Duval County, Fla., jails are overcrowded
Duval County, Fla jails are so overcrowded that jailers are sometimes letting inmates out early to relieve the pressure. According to WJXT in Jacksonville, right now, the county’s three jails can house about 3,000 prisoners and currently, there are 3,690 inmates in the three facilities — about 552 more than capacity. Jail officials credit the city’s population growth to the overcrowding. Although reports say that crime is down, more people are being arrested. Between 2002 and 2003, there was a five percent increase in arrests, and this year, they are up another eight percent. The State Attorney says that while violent criminals need to stay behind bars, not everyone needs to be there, and the state will work on early-release programs for the non-violent criminals to ease the overcrowding. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=422&ncid=422&e=2&u=/wdiv/20040920/lo_wjxt/2379645