AAC F A M I L Y & F R I E N D S Justice local jails. Use of such tools by local jails will be voluntary;
• Develop a secure statewide database for maintaining infor- mation on jail intake screenings/assessments to enable this information to be readily accessible to jails in Arkansas; and
• Create county/regional councils to coordinate administra- tion of criminal justice at local level.
Unfortunately, local law enforcement officials in the state of
Arkansas have few options when encountering the mentally ill on the street. Currently, Arkansas law enforcement does not have infrastructure or specialized training to divert these individuals from incarceration to treatment. In 2006, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) found the ma- jority of state, federal and local jail inmates had mental health problems and 15 percent had severe mental illness. According to the National Association of Arkansas Counties
(NACo), one in five adults in the U.S. experience a mental illness, with less than half receiving treatment in the past year. One in 25 experience a serious mental illness, with only two-thirds receiv- ing treatment. One in ten experience a substance abuse disorder, with only 10 percent receiving treatment in the past year. NACo has promoted for several years “Smart Justice” which emphasizes spending local tax dollars and resources smarter and more effec-
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tively by diverting the non-violent non-dangerous from jail while protecting public safety and incarcerating the dangerous and vio- lent in jail and prison. Forty-five states have crisis stabilization units, crisis interven- tion training and diversion programs of some nature, including Arkansas’ surrounding states. Many stakeholders including state legislative leadership toured crisis intervention units in Texas and elsewhere earlier this year. According to local officials, that program has diverted more than 17,000 people statewide from jails and emergency rooms, provided training in crisis intervention to more than 2,600 law enforcement officers and more than 250 school police officers and administrators, and saved taxpayers more than $50 million over about 12 years. Te Bexar County jail now has empty beds instead of overcrowding. Te fact that we have no mental health crisis infrastructure is
a certain factor in the state’s 48 percent recidivism rate. Tese in- dividuals do not need to be locked up in a jail or prison environ- ment. Law enforcement needs options when encountering these individuals on the street. It’s the right thing to do for our citizens and society. Creating more prisoners from those who need help is a status quo that we can’t afford to simply continue. It’s time to serve the people better.
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