Ohio Prison Total Population CY2019: 48,988 people
Ohio Prison Non-Violent Crime Population CY2019: 15,529 people
Ohio Correctional Mental Health Caseload May 2019: 10,551 people
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Total Staff: 12,278 employees
Ohio Top 5 Commitment Offenses from July 1, 2019 snapshot:
14.5% Drug Possession
10.7% Trafficking in Drugs
7.4% Burglary
5.5% Felonious Assault
5.2% Weapon Under Disability
Average Cost Per Ohio Inmate FY2018: $27,835.00
Ohio Total Spent on Incarcerated Adults FY2019: $1,447,395,021
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Average Cost per Employee: $59,031
Ohio Total Spent on Utilities FY2019: $41,376,971
Ohio Total General Revenue Fund Expenditures FY2019: $1,792,279,001
Ohio Total Non-General Revenue Fund Expenditures FY2019: $66,092,493
Ohio Average Prison Stay: 2.73 years
I’ve already ranted a bit about my frustrations with the criminalization of drugs rather than viewed through the lens of a public health crisis but let's break down the Ohio prison budget a bit.
First it’s worth noting that 21.5% of those incarcerated in Ohio are on the mental health caseload of the DRC. But that’s probably best for another rant.
The number one and number two reasons people are committed to prison in Ohio is because of drugs. That’s 25.2% of everyone in prison. The data I found did not break down the other 56.7% of offenses. So for lack of more information we know that at least one out of every 4 people in prison in Ohio is because of drugs. We also know that 31.7% of those in prison in Ohio are because of a non-violent crime. So if we were to release non-violent offenders we could cut down on 31.7% of our prison staff. That’s 3,892 staffers with an average cost per employee of $59,031. That’s $229,748,652 per year that could be reallocated to other programs to help these non-violent offenders.
The average cost per inmate is $27,835.00. That’s an extra $432,249,715 in addition to the staff reduction that could go towards other programs per year.
That puts us at $661,998,367 saved per year from the prison system in Ohio alone.
Columbus Ohio Police Department 2018
Emergency 911 Calls: 623,002
Non-Emergency Calls: 568,509
Total Calls for Service: 1,191,511
Sworn Personnel as of 12/31/2018: 1855
Percentage of sworn assigned to:
Patrol: 60%
Investigative: 24%
Support: 7%
Administrative: 9%
Now let’s take a look at my city’s police department. Columbus spends $359,970,422 per year on the police department. Of that budget 95% goes to personnel ($320,601,174). There are 1855 sworn personnel and 60% are patrol ($192,360,704). The police department received 1,191,511 calls for service in 2018. 47.7% of all the calls for service to the police were non-emergency calls. That would be $91,756,055 reallocated from the police department per year if we cut the patrol by 47.7%.
There were 102 homicides, 1,936 robberies, 1,695 aggravated assaults, and 771 rapes in 2018. That’s 4,504 violent crimes in the city. That isn’t even 1% of the Emergency 911 calls.
$359,970,422 per year goes to policing for 0.7% of the emergency calls to be violent crimes. 0.38% of the total calls for service.
We are asking too much from our under trained under prepared and overextended police force. 1,191,511 calls in this city asking for some kind of government assistance and the only public servants we have to respond are police with guns. A diversity training one afternoon isn’t going to be enough. A deescalation seminar a few years ago isn’t enough. We are setting our police up for failure.
This isn’t necessarily the police department’s fault. It’s our city, our tax money, and our elected government. Defunding the police doesn’t have to be seen as such an aggressive move towards police rather it is realizing a fundamental systemic mistake on all of our parts as a society. It is the flaw of our country and society to ignore for so long the voices of the oppressed so have been asking for other options. We have failed to listen to the women who said the police don’t believe me. We have failed to listen to the black community who said the police target them. We have failed to hear the poor who are policed and patrolled excessively.
I don’t want to seem like I have all the answers to the details of abolishing the police but with just a few quick looks at data it isn’t that hard of a sell for me. If we looked at the root causes is there a way we could prevent these crimes better than predominantly under trained white men in cruisers with guns? Could housing and livable wage help prevent robberies? Could conflict resolution counseling prevent aggravated assaults? Could gun control prevent homicides? And could mental health programs help rapists? Substance abuse counseling for those addicted. And what about our prison systems? Are they working? Are they rehabilitating or do repeat offenders find themselves again and again returning unable to clear their record and begin fresh unable to find a support system to help truly rehabilitate? Are the prisons keeping our cities safe or are they keeping families apart?
166 administrative
129 support
445 investigative
and 1,115 patrol.
If less than 1% of emergency calls are violent crimes committed what would it look like if we cut back our patrol to even 100 patrol officers?
1,015 positions in our city government for social works, mental health specialists, conflict resolution experts, deescalation professionals? 20 precincts across the greater Columbus metropolitan area. Imagine if each precinct had the same amount of manpower as they do today but with 5 armed police officers in each the rest with their masters in social work or their PhD in mental health? When 911 is called they already determine if they need EMT, Fire, or Police, let’s offer more options for the taxpayers of our city. What if the public servants of our cities lived up to that oath, to serve and protect? Imagine if one day we didn’t even need armed officers in a precinct.
P.S. If my calculations are wrong feel free to roast me in the comments.
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