. Toby Long indicated one of biggest populations in the jail is those there on violation of probation. He shared that years ago there was a rocket docket to send them back to prison instead of sitting in the county jail. He explained that there is more to Pretrial than just GPS. The defendants are also monitored through day reporting, telephone, and contact with the defendant until they go to trial. He shared a concern over having both Pretrial and a bond creating a barrier for some defendants. Roy Hudson explained that having Pretrial allows judges to give lower bonds. Judge Nelson further clarified that having both Pretrial and bonds ensures the safety of the community; not just appearance at court, otherwise the bonds would be extremely high. Timothy Kozlowski was in agreement it is a good collaboration to have both. Bruce Colton indicated that jail population has been much higher in years past. It is not the jail population itself that is issue but rather the mental health and medical costs associated with the jail population. Commissioner Townsend shared what has been done recently with a change of hospitals for offsite care and a change of provider at the jail to reduce medical expenses. UPDATE by Criminal Justice Coordinator: Roy Hudson Roy Hudson shared that he recently met with several judges all of whom are happy with the work being done by Pretrial. He also shared that the Chief Deputy of Martin County praised the program and told him it was the first time in Sheriff Snyder’s 10 years in office that the jail population has been under 400. There was some discussion about the differences in population in Martin County and Saint Lucie County. Mr. Hudson also introduced Alicia Foster, new Pretrial Supervisor, to those in the room. Ms. Leah Vail-Compton, Community Forensic Liaison, from the Florida Department of Children and Families gave a presentation on community forensic services and trends. She shared that approximately 20% of the packets they receive from the courts are 3 rd degree felons with non- violent crimes. Her department has seen a 22% increase in the past 6 years and they are only funded a certain amount of bed space. She shared that the result in the increase is a cut in civil beds. She indicated they are looking to divert from state hospitals to community services by decreasing commitments of non-violent crime offenders when possible. She shared that St. Lucie County is funding poor for this particular population. She also shared that St. Lucie County only committed 34 people last fiscal year and only 2 were flagged as non-violent, 3rd degree felons that couldn’t be diverted for other reasons. Ms. Vail-Compton explained what DCF has done to reduce forensic commitments throughout the state and what resources are available in St. Lucie County. She closed out her presentation by explaining that DCF has SAMHSA Reinvestments Public Safety Coordinating Council July 25, 2019 Page 4 grants available to counties. OLD BUSINESS NEW BUSINESS Commissioner Townsend introduced new Public Safety Coordinating Council Member, Judge Nelson, to the room. COMMENTS Ms. Ethel Rowland asked how much of the violation of probation population is due to cannabis or if is being dropped as a violation of probation as well as not arresting. Judge Nelson explained that if the person was arrested for possession of marijuana then part of their probation would be to not ingest marijuana unless they have a prescription. She shared that the medical marijuana cards lead to another issue because people are not necessarily getting their marijuana from a dispensary. Some people are buying it on the street which raises a concern about what is actually in it. Mr. Hudson explained that those on the Pretrial Program with a medical marijuana card are being asked to provide their proof of purchase to ensure they are in compliance. Bruce Colton clarified that marijuana is still illegal and prosecutable in Circuit 19. He shared that the local crime lab will be certified within the next 3 to 5 months to test marijuana and tell the difference between what is legal and illegal. He also indicated that if law enforcement has probable cause to make an arrest they are still to gather the evidence and hold it until the lab has the ability to fully test. Those cases can and will be prosecuted. He expressed that while he doesn’t want anyone thinking we have lots of people sitting in jail on simple possession charges, he also doesn’t want anyone to leave the meeting thinking marijuana is legal in St. Lucie County because it is not. Commissioner Townsend shared that Clyde Preston from the Salvation Army left some brochures about Adam’s Place on the table for anyone that wanted one. ADJOURNMENT: Commissioner Townsend adjourned the meeting at 4:33 p.m. Submitted by, Kellie Harris THE NEXT MEETING WILL BE HELD OCTOBER 31, 2019.