Vera Institute of Justice

Figure 1 – We have more than enough beds

Sources: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Daily Population Snapshot, May 10, 2016; Orleans Parish

Sheriff’s Office, Daily Inmate Count, 2015-2016.

Figure 2 – Most people in New Orleans’s jail have not been tried or convicted

Source: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Daily Population Snapshot, May 10, 2016.

“N” refers to the number of people in the dataset used for this figure.

In the “pre-disposition” populations, people were defined by their most serious open charge(s); i.e. felony, state misdemeanor, etc. Alleged probation and parole violators might also have open felony charges or other open holds. A hold is any open item aside from the primary reason for detention that might contribute to a person’s detention time. Someone in the felony pretrial population might have less serious, additional charges (determined by charge severity where possible: state felony, state misdemeanor, municipal, and traffic).

The sentenced population in the New Orleans jail is designated “DOC” if any charge was given a sentence to the Department of Corrections. A person is only in the city jail category if they are not also serving a DOC sentence.

Figure 3 – People who pose little risk are jailed in New Orleans’s jail

Sources: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Daily Population Snapshot, May 10, 2016; New Orleans Pretrial Services, Risk Scores of Pretrial Felony Defendants, 2016.

New Orleans Pretrial Services, previously a project of the Vera Institute of Justice, administers a risk assessment to people who are booked into jail for a felony charge. When possible, they also conduct in-person interviews to collect information about residence and employment and verify the information provided.

As of May 10, 2016, 425 of the 1,572 people detained in the jail had been assessed. People with no risk assessment score based on charge type, people with probation and parole detainers, and people who were arrested prior to the risk assessment tool being implemented are not included in this analysis. Roughly 2 percent of eligible felony defendants are not assessed for risk, either because they were processed through booking too quickly or because too many defendants needed to be processed at once. For people arrested on very serious charges (first- and second-degree murder, aggravated rape, and armed robbery with a firearm), a score is not assigned.

The current risk assessment tool assigns a risk score that corresponds with a category. It is based on a person’s criminal record, seriousness of the current charge, the presence of an existing open case, prior failures to appear, residential stability, and employment. People who score between 1 and 4 are considered to be low-risk; between 5 and 7 are low-moderate risk; between 8 and 11 are moderate-risk; and 12 or above are high-risk.

Figure 4 – Most people released to the community appear in court

Sources: Criminal District Court (CDC), Disposition Data, April - June 2016; Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Release Data, April - June 2016; New Orleans Pretrial Services, Risk Scores of Pretrial Felony Defendants, 2016.

The chart relies on all cases that were resolved within the second quarter of 2016. Using closed cases to examine success rates for appearance in court allows us to capture complete information about people who fail to appear in court after release from jail. This analysis includes people who completed the risk assessment when they were booked into jail on a felony charge and whose cases were resolved (i.e. accepted, refused, or referred to Municipal Court) during the second quarter of 2016.

“Success rate” is the percentage of people who were released pretrial and subsequently returned to court for all pretrial dates. “Failure to appear with no voluntary return” describes people who did not return to court of their own volition and were re-arrested for failure to appear. “Failure to appear with voluntary return” describes people who did not return to court at an appointed date but returned of their own volition at a subsequent court date. “Failure to appear, charges dropped” refers to people who did not return to court, but for whom failure to appear is rendered moot because their charges were dropped.

Figure 5– Most people who are released pretrial aren’t arrested on new charges

Sources: Criminal District Court (CDC), Disposition Data, April - June 2016; Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Release Data, April - June, 2016; New Orleans Pretrial Services, Data on Risk Scores of Pretrial Felony Defendants, 2016.

“Success rate” is the percentage of people who were not arrested on new charges of those released to the community during the pretrial period. We count the most serious charge in cases where people were arrested on multiple new charges after pretrial release. Cases in the “CDC” category include people charged with new felonies and state misdemeanors, as well as those with charges in CDC and/or municipal and traffic courts. Those in the “municipal” and “traffic” categories were charged with new misdemeanors and traffic violations, respectively.

Figure 6– Avoidable jail stays

Source: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Release Data, April - June 2016.

 A “bed day” refers to each day a person spends in the New Orleans jail; to determine the number of bed days for a group of people with similar release outcomes, the total number of days each member of the group spent in the New Orleans jail is added together. 

Figure 7 –Arrests do not affect all communities equally

Sources: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Arrest Data, April - June 2016; U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, Annual Estimates of the Resident Population by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin for the United States, States, and Counties: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014, 2015.

The arrest rate chart provides the relative rate of arrests by race and gender (per 1,000 New Orleans residents, aged 15 - 84).

Figure 8- Black people are held in jail longer

Sources: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Release Data, April - June 2016.

This chart represents a breakdown of all people released during the second quarter of 2016, by race, sex, and length of stay.

Figure 9 – Black people are overrepresented in our jail

Sources: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Daily Population Snapshot, May 10, 2016; U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, Annual Estimates of the Resident Population by Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin for the United States, States, and Counties: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2014, 2015.