Kurt Altman

opinion contributor

Arizona spends scarce taxpayer dollars to lock up a growing number of people who don’t need to be imprisoned.

We need to reform Arizona’s prison system because we can do better.

Arizona’s prison population is 12 times larger today than it was 40 years ago — giving our state the nation’s fourth-highest imprisonment rate.

And we know that many prisoners suffer from drug addiction and mental illness, which often become primary crime drivers.

Yet many prisoners do not receive the critical treatment they need for these conditions in prison. Not because we don’t want to give them it, but because we can’t afford to.

Take a closer look at who we lock up

As a longtime Arizona prosecutor, I know firsthand that some people belong in prison. Prison sentences are necessary to protect the community — but not all the time.

It’s time we take a harder look at who we lock up and why. About 95 percent of incarcerated folks return to the community, and many are made worse by their time behind bars.

Yet our prison system releases them back into the community with little ability to reintegrate or adapt to life outside prison. Over the last couple of years, with the leadership of Gov. Doug Ducey and the state Legislature, Arizona has worked to improve inmates’ reentry processes and programs.

But we can do better.

It’s time to look closer at who we lock up to evaluate if there are better, more efficient alternatives for them. Arizona spends nearly $1.1 billion a year on our prison system and still has an unacceptable inmate recidivism level. Arizonans deserve a better return on that taxpayer investment.

Even low-level threats go to prison

A new nonpartisan report from the group FWD.us details how we got here. Since 2000, Arizona’s prison population has grown by 60 percent. Not because of state population increases or more crime. But because of policy choices to send non-violent and even first-time offenders to prison rather than to some type of community supervision that could more effectively prevent re-offending.

These are expensive policy choices.

Consider this: if Arizona reduced its imprisonment rate to that of Nevada’s, a state with a similar crime rate, we would save $200 million per year. If we imprisoned people at the same rate as Utah, the savings would exceed $600 million.

I recognize that each state has different dynamics and crime drivers so direct comparisons may not be perfect. But the analysis is worth the effort.

The most recent jobs report shows that Arizona’s unemployment rate is near record lows, meaning there is a high demand for workers to fill vacant jobs.

Locking up individuals where alternatives exist removes potential workers from the Arizona economy. Research has found that imprisonment led to almost a 1 percentage point reduction in the national employment rate — costing $87 billion annually.

There's a better way to do this

So the benefits are two-fold. Every additional person in a job means a stronger economy and more tax dollars. And each additional job for an ex-offender significantly reduces his or her likelihood of committing another crime.

Money can be saved and prisons can be closed without jeopardizing public safety. Many states have pursued reforms to safely divert low-level offenders from prison into evidence-based alternatives. And it’s working.

In the last decade, 32 states have reduced both crime and imprisonment, saving hundreds of millions of dollars while creating safer, more prosperous communities. Texas – yes, Texas – leads the way!

GABRIEL:Don't let Mitch McConnell stymie this needed prison reform

Those who pose a threat to our communities need to be in prison. I’ve spent many years of my legal career ensuring just that. But not everyone in prison today needs to be there now or tomorrow.

Too many people are being locked away when there are better sentencing alternatives than incarceration. It is possible to keep our communities safe, keep families together and prospering and protect taxpayers all at the same time.

We can do better.

Kurt Altman is a former prosecutor, the former state director for Right on Crime in Arizona, and former director of national affairs and general counsel for the Goldwater Institute.

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