From The Speaker’s Office
Oklahoma’s statewide public safety plan to step up crime fighting activities by local police and require post-release supervision of all felons received widespread support Monday from state leaders and top local law enforcement officials.
Police chiefs, sheriffs, correctional officers and other stakeholders from across the state offered their support for House Bill 3052 at a Capitol event Monday morning.
The state District Attorneys Association on Monday formally endorsed the legislation, writing in a letter to legislators that “HB 3052 offers a net benefit to our state, and this Association supports its passage.”
HB 3052, by House Speaker Kris Steele, establishes a grant program to fund crime reduction initiatives by local law enforcement agencies, requires strict post-release supervision of all felons, and initiates a series of other strategic reforms designed to control prison growth in order to implement strategies proven to increase public safety.
The legislation is based on the recommendations of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative (JRI), which found that gaps in Oklahoma’s criminal justice system have resulted in a 30 percent increase in prison spending in the past decade but essentially no decrease in statewide violent crime. During that same time, the number of per capita police officers declined while the number of felons released from prison unsupervised increased.
HB 3052’s grant program seeks to reduce violent crime statewide by 10 percent in five years by allowing local law enforcement agencies to apply for funds for crime fighting initiatives in high-crime areas. The recommended grant program would send $40 million to local law enforcement agencies over the next ten years.
“The proposed grants would give us the tools we need to proactively root out the worst of the worst criminals out there and make our streets safer,” said Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty. “I believe all local law enforcement agencies – big and small – stand to benefit greatly from this proposal. Police departments everywhere have had significant success with this type of hot-spot policing, but it requires resources we often don’t have.”
HB 3052 also requires at least nine months of post-release supervision for any felon who leaves prison. Oklahoma has no such requirement currently and as a result, 51 percent of felons who leave prison do so without any supervision. A majority of felons who offend again do so within their first year of release from prison.
“Effective supervision deters offenders from returning to a life of crime. It’s a critical component of crime fighting – particularly during those first few months immediately after an inmate is released,” said Steele, R-Shawnee.
HB 3052 would also impose faster, stricter sanctions on felons who commit technical violations of their probation programs. Technical violations are violations of the terms and conditions of probation, such as curfew violations, positive drug tests, failure to attend treatment or other issues. Upon a first time technical violation, an offender would immediately be sent to an intermediate revocation facility where they would undergo extensive treatment programs for six months in order to address substance abuse and behavioral issues. Offenders who have shown a propensity for violence would go to prison rather than an intermediate revocation facility.
“This swift, certain sanction still holds technical violators accountable and produces better results than the current practice of sending violators back to prison for two years in all cases,” Steele said. “It’s more cost effective and gets better results than the current model while still allowing prosecutors the flexibility impose harsher sanctions on certain violators in those cases where they deem it necessary.”
HB 3052 also has provisions that would help correctional officers by reducing unruly inmate behavior in prisons. In addition to requiring at least nine months of post-release supervision of all felons, the bill would allow credits earned for good behavior to be applied only after certain offenders serve 85 percent of their sentence. The bill does not change 85 percent crime sentences.
“An offender’s behavior in prison is indicative of how they had behaved in the community. Providing evidenced-based mandatory supervision and incentives to improve behavior in and outside of prison helps the public and offender,” said Department of Corrections Director Justin Jones. “It enhances public safety and increases safety for correctional employees by fostering a better-behaved population in prisons.”
Gov. Mary Fallin requested more funding for mental health beds in her executive budget, which mirrors a recommendation in the JRI report to increase mental health services as a way to support law enforcement. A current shortage of mental health beds is forcing police officers to drive mental health patients to available beds hundreds of miles away.
“When we have to transport these patients halfway across the state, it takes at least two officers off the streets. For departments like ours, that’s a big chunk of our force for any given shift, and for bigger departments, that’s still two fewer officers fighting crime and patrolling the community,” said Bixby Police Chief Ike Shirley. “Anything we can do to get more of these mental health beds in communities statewide is going to help law enforcement immensely.”
During this year’s appropriations process, legislative leaders plan to pursue funding for additional mental health beds and startup dollars for the law enforcement grant program, as well as other components of HB 3052.
“Backing up our police officers and prosecutors and keeping track of felons is critical to reducing crime,” Steele said. “There is broad based law enforcement support for this bill because it helps them do what they do best: Fight crime and keep us safe. We’re thrilled to have law enforcement’s support and, in turn, to support them.”
