A few stories this week reminded me of South Dakota's 24/7 Sobriety programme.
- There's concern about fewer offenders attending rehab programmes while in prison;
- Repeat drink driving remains a problem; even on-duty police seem to have the occasional problem.
- At least some very vulnerable people are being placed in emergency housing alongside "gang members, and people with drug and alcohol issues", with predicable negative outcomes.
I've previously talked about South Dakota's 24/7 programme. RAND's research on it is here. Bottom line: no-alcohol conditions as part of probation or parole, monitored, with certainty of a short sentence for violation, results in reduced alcohol consumption among those with demonstrated abuse problems, and consequent reductions in offending.
I don't know how many of the more violent people in emergency housing near very vulnerable people are on parole or probation that could have come with a monitored and enforced no-alcohol condition.
And I wonder whether running 24/7 here might improve things. A short spell in the cells for breach of no-alcohol conditions could result in net reduction in nights in cells by reducing reoffending.
Steven Levitt is doing similar work with some sheriff department somewhere. Prisoners agree to highly intrusive, 24/7 monitoring instead of prison. Violation of conditions results (I believe) in immediate and guaranteed imprisonments. Saves money and gets prisoners to practice being out of prison without committing crimes. Levitt reckons it’s working well, but hilariously, lots of rights folks don’t like it because it’s so intrusive.
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