Pubdate: Wed, 29 Nov 2000
Source: Baltimore Sun (MD)
Copyright: 2000 The Baltimore Sun, a Times Mirror Newspaper.
Contact:  501 N. Calvert Street P.0. Box 1377 Baltimore, MD 21278
Fax: (410) 315-8912
Website: http://www.sunspot.net/
Forum: http://www.sunspot.net/cgi-bin/ultbb/Ultimate.cgi?action=intro
Author: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend
(The author is Maryland's lieutenant governor and chair of the State 
Cabinet Council on Criminal and Juvenile Justice.)

PROBATION REFORMS CUT DRUG ABUSE, IMPROVE PUBLIC SAFETY

The Sun raised many important points in its assessment of probation 
in Maryland, and I am pleased that it recognizes the promise of Break 
the Cycle, our new approach to supervising drug-addicted offenders 
("Crime and no punishment," editorial, Nov. 19 and "Lieutenant 
governor hijacks probation," editorial, Nov. 20).

But I must contend with the underlying premise that these reforms 
fall short because they ask too much of parole and probation. On the 
contrary, they will succeed precisely because they expect more -- 
both of the agents and of the offenders whom they supervise.

That is why we should continue to move forward to provide the 
strategy and the resources that agents need.

Maryland's parole and probation system, along with our entire public 
safety strategy, is undergoing a major shift in direction. To be 
sure, there have been difficulties. But even in their infancy, the 
reforms are showing promising results.

Last year, a University of Maryland study found a 53 percent 
reduction in drug use among about 11,800 offenders whose probation 
requirements included drug testing twice a week. A follow-up study of 
1,500 Break the Cycle offenders found that re-arrests were 23 percent 
lower than in other offenders, resulting in less drug activity and 
fewer victims.

Make no mistake: There is a lot of work to do. For years, the 
Department of Parole and Probation was the forgotten stepchild of law 
enforcement. During the 1980s, when the number of offenders under 
supervision nearly doubled, parole and probation agents rose only 2 
percent.

Understaffed and under-resourced agents were overwhelmed. Without 
resources or time to adequately supervise offenders, crime increased, 
court dockets swelled and prison populations soared. This reflected a 
national phenomenon, and few states have worked as aggressively as 
Maryland to fix it.

Fundamental changes in parole and probation have enormous potential 
to reduce crime. Focusing on drug-addicted offenders is particularly 
promising. Offenders on parole or probation consume about half the 
cocaine and heroin used in our country. This population drives a 
major portion of crime, not just in a few jurisdictions but 
throughout the state.

In addition to supporting the drug trade, addicted offenders commit 
robberies and burglaries to get money to support their drug habits.

If we can end their addictions, Maryland's crime rate, which has 
fallen 19 percent since 1995 to its lowest level in 25 years, could 
drop even further. For that reason, the Glendening-Townsend 
administration has been moving to a new model of supervision for 
several years.

When these comprehensive reforms -- of which the Break the Cycle 
model is one part -- are complete, parole and probation officers will 
be based not in a central office, but in the community, working 
closely with police, treatment and community residents to supervise 
offenders closely.

Most agents will be deployed in neighborhoods and have an average of 
50 offenders to supervise. Offenders with drug problems will be given 
treatment, tested frequently and sanctioned immediately for relapses 
- -- a model research has shown most effective in keeping them off 
drugs.

There is steady -- if slow -- progress on the implementation issues 
about which The Sun has expressed concern. Delays in processing drug 
tests have been sharply reduced: Today, test results are turned 
around within 24 hours. Delivering swift and certain sanctions for 
failed drug tests remains a serious problem, but we are making 
progress.

In December 1999, an abysmally low 3 percent of positive tests met 
with a sanction. In June 2000, 26 percent did. That represents 
progress, but it is still not good enough.

Still more encouraging, an innovative pilot program in Hagerstown has 
achieved a 94 percent sanction rate. Under the leadership of Judith 
Sachwald, the new director of the Division of Parole and Probation, 
we intend to replicate the elements of that pilot program in other 
jurisdictions to raise the sanction rate throughout the state.

Continued progress will take time and resources. It will not be easy. 
But that is to be expected with a pilot reform only 2 years old.

Over the past several years, with the support of the General 
Assembly, our administration has made unprecedented investments in 
supervision and treatment. We've increased the number of parole 
agents by 12 percent, from 607 to 681. We've also made a record 20 
percent increase in the department's budget, from $58.1 million to 
$69.8 million.

To attract and retain quality agents, we have made dramatic increases 
in agent salaries; both the starting salaries and the maximum 
salaries for agents have been raised 18 percent in the past year. At 
the same time, we've increased state funding for drug treatment 56 
percent this year.

These measures are a down payment on the transformation of parole and 
probation.

Once fully implemented, these reforms promise a significant reduction 
in our rates of crime, violence and drug abuse.

But we should not be naive. No reform, however well designed or 
implemented, can eliminate crime from our streets. There will 
continue to be people with the will and means to do harm. Criminals 
will still find the cracks and shadows of our law enforcement system.

But we can step up supervision and enforcement. We can make it harder 
for people to commit crimes, and when they commit them, we can make 
sure they are punished to the full extent of the law.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe