Community criminal justice study: Simulation analysis of jail overcrowding

Reflecting the national overcrowding crisis, the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail (ACRJ) in Charlottesville, Virginia, currently operates at 150 percent of its rated capacity. The jail must accommodate all offenders detained in the City of Charlottesville and the Counties of Albemarle and Nelson despite infrastructure and personnel limitations. Overcrowding hinders ACRJ´s ability to effectively serve its role in the criminal justice system and the community. This paper identifies the sources of ACRJ overcrowding through analysis of the regional criminal justice system. To gain a basic understanding of the local criminal justice system, the project team conducted extensive interviews with key stakeholders. The information acquired during these interviews supported the development of a detailed process model of the system. This model identified decision points in the system that affect the drivers of jail population - the number of offenders incarcerated and the length of their confinement. The static process model was incorporated in a discrete-event simulation capturing jail-population dynamics. The simulation identified bottlenecks in the local system and components with the greatest leverage to reduce overcrowding. The study concluded that ACRJ should focus its efforts on reducing the volume of offenders at arrest, the decision to set bond, and probation. The project laid the foundation for future research into the selection and implementation of long-term solutions to overcrowding.