People who pose little risk are jailed in OPP
People arrested and accused of a felony are assessed for risk of failing to appear in court and of being re-arrested if released through use of a research-based risk assessment instrument. Detention of defendants who are found to present low and low-moderate risk should be the carefully limited exception rather than the rule. Out of the 451 people in jail who were assessed for risk and given a risk score, 216 (48 percent) were found to present a low or low-moderate risk. Those 216 people represented 14 percent of the entire jail population and most of them were held on a financial bail. This high number of people detained who were found to present a low and low-moderate risk shows there is room to safely reduce the jail population by focusing on risk.
