Endnotes
TECHNICAL NOTES
Figure 1 – We have more than enough beds
Sources: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, “Daily Population Snapshot,” March 2, 2016; Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, “Daily Inmate Count,” 2015-2016; James Austin, Analysis of Current Orleans Population Trends and Bed Capacity Options, (Washington, DC: The JFA Institute, 2016); James Austin and Allen Patrick, “Orleans Prison Population Trends and Facility Options: Design Beds of Orleans Justice Center, Temporary Detention Center, and McDaniels Center,” (New Orleans: Presentation to City Council on July 7, 2015).
In 2014, Orleans Parish Prison complex included the following structures: Orleans Parish Prison, Conchetta, Tents, Templeman V, Temporary Detention Center, McDaniels Center, and Intake and Processing Center. The McDaniels Center is not a secure facility and is not able to accommodate all types of inmates.
Figure 2 – Most people in the New Orleans jail have not been tried or convicted
Source: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, “Daily Population Snapshot,” March 2, 2016.
“N” refers to the number of people in the dataset used for this figure.
In the “awaiting adjudication” populations, people were defined by their most serious open charge type; 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 other less serious offenses (determined by charge severity where possible: state felony, state misdemeanor, municipal, and traffic). The sentenced population is designated DOC if any charge has resulted in a sentence to DOC time. A person is only included in the Orleans Parish jail category if they are serving a parish jail sentence and are not serving a DOC sentence.
Figure 3 – Large decrease in people held for the Department of Corrections
Sources: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, “Daily Population Snapshot,” October 14, 2015 and March 2, 2016.
See Figure 2 notes for population definitions.
Figure 4 – People who pose little risk are jailed in the New Orleans jail
Sources: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, “Daily Population Snapshot,” March 2, 2016; New Orleans Pretrial Services, Risk Scores of Pretrial Felony Defendants, 2016.
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, residence 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. The risk assessment is used to assess felony pretrial defendants, excluding people arrested on an out-of-state warrant only. About 2 percent of eligible felony defendants are not assessed for risk, because they were processed through booking too quickly. For people arrested on very serious charges (murder, aggravated rape, and armed robbery with a firearm), a score is not assigned. People with no risk assessment score based on charge type, people with probation and parole detainers, and people who were arrested prior to the full-time use of a risk assessment are not included in this analysis.
Figure 5 – Failure to appear rate with no voluntary return by risk level and charge severity
Sources: Criminal District Court, Disposition Data, January – March 2016; Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Release Data, January – March 2016; New Orleans Pretrial Services, Risk Scores of Pretrial Felony Defendants, 2016.
This chart relies on all cases that were resolved within the first quarter of 2016.
The “failure to appear with no voluntary return” rate is the number of people who did not return to court of their own volition, having been re-arrested for failing to appear, divided by the number of people who were released from jail during the pretrial period and thus had a chance to fail to appear.
Charge categories were created based on the most serious charge in each person’s case. Charge category one includes marijuana-related charges including possession with intent to distribute, disturbing the peace, and other public nuisance charges. Category two includes non-marijuana drug charges—both simple possession and possession with intent to distribute, non-violent weapons charges, and non-violent property charges. Category three includes violent property charges and all other violent charges, excluding murder, rape, and the use of firearms. Category four includes murder, rape, and charges involving the use of firearms.
See Figure 6 notes for details on risk assessment scoring.
Figure 6 – Re-arrest rate by risk level and charge severity
Sources: Criminal District Court, Disposition Data, January – March 2016; Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Release Data, January – March 2016; New Orleans Pretrial Services, Data on Risk Scores of Pretrial Felony Defendants, 2016.
See Risk notes under Figure 6 and Charge notes under figure 7.
The re-arrest rate is the number of people who were re-arrested on a new traffic, municipal, or state charge divided by the number who were released pretrial. The rate does not include people who were arrested for warrants or attachments for pre-existing cases if they did not also have a new charge.
Figure 7 – Most jail stays are unnecessary
Source: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Release Data, January – March 2016.
A “bed day” refers to each day a person spends in OPP; 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 OPP is added together.
Figure 8 – Arrest rate per 1,000 residents by race and gender
Sources: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Arrest Data, January – March 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.
Arrest rate chart provides the relative rate of arrests by race and gender when compared to the population rate (per 1,000 individuals). The chart shows that 25 out of every 1,000 black men were arrested in the first quarter of 2016, but only 16 out of every 1,000 white men were.
Figure 9 – Rate of detention beyond three days per 100 arrests by race and gender
Sources: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Release Data, January – March 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.
This chart compares the number of people who were detained more than three days (broken down by race and sex) to the number of people arrested (and divided by 100). Forty-six out of every 100 black men remained detained more than three days while 30 out of every 100 white men did.
Figure 10 – Length of stay by detainees’ race and sex
Sources: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, Release Data, January – March 2016.
This chart represents a breakdown of all people released during the first quarter of 2016, by race, sex, and length of stay.
Figure 11 – New Orleans population and OPP population by race and gender
Sources: Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office, “Daily Population Snapshot,” March 2, 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.