$22 a day to kick 'em when they're down?

I know, I know the Sheriff is such an easy target but . . .

What is the social impact of charging someone $22 a day to be incarcerated? In a perfect world the criminals that broke the laws and caused damage to innocent people and property would be able to, and forced to, pay for this damage (whenever possible to make a victim “whole”). In a perfect world, these criminals would also pay for their stay in the jail without going bankrupt or causing additional financial harm to their families. However, we do not live in a perfect world and we may simply be making societal problems larger by essentially driving these criminals (and their families) into bankruptcy.

According to a 2004 “Best Practices Report” of Local Government User Fees by the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau, sheriff departments charging jail room and board had fees ranging from $10 to $75 per day! It is my understanding the Winnebago County daily in-jail cost is the same as those inmates with huber privilege ($22/day) but I cannot confirm this information on the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department website (apparently created and maintained by a 1^st grader? – sorry 1^st graders everywhere!).

I realize we have financial obligations to taxpayers but $22 a day to stay in jail against a person’s will? Let’s face it, people with more money can hire better attorneys and will honestly have a better chance of not going to jail than someone with less money and a lesser attorney (i.e. The Juice).

Here are some links to some other county jail fee info:

Sheboygan County = $20/day*

Langlade County = $1/day*

Portage County = $17/day + $2 +$30???*

Jefferson County = $5/day*

*All these rates may be higher (or lower) - these rates were based on info. I could find on the net.

As a punishment for their stupid and illegal acts, the courts send these morons to jail or prison. I am all for that!!!!!! However, to slam them with a daily fee for being incarcerated in the jail they are not allowed to leave seems rather draconian. In addition, these inmates must also pay a high fee for their telephone services, canteen, etc.

Other interesting links concerning $ and the piling on of fees for those that usually cannot afford to pay them.

Dane County Jail phone overcharges.

More on Dane County Jail phone overcharges (see bottom of page).

LaCrosse County Phone info.

Inmate poverty exemption.

If we had a newspaper in the Oshkosh area that had an interest in investigating things, they may want to see if there is a correspondingly large number of inmates (or ex-inmates) that have filed for bankruptcy after feeling the hand of justice swat them on the butt. I suspect the county forwards the unpaid bills to a collection service and writes off the "debt". Should we really be creating another hardship for criminals while at the same time we are looking for alternatives to incarceration such as Safe Streets? I am all for locking the bad guys up in jail. I just don't think it is right to kick them when they are down.

Time to go?

Imagine if a non-elected government employee failed to bill a private entity for $20,000 or so per year for 14 years (I believe that is how long he has been sheriff)!!!! A quarter of a million dollars + in lost revenue because of an assumption? What would the sheriff do to one of his employees if THEY did that? Didn’t he use to be a detective? It appears it is time for him to hang up the gun belt and ride into the sunset and get some new blood to be sheriff. Also see this.

Didn’t consult the computer?

According to the ONW’s article, Sheriff Brooks is no longer seeking the Republican nomination for State Senate because “over the last three weeks he has had discussions with family and friends that led to his decision not to run.” Yes he wants to be the Sheriff; no he doesn’t want to be the Sheriff - he wants to be a State Senator; no he wants to be the Sheriff and not a State Senator. Wow, I can’t keep up. Maybe he needs a computer to give him guidance. I wonder why he put the cart before the horse and made the announcement to run for State Senate on March 19, THEN consult with his family and friends! Is there more to this? Does he now realize he would probably not win given the geographic boundaries of the district? Since the ONW didn’t ask the question I will. Does he make decisions at his department the same way?

Management by Computer

It appears the Sheriff’s department has adopted a management philosophy of “Management by Computer”. According to the article: “The program issues an alert if a particular officer is involved in a large number of incidents involving force . . . The program issues an alert if a particular officer is involved in a large number of incidents involving force”.

I used the ONW database (yes the one that shows what government employees earn – by the way I am still waiting for Stewie to print a copy of his W2 in the ONW) to find out how many employees we are talking about. It appears there are 52 Corrections Officers, 35 Police Officers, 6 Corporals, 6 Detectives, 17 Reserve Officers and 13 Lieutenant or higher positions.

The Sheriff’s department, with such a relatively small number of officers, should be able to keep track of these incidents involving force without spending money on additional software (I hope they are already using software like Excel and Access to assist with data analysis by a human). By the way ONW, how much was the software? – that would have been nice to see in the article. If you need a computer program to tell you whether you have a problem with an employee using too much force too often you are seriously lacking in management skills!

What next? Use a computer to count the number of speeding tickets an officer writes to determine if the officer is doing a good job? Open the pod bay doors Hal.

Since that department has money for software, how about buying a copy or two of 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People. That may be a good place to start to improve management skills. At least it would get them to where private business management was in 1990!

Computers should be used as a tool to assist people in making good decisions, not make the decisions for them. Maybe government leaders need to attend private business seminars rather than government-led seminars so they understand how to manage, and perhaps lead, their employees so we do not have non-elected computers making decisions.

Save the taxpayers $ except when it's Stewie's corporation!

Poor Stewie is speaking out of both sides of his mouth again today. Out of the right side of his mouth he calls for government to be financially prudent. But, today he is trying to also speak out of the left side of his mouth because Stewie’s corporation is expected to pay for the copying, etc of public records that his corporation wants. Hmmm. Surprising? No. Stewie just does not understand that not every government agency is scared of him and they expect his corporation to pay their fair share. Stewie, if you want the copies of the records, pay for them, and stop expecting the taxpayers to subsidize your corporation.