Sending fewer to prison is 'smart justice,' Snyder says

LANSING — Gov. Rick Snyder on Monday unveiled a wide-ranging policy initiative on criminal justice in which he called for measures to send fewer people to prison and to assure that ex-convicts are able to get jobs and contribute to society.

Also, "we should allocate our resources to address the root causes of criminal behavior, such as mental health issues, substance abuse, child neglect and truancy, which can prevent crimes from happening in the first place," Snyder said in a written special message to the Legislature, which he presented Monday in Detroit at Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit, which helps to train and employ former prisoners.

Snyder called for steps to improve the racial diversity of Michigan's police forces, better protect and support crime victims -- particularly victims of domestic violence -- and improve a patchwork juvenile justice system which fails many youngsters by not providing proper treatment or residential placements.

Though the governor called for steps to reduce the prison population -- including sending fewer non-violent offenders there in the first place and releasing more elderly prisoners who don't pose a threat -- he said the paramount concern of Michigan's criminal justice system must be public safety.

"Safety and security are essential to a strong economy and a free society," Snyder said in the written message.

"Our system can protect public safety by deterring crime, and separate dangerous individuals from society at large. But if we focus on crime and punishment alone, we ignore the opportunity to help break the cycle of crime that plagues too many communities."

Though initial reaction was mostly positive, some of the changes the governor called for Monday will require heavy political lifting. In December, a key GOP lawmaker said sentencing reform bills the Legislature passed were "gutted" due to pressure from tough-on-crime Attorney General bill Schuette and the Michigan Sheriffs' Association.

Some will ask "Is he just being weak on crime?" Snyder asked during his 30-minute speech in Detroit after touring the Goodwill program in which former offenders are trained in manufacturing. "The answer is no. This is smart justice. This is about being better and smarter at what we do."

Schuette's office issued a statement that said "we applaud the governor's focus on victims because they must be at the forefront of any reforms." The statement also said "we must protect the safety of Michigan families, delineate the difference between violent and non-violent offenders, and continue to find efficiencies in the Department of Corrections."

The $2-billion budget of the Michigan Department of Corrections -- which consumes between one-fifth and one-quarter of Michigan's general fund -- has long been seen as an area where costs could potentially be reduced and redirected to state needs such as fixing roads and educating children.

State Rep. Kurt Heise, R-Plymouth, chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee, said he was "very impressed" with most of what Snyder recommended. He said getting the recommendations through the Legislature is "a challenge," but doable because "the state of Michigan can't afford a $2-billion prison operation."

A Democrat on the committee, Rep. Vanessa Guerra, D-Bridgeport, said she too liked most of what she heard, including plans for police body cameras with privacy safeguards and plans to increase the racial and gender diversity of police departments. At the same time, some of the parole changes are "not something we should rush into," Guerra said.

"Saving money is important, but we also don't want to let people off the hook for breaking the law."

Snyder said it costs about $35,000 a year to house a state prisoner and he wants to reduce Michigan's prison population of 43,000. He also said counties spend more than they need to for pre-trial housing of accused offenders who haven't been convicted of a crime and don't pose a risk of flight or danger to public safety.

And he called for probation and parole reforms, including placing a 30-day cap on sanctions for the most common types of probation violations, saying Michigan spends $250 million annually to confine revoked probationers in prison. Further, Snyder called for "presumptive parole at their earliest release date" for inmates determined to have a high probability of success on the outside."

"It is unwise to send an individual to jail or prison when an alternative sentence, such as probation with treatment of underlying problems like substance abuse, would better protect our communities at lower cost," Snyder said.

"Likewise, keeping an individual in prison longer than is necessary wastes taxpayer dollars that could be better spent preventing crimes from happening in the first place."

Snyder called for:

■ Laws that would provide for free delivery of personal protection orders by police officers for victims of domestic violence and that would protect those victims' home addresses from being obtained by the domestic violence perpetrators. Today, PPOs often must be delivered by friends or relatives of the victims, which can pose a safety risk.

■ Creation of a joint forensic team between the Michigan State Police and the Michigan Department of Technology, Management and Budget to fight cybercrime.

■ Action by the Michigan Department of Corrections to make sure offenders pay required restitution to victims -- a reform Snyder said will be enhanced by making sure prisoners receive the training they need to find jobs when they get out.

■ Better police recruitment of minorities to make sure police forces are representative of the communities they patrol. The Free Press reported in March that the MSP has been moving backwards in terms of racial diversity since federal oversight was lifted in 1993 and only 14 of the last 430 recruits to graduate from trooper school were black. Snyder said Monday he recently called on clergy in big cities to help identify black recruits and the state is also working on a cadet program for minority youth.

■ Expanded use of police body cameras and other video tools, with safeguards to assure officer and citizen privacy.

■ Expanded use of programs to divert offenders into treatment, rather than prison, with the Department of Health and Human Services playing an expanded role.

■ Improved training for prosecutors and public defenders and improved access to attorneys for those who can't afford one.

■ Sentencing reform through the new Criminal Justice Policy Commission.

■ Work by the Corrections Department and Snyder's new Talent Investment Agency to link prisoners with employers who want to train and hire them.

DeShawn Larry, 45, of Detroit watched Snyder speak Monday. He works at Goodwill Industries and said his parole officer decided he should take part in the program called "Flip the Script" in 2012 after he served time in prison.

"I wasn't working," he said. "And she was concerned about me relapsing."

Now he is a general laborer training to be a team leader. He said when a person is released from behind bars, it can be "very, very hard to get a job."

That can lead a person back to crime, he said.

Lois DeMott, co-founder of Citizens for Prison Reform, said Snyder's presentation was "fabulous overall."

"We're finally beginning to realize that we've got to do something different in regard to the criminal justice system," DeMott said.

Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz, president of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan, also praised the speech.

"If Michigan is going to make a significant difference in our prison population, we must not only prevent crime in the first place, but enhance the chances of success for those who have offended, thus ensuring that a criminal's first encounter with the criminal justice system is the last encounter," Fitz said.

The Michigan Sheriff's Association Executive Director Terrence Jungel said it's an admirable goal to reduce the prison population, but "the devil is going to be in the details."

Jungel, the former sheriff of Ionia County, said he worries that a reduction in prison population could result in an increase in county jail population and said there's not room.

"Economics can't be the engine that drives the train of public safety," he said. "So we've got to make sure we're not doing what we're doing strictly for economics."

He said he was pleased to see there is a focus on mental health and said there needs to be a better job done of identifying and treating people who are suffering from mental illness.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.