GIFT A Study in County Jails in California 300 367 Made by the State Board of jCharities and Corrections 411 Cainjuiiding, San Francisco ll 1916 CALIFORNIA STATE PBINTINQ OFFICE 1916 A Study in County Jails in California Made by the State Board of Charities and Corrections 411 Call Building, San Francisco 1916 CALIFOBNIA STATE PRINTING OFFICE 1916 23457 TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE SUMMARY OF FINDINGS 5 MAP OF CALIFORNIA (Insert) 5 CLASSIFICATION OF COUNTIES.. 6 REASONS FOR A STATE SYSTEM 9 A STUDY OF 31,000 COUNTY JAIL PRISONERS 18 STATISTICAL TABLES 25 SOME MODERN INSTITUTIONS FOR MISDEMEANANTS 102 LAWS SPECIALLY AFFECTING COUNTY JAILS ._ 107 Our findings show that For the better care of MISDEMEANANTS PETTY OFFENDERS CALIFORNIA NEEDS 1. Correctional institutions agricultural and industrial managed by the state. 2. Custodial institutions for drug habitues, inebriates, and mental defectives. 3. Indeterminate sentence for all misdemeanants. 4. Thorough examination before commitment and possible transfer from one state institution to another. REASONS FOR A STATE SYSTEM AS OUTLINED ABOVE 1. State laws have been violated in most cases. 2. Migratory men should be cared for by the state rather than by the county. 3. The "floater custom" is merely "passing the buck." 4. Uniformity of treatment is lacking. 5. Short sentences do little good. 6. Recidivism would be reduced. 7. Sanitary conditions could be economically introduced. 8. Enforced idleness would be displaced by useful labor. 9. Discipline would be improved. THE COUNTY JAIL SHOULD BE USED for the DETENTION OF PERSONS AWAITING TRIAL NOT FOR THOSE SERVING SENTENCE STATE BOARD OP CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS. GEOGRAPHICAL GROUPING OF COUNTIES USED IN THIS BULLETIN. Imperial Los Angeles Southern California. Orange Riverside San Bernardino San Diego Alameda Contra Costa Marin Bay Region. Napa San Francisco San Mateo Santa Clara Sonoma Coast Counties (not included above). Del Norte Monterey Humboldt San Luis Obispo Mendocino Santa Barbara Santa Cruz Ventura Fresno Kern Kings Butte C'olusa Glenn Placer San Joaquin Valley. Madera Merced San Joaquin Sacramento Valley. Sacramento Solano Sutter Stanislaus Tulare Tehama Yolo Yuba Amador El Dorado I.assen Modoc Mountain Counties. Nevada Plumas San Benito Shasta Sierra Siskiyou Trinity Tuolumne COUNTIES IN WHICH THERE IS A CITY JAIL AT THE COUNTY SEAT. Alameda Butte Colusa Glenn Humboldt Imperial Kings Los Angeles Mendocino Modoc Monterey Riverside Sacramento San Benito San Bernardino San Diego San Francisco San Luis Obispo Santa Barbara Santa Clara Santa Cruz Sonoma Tolo Yiiba N. B. In other counties the county jail serves also as a city jail for the county seat. A STUDY IN COUNTY JAILS. GROUPING OF COUNTIES ACCORDING TO SIZE. Alameda Fresno Sacramento Large size (over 100,000). Los Angeles Second size (50,000 to 100,000). San Bernardino San Diego San Francisco San Joaquin Santa Clara Butte Contra Costa Ilumboldt Kern Maria Third size (25,000 to 50,000). Orange Santa Cruz Riverside Solano San Mateo Sonoma Santa Barbara Tulare Imperial Kings Mendocino Merced Monterey Xapa Fourth size (10,000 to 25,000). Nevada Stanislaus Placer Tehama San Luis Obispo Ventura Shasta Yolo Siskiyou Yuba Alpine Amador Calaveras Col usa Del Norte El Dorado Glenn Fifth size (less than 10,000). Inyo Plumas Lake San Benito Lassen Sierra Madera Sutter Mariposa Trinity Modoc Tuolumne Mono STATE BOARD OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS. STATISTICAL TABLES. Prisoners Received in County Jails in 1914. TABLE No. 1. General classification, by groups of counties. TABLE No. 2. Women prisoners, by counties. TABLE No. 3. Ages of prisoners, by counties. TABLE No. 4. Birthplace of prisoners, by counties. TABLE No. 5. Length of time in county before arrest, by counties. TABLE No. 6. Same by groups of counties. TABLE No.' 7. Same in percentages. TABLE No. 8. Length of time in state before arrest, by counties. TABLE No. 9. Same by groups of counties. TABLE No. 10. Same in percentages. TABLE No. 11. Length of time in United States before arrest. TABLE No. 12. Same by groups of counties and in percentages. TABLE No. 13. Special racial and national groups, by counties. TABLE No. 14. Same by groups of counties. TABLE No. 15. Occupations of prisoners, by counties. Prisoners Discharged From County Jails in 1914. TABLE No. 16. Prisoners not charged with crime, by counties. TABLE No. 17. Prisoners charged with misdemeanors but not convicted, by counties, and by charges. TABLE No. 18. Prisoners convicted of misdemeanors, by counties, and by offenses. TABLE No. 19. Sentences for misdemeanors, by counties. TABLE No. 20. Same summarized. Counties grouped according to size. TABLE No. 21. Same. Counties grouped geographically. TABLE No. 22. Sentences for assault, by counties. TABLE No. 23. Same for disturbing the peace. TABLE No. 24. Same for drunkenness. TABLE No. 25. Same for petit larceny. TABLE No. 26. Same for vagrancy. Additional Tables. TABLE No. 27. Officers, prisoners, population, area, proportions, by counties. TABLE No. 28. Movement of population in county jails, fiscal year ending June 30, 1915. TABLE No. 29. Cost of maintenance of county jails, fiscal year ending June 30, 1915. TABLE No. 30. Number of prisoners in county jails, June 30, 1915. TABLE No. 31. Same, December 31, 1915. A STUDY IN COUNTY JAILS. NEED OF STATE INSTITUTIONS FOR MISDEMEANANTS To Displace the County Jails as Places of Serving Sentence. Some interesting speculations as to the causes of crime have occupied the attention of the public this year. One widely-read journal has pro- pounded the theory that the extensive use of probation and parole was to blame for the "wave of crime" that "swept the state" in January. Doubtless the probation and parole systems are as yet far from perfect, but the State Board of Charities and Corrections has discovered a still weaker link in the chain of criminal procedure. It is the county jail. The misdemeanants who fill our county jails have received less attention from thoughtful people than have any other group of offenders. Present methods unscientific. Under our present laws the pro- cedure is roughly as follows: A man is arrested for vagrancy or drunkenness. Presumably he is guilty of the specific charge. He is locked up in a city or county jail and in a day or so is taken to court. If the judge be lenient, he may discharge the prisoner or give him five days in jail. If the judge be severe, he may sentence the prisoner to 60 or 90 days. All this, mind you, is done with very little reference to the man's physical or mental condition, his habits of life, past history or future possibilities. He comes out of jail sometimes better and some- times worse physically, but usually with less ambition, less self-respect, more knowledge of vice and crime, more bitterness. In a few weeks at most he will be back again. If he is defective from birth, he is bound to fail. If he is normal, but has formed habits of recklessness, irresponsi- bility, intemperance and vice, the jail sentence can not replace these habits ; more likely it will accentuate them. Suppose the man is not sent to jail, but is discharged with orders to leave town in an hour. How much better off is he? Granted that he has violated some law, what assurance has the community that he will not repeat the offense? He has simply gone on to the next county unknown and unwelcome. An already overdeveloped "ivanderlust" has been gratified; hatred of organized society is increased. Instead of an upward lift, we have given the man a downward push. Need of examination and different institutions. How much better it would be if we examined the man to determine his heredity and his habits, his physical condition, the circumstances attendant upon his lawbreaking, his occupation, his financial status, whence he came and Avhy. Then some intelligent opinion might be formed as to the man's real needs. But whatever his needs may be, can a county jail meet them? Obviously not. What jail is a sanatorium for the physically sick? What jail teaches trades or even habits of work? What jail 10 STATE BOARD OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS. segregates the mentally defective ? What jail is prepared to care for the insane, the inebriate or the drug habitue? In addition to knowledge of the misdemeanants we need institutions of a new type for their care. For the unemployed, incidental offenders, we need lodging houses and labor exchanges. ( These, indeed, are not altogether lacking, but what we have are inadequate.) For the mentally defective, we need permanent commitment to institutions of the farm-colony type. For the inebriates and drug habitues, we need 'indefinite commitment to places of a similar nature, with more provision for medical care. For the normal but rebellious men, we need an indeterminate sentence to institutions indus- trial and agricultural in character where discipline and training are emphasized. CONVICTED MISDEMEANANTS SHOULD BE WARDS OF THE STATE. They violate state laws. Misdemeanants should be wards of the state because most of them who are sentenced to jail have violated state laws rather than local ordinances. The United States Government has the custody of persons charged or convicted with violating federal laws. Why is it less logical for the state to have the custody of persons who violate its laws? The exact proportions of offenders against the Penal Code and of those who break some city or county ordinance can not be .stated. But it should suffice to say that four of the five leading offenses are violations of the Penal Code. They are: Assault (P. C. 240-246) ; disturbing the peace (P. C. 415); petit larceny (P. C. 484 ff) and vagrancy (P. C. 647). Drunkenness in a public place, the last of the five principal misdemeanors, is covered by local ordinances. Of the remaining 29 offense groups listed in our tabulation, 23 represent pri- marily the breaking of state laws. Hence, without exact statistics, we are very sure that a large majority of those who receive jail sentences have violated the Penal Code and are on this ground properly wards of the state. The legislature of Indiana in 1913 accepted the logic of this argument and established a state institution for misdemeanants (Indiana, Acts of 1913. Chap. 236, approved March 14, 1913), thus setting a precedent for California. Residents of the State but of no particular county. Fully one-third of the men imprisoned in county jails have not been in the county over a week before their arrest. At least this is the result of a study of over 30,000 prisoners held in county jails in the course of the year 1914. Furthermore, nearly one-half of them had not been in the county where they were apprehended more than one month. Over against this fact is A STUDY IN COUNTY JAILS. 11 our discovery that three-fourths of these men had been in California more than a year, and over one-half of them had been in the State more than five years. These figures show rather strikingly that the people (97 per cent men) imprisoned in our county jails belong for the most part to the State but are not residents of any particular county. Legend. Less than one year in the State 21.3% (A) Over one year in State, less than one year in county 42.5% (B) Over one year in county 36.2% (C) FIG. 1. Figure 1 shows graphically that over one-half of the men who had been in California over a year had not been that length of time in the county where arrested. A detailed statement of these facts appears in Tables 7 and 10. This figure does not take account of the three largest counties where most transients go only to the city jails. "Floater" custom. This fact is tacitly and sometimes avowedly admitted by courts and peace officers in their widespread use of the "floater" custom. Considerably over one-half of the men booked on misdemeanor charges were not convicted at all. For the offense of vagrancy only 30 per cent received jail sentences, and in four San Joaquin Valley counties only 5 per cent of the men charged with vagrancy were convicted at all. In round numbers these counties "floated" 2,200 out of 2,300 men. They were taken to court and dis- missed on the condition of leaving town in a few hours or put on pro- bation or given a suspended sentence under the same condition. The reasons are that the jails are full, the men are known to be nonresidents, and the cry of the taxpayers for economy is answered by officials who are forced to be penny wise and pound foolish. Sometimes the prisoner is taken to court and dismissed, "with orders to disappear," this being the entry in the jail register. Sometimes a jail sentence is imposed, but suspended on condition that the "undesirable citizen" leave town within a few hours. Sometimes a vagrant is paroled. This, of course, is a joke, because he immediately moves on to some other community and is lost sight of. We are informed that in some cases the prisoner is never taken to court at all, but is shown the open door and told to get out. Occasionally individuals and gangs are turned away without being 12 STATE BOAED OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS. arrested. This practice we have witnessed ourselves. The secretary was in the city of Marysville last year when a large number of men perhaps 200 were driven out by the officers. The test of whether a man should be compelled to move on or not was the possession of a meal ticket or a receipt for room rent. We find frequently such records as the following in jail registers: "ordered to disappear," "floated," "ordered to leave town in half an hour, " " ordered to leave town in two hours. ' ' No county is willing to assume the burden of caring for all offenders or alleged offenders who happen inside its borders. Probably no county ought to undertake this task, but somebody should and that body is the state. Local authorities are coming to recognize that the problem is beyond them. Last fall representatives of several southern California counties met to consider a plan of co-operation in dealing with vagrants. They talked of joint support of certain officers and detention camps at points of entry into their territory. So far as we know, the plan was never put into effect, and any way its main value is that it constitutes an admission of failure of the present methods of handling misdemeanants in general and vagrants in particular. Present methods not uniform. There is great lack of agreement as to who should be arrested, who convicted, and what treatment should be given the convicted man. Variation in arrests. To begin with, some officers are much more zealous in the making of arrests than are others. Taking the State as a whole, there were imprisoned in city and county jails (Table No. 27), during the fiscal year 1914-1915, 712 persons for every 10,000 of the entire population. But in 19 counties there were less than 100 prisoners per 10,000 of the population, while in 7 counties the ratio exceeded 1,000 per 10,000. In Yuba County it went above 2,000. Surely there is not so great a difference in the criminality of the several counties, nor do the main lines of travel furnish adequate explanation. Fundamentally, this Table No. 27 shows tremendous variation in the policies of peace officers with reference to two groups of men : itinerant casual laborers and vagrants. In some counties the ruling idea seems to be to lock up every doubtful character, while in others leniency is the rule. There is no settled policy for the entire State. Officers in each community are feeling their way in the dark. Their experiments are varied, but not generally successful. Variation in convictions. Not only does the proportion of arrests vary ; the percentage of convictions likewise shows a wide range. Com- paring counties where there is also a city jail at the county seat, we find 78 per cent of convictions among men booked on misdemeanor charges A STUDY IN COUNTY JAILS. 13 at the county jail in Sacramento, but only 43 per cent of convictions in Santa Clara County. Comparing counties where the county jail also does duty for the city, we find 85 per cent of convictions in Placer, but only 5 per cent in Stanislaus. The following diagram will make this more vivid : Sacramento 523 charged, 409 convicted Santa Clara 738 charged, 320 convicted Placer 396 charged, 336 convicted Stanislaus 916 charged, 48 convicted The scale in Figure 2 is \ inch per 100 prisoners. The shaded por- tions represent convicted prisoners, the light portions men charged with misdemeanors but subsequently released without conviction. The facts for other counties are set forth in Table No. 19. Variation in sentences. County jail sentences in 1914 ranged from 2 hours to 2 years. For a single offense vagrancy they varied from 1 day to 6 months. Less striking but more significant are the differences in typical sentences. Averages. The lowest average sentence, 15 days, was found in Marin County ; the highest average, 123 days, in Colusa. Less extreme variations are San Luis Obispo, 18 days, Sacramento, 80 days. For dis- turbing the peace the average sentence varied from 12 days in Marin to 104 days in Madera. In Orange County the drunks get an average of 7 days in jail, while the same offenders in Santa Clara get 59 days. For petit larceny the averages ran from 41 days in Fresno to 120 days in Orange and 122 days in Santa Clara. Vagrants were sentenced on the average for 12 days in Riverside County and 90 days in Sacramento. Modes. The modal sentence likewise displays great variation. In 10 counties it was 10 days. In 18 counties it was 30 days. The lowest mode was 5 days (Sonoma and Marin) and the highest 150 days (Glenn and Modoc). Let us illustrate this in another way. Of the men sen- tenced for disturbing the peace in Marin County, 43 per cent went to jail 14 STATE BOARD OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS. for 5 days and 82 per cent for 10 days or less. In San Bernardino, on the other hand, 44 per cent "got" 30 days and 38 per cent got more than 30 days, thus reversing the proportion in Marin. Sixty-three per cent of the sentences for vagrancy in Fresno were for 10 days or less, and 33 per cent were for exactly 10 days, while in Sacramento 60 per cent were for 60 days or over. Medians. As a further test of the variations in sentences, we have studied the medians. If all of the men sentenced to jail in 1914 were lined up according to the length of their sentence, the sentence of the man at the middle of the line would be the median. In four counties the median was only 10 days, while in four other counties it was 60 days. Average. Colusa, 123 days. Marin, 15 days. Mode. Glenn, 150 days. Sonoma, 5 days. Median. Sacramento, GO days. Fresno, 10 days. FIG. 3. Variations in Typical Sentences. The preceding statements are based on Tables 19-26. Facts such as these just presented lead us to suspect that the treatment of misde- meanants is determined by the disposition of the judge, his theory of punishment, or the capacity of the jail, but not by a settled policy based on knowledge of the real needs of these men. This striking lack of uniformity is an argument for a state system, as outlined before, to take the place of the present county jail system. Short sentences of little value. Although practice varies from one county to another, nevertheless a high percentage of convicted men serve very short sentences. Roughly speaking, one-fourth of the men serve 10 days or less and two-thirds serve 30 days or less. (See Tables 20 and 21.) Remembering that many of these men have firmly fixed habits of idleness, or at best of intermittent work, excessive use of drugs and liquors and other vices, the significance of these short sentences becomes appalling. Such habits are not broken in 10 days nor in 30 ; much less are they replaced by industry and sobriety. For that matter, it is A STUDY IN COUNTY JAILS. 15 unlikely that any amount of time in the average jail will reform the habitual vagrant, drunk, drug habitue or petty thief. Then, again, it is likely that a considerable number of misdemeanants are feeble-minded. For these nothing will suffice except permanent institutional care. Almost nothing good can be said for the short sentence. Recidivism. Recidivism in particular marks the failure of present methods of handling misdemeanants. It is the boast of many a man that he has been in half the jails of the State. Unfortunately records do not enable us to make general statistical statements in this regard, but we have made one very interesting study in San Francisco. Out of 500 women sent to the county jail at Ingleside, 36 were there more than three times in three years. The average number of commitments was 9, and one woman was sent out 18 times to serve sentences ranging from 10 days to 6 months. Drunkenness and vagrancy were the most fre- quent charges, with a sprinkling of petit larceny and assault. These women spent an average of one-third of their time serving sentence in the county jail, and one woman spent nearly two-thirds of her time there. Just to feed her cost the city and county of San Francisco about $175, and the meals of the 36 recidivists cost about $2,200. This, mind you, takes no account of those who have been in other jails. It is exceed- ingly unfortunate that there are no records to enable us to get at this whole matter exactly, for the chances are that the number of different people who go to jail in the course of a year is much smaller than the total of 170,000. Also it is probable that the time spent in jail by many of these recidivists would amount to a considerable fraction of each year. Hence to place them for long periods of time in state institutions would not cost much more than intermittent confinement in local jails. More- over, by subtracting the costs of frequent arrests and trials and the value of productive work they could do in state industrial institutions, it is almost certain that we would reduce the cost of caring for petit offenders. Sanitary conditions often poor. In regard to physical condition we have some very good jails as jails go and some that are very bad. Sacramento, Yolo, Humboldt, San Diego, and Alameda counties have jails which are almost invariably found to be clean, light, and well ven- tilated, with the prisoners segregated to a considerable degree. San Bernardino has two prison camps where men w T ork on the roads eight hours a day, eat plenty of good, wholesome food, sleep in tents, and receive 35 cents a day for their labor. The equipment in these camps is far from ideal, but they represent a real advance in the handling of petty offenders. On the other hand there are conditions which are almost inexcusably bad. 16 STATE BOARD OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS. Imperial County Jail consists of one room with a single cage of four cells about 7 by 9 by 7 feet. There are four bunks in each cell, thus accommodating, in a very crowded manner, 16 prisoners. However, we have counted 30 men in this cellroom and are informed by the sheriff that it has held as many as 44. There is one toilet in the corner. This was stopped up at the time of one inspection and sewage was running out over the floor. There is one bathtub in fair condition. Blankets are furnished and most of the prisoners sleep on the floor or on top of the cage. During part of the year men serving time work on the roads, which is a great boon to all except the professional tramp and the I. W. W. San Joaquin County Jail at Stockton was built 25 years ago to accom- modate 80 prisoners. It is fireproof, but not sanitary. The vermin, instead of being kept out by examination of incoming prisoners, are sprayed with antigermine, the odor of which pervades the entire jail. The law regarding segregation is not complied with, and we have seen Negroes, Chinese, and white men in the same cell. Witnesses, men awaiting trial, and those serving time are sometimes kept together in the basement cells where there is not a particle of furniture. They sit and sleep on the cement floors over which are spread dirty mattresses and blankets. The light is so poor that it is practically impossible to read. The food consists of mush, syrup and bread in the morning and stew and coffee and bread in the afternoon. Taking the State as a whole, one-half of our county jails are dark and poorly ventilated, one-third have inadequate bathing facilities, one-third are overcrowded at some time during the year, and five-sixths are violating the state law as to segregation which requires: four separate departments for (1) men awaiting trial, (2) men serving sentence, (3) witnesses, etc., (4) women. These difficulties might conceivably all be met by local authorities, but the expense necessary to overhaul the unsatisfactory county jails would suffice to equip several really worth while state institutions. The latter would be a good investment, the former would bring but poor returns. Physical conditions of the jails are tabulated in detail in our Sixth Biennial Report, page 128 ff. Enforced idleness injurious. Enforced idleness is one of the worst features of the present method of handling misdemeanants. The great majority of convicted men are simply locked up in cages like wild animals. They may twiddle their thumbs, they may exchange stories of criminal experience, they may gloat over perverted justice, they may brood over wrongs done them by society, or they may sit in pious penitence! The table on page 137 of our Sixth Biennial Report shows A STUDY IN COUNTY JAILS. 17 only 8 jails out of 58 providing anything like regular work, and in most of these only a fraction of the convicted men are employed. But how can we expect idleness to reform any one ? Men in jail, like other human beings, have impulses which must find some means of expression. If circumstances repress the normal outlet, some perverted expression of a perfectly natural impulse will come forth. Hence the tendency of jail life must be to fix and multiply bad habits ; to exaggerate inherited weaknesses. Every educator knows that bad habits are broken only by putting good ones in their places. Yet we try to cure the wayward man by repression instead of directing his energies actively into socially useful channels. The employment of county jail prisoners is already provided for by law (Penal Code, Sec. 1613, and Political Code, Sec. 4041, subdivision 29), yet this is rarely done. San Bernardino, Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, San Joaquin, Solano, and a few other counties employ part of their prisoners outside the jails. In some cases there is no means of employing prisoners. In many more there are not enough prisoners to be employed without great loss financially. It is hard to find satisfac- tory men to handle convict labor, and if this be done by local authorities the caliber of guards and foremen is apt to be below that of men who could be secured by the state for larger institutions. The argument for a series of local rock-piles, while not lacking in force, fails to take account of the fact that the rock-pile has been found financially unprofitable, and that it fails utterly to arouse the interest of the men. As a means of developing self-respect and habits of industry the rock-pile is a com- plete failure. Discipline impossible in average jail. This enforced idleness com- bines with a crude congregate system of handling prisoners to make discipline a farce. Who would think of locking a lot of men up in an empty room and expect them not only to behave, but to improve them- selves? Lifting themselves by their bootstraps would be easy in com- parison. Yet this same impossible result is presumably supposed to come from a jail sentence. As a matter of fact, vicious practices are indulged in. We have seen prisoners playing "penny ante" in one of the largest jails in the State. The "Kangaroo Court" has been found in a dozen jails of the State. This is an organization of prisoners for holding mock trials. As a form of self-government and a means of enforcing cleanliness and order in congregate jails it is not altogether bad; but it has possibilities of injustice which make it an institution to 2 234J 18 STATE BOARD OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS. be condemned. These facts appear from the "Rules of the Kangaroo Court" of Kern County, which follow: January 1, 1915. "I. All persons entering here shall be searched by the sheriff of the Kangaroo Court. II. The judge has the power to fine an inmate from one to five dollars, to be used for tobacco and sugar for inmates. III. All persons must bathe and wash their clothes at least once a week. IV. Throwing rubbish or spitting on the floor is strictly for- bidden. V. Inmates must keep away from the door and windows unless wanted there. VI. Noise must cease at 10 p.m., remaining so until 7 a.m. VII. The judge shall appoint inmates to do necessary work each week. VIII. Any person disobeying above rules shall be punished as the judge sees fit. These rules have been approved by the Sheriff of Kern County. ' ' Such rules appear innocent enough on the surface, but they are easily made the basis of extortion and persecution. Schools of crime. When all sorts of men are thrown together in a cage or "bull-pen," is it any wonder that our jails are not only breed- ing places for disease and vermin but also veritable schools of crime? Where outside of a jail would a life of vice and crime be so glowingly portrayed ? Where else would methods of evading justice be so eagerly discussed? Where else would a youthful offender so easily make the acquaintance of hardened criminals? What more appropriate place could be selected for initiation into the fraternity of enemies of society ? A STUDY OF 31,000 COUNTY JAIL PRISONERS. A large proportion of the facts on which the preceding section is based is derived from a statistical study of 31,000 prisoners, who were received in the county jails of California during the year 1914. The data concerning sentences served, etc., appertain to prisoners discharged in 1914 and hence represent approximately, though not quite exactly, the same group." 'The figures for Alameda County are all for prisoners received in 1914. The figures for San Luis Obispo refer to persons received and discharged in the fiscal year 1914-1915. A STUDY IN COUNTY JAILS. 19 The data were collected from uniform registers kept in the various county jails. This work was done in the main by the secretary and one of the agents of the State Board of Charities and Corrections, who used rough tabulation sheets and transcribed the results to blanks for each separate county. The study in Los Angeles County was made by students of the University of Southern California under the direction of Professor E. S. Bogardus. In Alameda County the same work was done by students of the University of California under the direction of Dr. Jessica. B. Peixotto. These two county studies involved a card record of each separate prisoner from which correlated statistical tables were later made by the students. The final tabulations were done in the office of the board under the immediate direction of the secretary. This work was begun in January, 1915, and continued with some inter- ruptions through March, 1916. The data cover 52 of the 58 counties of the State. The six counties not studied have a total population of only 27,000, and have altogether not more than 200 prisoners a year. Hence this investigation may be said practically to cover all the prisoners held in the county jails of California in one year. There are many questions unanswered by this study and they are left frankly unanswered, because the necessary data are not yet available. General classification. From Table No. 1 it is seen that the prisoners studied fall into three nearly equal parts: convicted misdemeanants, unconvicted misdemeanants, felons and federal prisoners. Lodgers, witnesses, insane, and juveniles are numerous, but constitute a rather small proportion of the whole body. Women. From Table No. 2 it is seen that only 3 per cent of the prisoners studied were women. In Tables Nos. 30 and 31 the propor- tion of women is 4 per cent and 2^ per cent, respectively. Taken together these tables show that the number of women prisoners is always very small, and that the real problem has to do with male offenders. Ages. Table No. 3 shows that county jail prisoners are pretty well distributed over the various age groups. The fact that 11,500 were under 30 years of age suggests the possibility of doing some really con- structive work under a different system. But when we consider that these younger offenders, of whom 3,500 were not over 21, are not kept separate from the older men, we must realize the inadequacy of present arrangements. In explanation of Table No. 3, the classification except as to the first group was selected with a view to the ease of tabulating from the register. When the first group was made to include those whose age is given as 21, it w r as felt that youthful vagrants would probably try to 20 STATE BOARD OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS. appear to be of age as a matter of pride. Since beginning the tabula- tion we have come to believe that this error is in a measure offset by the men past twenty-one who hope in the Juvenile Court to escape the severe penalty which might be meted out in the Superior or Police Court. The individual statements of age are known to vary greatly from the truth. Some prisoners apparently tell the officer "any old thing" to have the questioning over with, or "to see what they can put over." Some probably give a greater age with the hope of leniency. Moreover, many of the jailers regard the securing of this information as a joke and make little effort to get at the truth. Some prisoners are so drunk when arrested that they do not know their own age. It might be learned the next day, but a good many jailers are indifferent and do not try. In spite of these numerous difficulties and sources of error we believe that the groupings are approximately correct. Birthplace. Table No. 4 shows that a little over one-third of the county jail prisoners studied were foreign born. This proportion obtains with considerable uniformity throughout the State, running higher in such counties as Fresno and San Diego, but dropping to one- fourth in the smallest counties. In tabulating data concerning place of birth we might well have indi- cated the particular country in which foreigners were born. That this was not done is due to the fact that the small staff had to limit its task at some point, and this was one of the arbitrary boundaries. The item "this county" does not appear to represent the facts very completely. While we might expect to find a very small number of prisoners arrested in their native county, the number appears to be smaller than it really is because some jailers record nothing more specific than the state. The accuracy of the "place of birth" data is, however, made greater than of those concerning age. Still they are not exact, for there is more or less jesting, deliberate misrepresentation and ignorance. Time in county. Tables Nos. 5, 6, and 7 show in striking fashion the preponderance of the transient or migatory element among our petty offenders. While 43.6 per cent of all prisoners had been in the county a year before their arrest, it must be remembered that this figure does not include the enormous numbers of misdemeanants who never get beyond the city jails. Where there is no city jail at the county seat the proportion is more representative; and so we find in San Joaquin County that over one-half of the prisoners had not been in the county more than a week before landing in jail. This proportion may seem unnaturally high, but 35 per cent of all county jail prisoners had been in the county where arrested not to exceed one week, and 45 per cent were residents of one month or less. A STUDY IN COUNTY JAILS. 21 As a matter of fact, the correct figures are unquestionably higher still, for we are sure that most of those unaccounted for in the jail registers are migratory men. In a great many cases this column in the register has been left blank. The jailers explain that the fellows have not been around long enough to make it worth while to put it down ! Another excuse is that the men do not tell the truth and no one in the county knows them. These facts lead us to believe that the numbers of those who have been in a given county a very short time before their arrest are very much greater than the tables would make them appear. It is unlikely that there are compensating errors due to men understating the length of time they have been in the county, although this undoubt- edly occurs in isolated cases. Time in State. It is most interesting to compare Tables Nos. 8, 9, and 10 with those just now under consideration. Whereas a very high proportion of the prisoners had not been in the county more than a few days, only 21.6 per cent had been in the State less than a year. These data are believed to be fairly accurate. Time in United States. Students of immigration will be interested in Tables Nos. 11 and 12, which show that the great bulk of foreign-born prisoners had been in this country long enough to become naturalized. In San Diego, a great many of the recent arrivals were held for the federal authorities on account of illegal entry or smuggling, but in no other county do the statistics appear to be influenced in this way. Hence it is important to call attention to the 500 prisoners who had not been in this country over a year. Correlated statistics for San Fran- cisco show that one-half of these were convicted of vagrancy. Whether this would apply to the State as a whole we do not know. It is also important to note that three-sevenths of all the foreign-born prisoners in San Francisco were convicted of vagrancy (including begging). In the statistical tables the category "all others" includes both those who had been in the United States over 10 years and those whose length of residence in this country is unknown. This combination is perhaps unfortunate, but it was rendered necessary by the way in which some of the data were collected. There is some compensation in the fact that many of those unaccounted for in the jail registers are known to have been in this country for more than 10 years. Special racial and national groups. (Tables Nos. 13 and 14.) In the uniform jail register there is a column labeled "race." Under this head there have been found all sorts of classifications and designations. In order to arrive at some sort of uniformity the enumerators have com- piled these data under the rather specific heads, Mexican, Indian, etc. This was made possible by comparing the record in the "race" column 22 STATE BOARD OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS. with that in the "place of birth" space. For example, a man registered as "brown" and born in Mexico is counted in the tabulation as "Mexican." Likewise the terms "yellow" and "red" have been abandoned as entirely too indefinite. Occupations. The figures in Table No. 15 represent very nearly the records as they stand in the several jail registers. It might have been desirable to classify them as is done by the United States Bureau of the Census, but this was not done. Instead, the occupations listed represent those encountered most frequently in the registers. Engineers may be electrical, civil, railroad or stationary. Other doubtful categories are found, but the outstanding fact, in spite of inevitable inaccuracies, is the very large proportion of unskilled laborers. Over one-half of the prisoners are listed as common laborers. To these should be added many counted as "unknown" and "miscellaneous." The significance of this fact lies in the well known connection between lack of occupa- tional training and unemployment, and between unemployment and petty crime. Apparently one line of effort for the prevention of crime lies in vocational guidance and industrial education. Offenses. No special effort was made to classify the men charged with felonies as to the offense or disposition, because when they are con- victed, with rare exceptions they are sent to a state prison. The jail registers also show 2,400 prisoners held as witnesses, insane, suspects, lodgers and juveniles without any specific charge. As a matter of fact, the total number of such persons detained is considerably larger, but they are frequently not ' ' booked ' ' at all. Table No. 16 shows the classi- fication of those registered. Tables 17, 18 and 19 show the disposition of prisoners charged with the 25 leading misdemeanors. "Misdemeanors not classified" include in the case of San Francisco 265 drug habitues convicted of violating the state poison law. Some jailers failed to specify the offense in many cases. Hence this miscellaneous group is unduly large. However, it is clear that the most frequent petty offenses are: vagrancy, drunken- ness, disturbing the peace, petit larceny and assault. We have there- fore made special tables showing the disposition of prisoners charged with each of these five misdemeanors. In these tables (Nos. 22-26) the figures for the smaller counties are not itemized, but the totals are given. Officers. So far the discussion has dealt only with the prisoners. Table No. 27 throws some interesting light on the officers the sheriffs and their deputies. Deputies paid by sheriff. In 25 counties there are no deputy sheriffs paid by the county. The sheriff himself hires such deputies as he feels he needs and can afford out of his own salary and fees. With A STUDY IN COUNTY JAILS. 23 one exception these counties are below the 25,000 mark in population. Eight are between 10,000 and 25,000. Sixteen are below 10,000. Hence this is in the main a problem of rural government. However, these counties include such towns as Modesto (population 4,034), San Luis Obispo (5,157) and Woodland (3,187). The sheriffs' salaries in these 25 counties range from $700 in Alpine, to $6,000 in Nevada and Placer. The arrangement is essentially one of farming out this office. Average salaries. The average sheriff's salary is $4,200, in addition to which he receives the $5 per diem for transporting persons to state institutions, various fees for service in civil cases and whatever he can clear on the feeding of prisoners. It would be very conservative to estimate $1,000 a year for these perquisites. Compare this income of $5,000 to $6,000 per annum, with $2,000, which is the average salary paid to county superintendents of schools, according to the 1915 Blue Book. Compare the requirements of previous training and executive ability, and it is clear that sheriffs receive compensation out of all pro- portion to the relative value of their services. The average deputy sheriff's salary is $1,170, which appears to be a reasonable rate. Relative number of deputies. The ratio of paid deputies to the population is for the State as a whole, 11 to every 100,000. The varia- tions which occur are to be accounted for by differences in area, number of prisoners handled, etc. It is also important to bear in mind that extra deputies are sworn in for special purposes, and unpaid deputies who depend on their expense accounts for remuneration. In San Bernardino County we know that a good deal of work is done by unsalaried deputies who doubtless make up for the lack of salary in various round-about ways. One of these men said to us : "I know how to fix up my expense account, and they always do the right thing by me." This same unsalaried deputy told us of another deputy (whether salaried or not we do not remember) who made a long trip out in the desert to serve some papers. He received the customary ten cents a mile and county gasoline, driving his own machine. He also charged $2.50 an hour for taking along another county officer. Thus he must have spent a very profitable day. Ratio of prisoners to population. The ratio of prisoners to popula- tion includes both county and city jails so far as they are known. A small number of city jails failed to report, and we have used estimates in thase cases. Our figures are approximately correct. For the State as a whole, local jails received during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1915, 170,000 prisoners, or 712 for every 10,000 of the population. Taking the counties by groups the ratio decreases irregularly as the 24 STATE BOARD OP CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS. density of population decreases, showing that petty offenders as well as more serious criminals center in the cities. In the three largest counties the ratio is 918; in the next six it is 803; in counties with population between 25,000 and 50,000 it is 394 ; in the twenty smallest counties it is 182. In individual counties, however, we find enormous variations. In San Francisco the ratio is 1103 ; in Alameda, only 319. Going on down through counties of smaller and smaller population, we find in San Bernardino, 1146 ; in Santa Clara, only 472 ; in Santa Barbara, 665 ; in Tulare, only 141 ; in Yuba, 2056 ; in Nevada, only 33 ; in Madera, 1464 ; in Tuolumne, only 18. These tremendous differences demand more of an explanation than we are yet able to give. Leniency of some officers and severity of others may be taken for granted. Public opinion with reference to itinerant casual laborers and vagrants undoubtedly varies greatly. The fact of being on or off the main lines of travel is certainly a factor. Racial and industrial considerations must also receive atten- tion. All in all, we are just learning where to look to find out why 170.000 persons were imprisoned in this State last year. N. B. The above information is drawn from the Statutes of 1915, California Blue Book for 1913-1915, United States Census for 1910, and reports of sheriffs, city mar- shals and chiefs of police for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1915 ; these reports being made direct to the office of the State Board of Charities and Corrections. Tables Nos. 28-31 are based on the reports of sheriffs sent to the office of the State Board of Charities and Corrections. They are included in this bulletin for comparative purposes. These correspond to the statistics regularly included in the biennial report of this board. This study is not exhaustive by any means, but it suggests a few of the sources of crime. Lack of vocational guidance, lack of industrial training and irregular employment are most apparent. The natural consequences are vagrancy, vicious associates, addiction to alcohol and drugs, and petty thieving. Doubtless many misdemeanants are cases of feeble-mindedness or dementia prsecox. This is a question, however, which our present study has merely opened. Future investigations in the field of psychology and psychiatry must be made before we can have exact knowledge of the sources of our petty offenders. However, we have brought together facts which show the futility of present methods of handling misdemeanants and which point the way to a better system. A STUDY IN COUNTY JAILS. 25 TABLE No. 1. Prisoners Received in County Jails in 1914- GENERAL CLASSIFICATION. Territory Charged with misdemeanors Charged with Monies, and U. S. prisoners. i! ft i H convicted Convicted Total Totals 9,691 956 1,577 582 6,052 425 99 969 8,722 3,311 2,291 2,126 994 11,017 3,936 2,708 1,004 1,897 1,242 230 2,998 8,019 3,217 2,294 2,017 491 20,708 4,892 4,285 1,586 7,949 1,667 329 3,967 16,741 6,528 4,585 4,143 1,485 8,459 882 3,014 630 2,627 1,085 221 2,103 6,356 3,728 1,463 1,033 132 2,405 380 641 204 851 177 152 190 2,215 640 1,015 407 153 81,572 6,154 7,940 2,420 11,427 2,929 702 6,260 25,312 10,896 7,063 5,583 1,770 Bay region Southern California Coast _ _ _ San Joaquin Valley Sacramento Valley Mountains - Large counties Total, excluding large counties... Second size counties Third size counties Fourth size counties Fifth size counties STATE BOARD OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS. TABLE No. 2. Prisoners Received in County Jails in WOMEN. Counties Charged Witnesses Insane Total female Male prisoners Grand totals 900 11 143 1,052 29950 Large size (over 100000) 303 1 o 304 5388 24 o o 24 731 Los Angeles (568 unknown) 102 o o 102 2488 San Francisco _ _ 177 1 o 178 2,169 Second size (50000 to 100000) 326 8 33 367 10 529 Fresno _ 97 3 15 115 3,776 Sacramento 37 17 54 1,156 San Bernardino 35 3 o 38 1 477 San Diego _ _ _ 64 2 o 66 1,052 San Joaquin _ _ 47 o 47 2,025 Santa Clara 46 1 47 1043 Third size (25,000 to 50,000) 191t 2 87 283 6,780 Butte 15 1 7 23 231 Contra Costa _ 1 1 215 Hiunboldt 4 o 11 15 177 Kern _. 95 o 10 105 1,687 Marin o 4 4 249 Orange 19 1 7 27 1045 Riverside __ ___ .__ 4 o 13 17 286 San Mateo 4 o 4 476 Santa Barbara 5 o 11 16 464 Santa Cruz _ 6 6 12 314 Solano - . _ . ______ 8 o 8 583 Sonoma 23 o 14 37 525 Tulare 10 o 4 14 528 Fourth size (10,000 to 25,000) 69 o U 83 5,500 Imperial o o o 774 Kings 16 o o 16 270 Mendocino __ .. 4 2 6 239 Merced 5 o 1 6 580 Monterey 4 o 4 276 Napa o o o 451 Nevada 2 1 3 58 Placer __ 4 o 4 443 San Luis Obispo 1 13 o 4 17 586 Shasta 1 o 3 4 138 Siskiyou 3 o 2 5 93 Stanislaus 9 o o g 1028 Tehama _. o 28 Ventura 7 o o 7 252 Yolo _ o o o o 117 Yuba _. 1 1 2 167 A STUDY IN COUNTY JAILS. TABLE No. 2 Continued. Counties Charged with crime Witnesses Insane Total female Male prisoners Fifth size (less than 10000) 8 o 9 17 ' 1,753 1 2 3 50 Colusa - - -- - 6 34 Del Norte 2 1 3 32 El Dorado o o 37 Glenn 2 2 42 Inyo _ Lake 1 o 1 2 64 Madera - - - 1,221 Mariposa Modoc - - 1 1 48 Plumas - - - - - - 2 2 27 San Benito 2 o 2 116 Sierra ___ _____
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TABLE No. 16.
Prisoners Discharged from County Jails in 1914.
PRISONERS NOT CHARGED WITH CRIME.
Counties
Wit-
Inebri-
ates and
insane
Suspects
Lodgers
niles
Total
not
charged
with
crime
Grand totals - -
156
731
741
517
260
2405
Large size (over 100000)
5
106
79
190
Alameda
29
12
41
Los Angeles
4
77
67
148
San Francisco _
1
1
Second size (50,000 to 100,000)
8-4
184
258
5
109
640
Fresno
9
96
6
o
24
135
Sacramento 1 __ __
San Bernardino _ _.
8
8
153
24
193
San Diego
4
3
43
50
San Joaquin
55
o
79
o
10
144
Santa Clara
8
80
17
5
8
118
Third size (25,000 to 50,000)
Butte ._
33
2
336
31
155
447
o
44
7
1,015
40
Contra Costa
o
o
o
o
Humboldt _-
2
19
o
o
o
21
Kern
1
51
110
225
o
387
Marin
4
31
35
Orange
20
58
16
63
157
Riverside
45
14
o
1
60
San Mateo
o
o
84
o
84
Santa Barbara
o
27
o
o
3
30
Santa Cruz
1
19
o
o
7
27
Solano
7
14
o
44
g
71
Sonoma
o
64
15
o
20
99
Tulare _
4
4
Fourth size (10,000 to 25,000)
27
145
158
61
16
407
Imperial
g
7
18
33
Kings _.
5
7
57
69
Mendocino
o
17
g
g
4
35
Merced _
1
8
o
2
5
16
Monterey
o
g
2
5
13
Napa 1
Nevada
o
14
o
14
Placer
5
g
13
San Luis Obispo 2
o
10
o
10
Shasta .
o
28
00
Siskiyou .
o
15
o
15
Stanislaus
o
4
55
^
2
62
Tehama
2
1
1
4
Ventura
g
o
5
53
64
Tolo
o
12
12
Tuba ..
8
fi
n
14
A STUDY IN COUNTY JAILS.
55
TABLE No. 16 Continued.
Counties
Wit-
nesses
Inebri-
ates and
insane
Suspects
Lodgers
Juve-
niles
Total
C d
crime
Fifth size (less than 10,000)
7
66
64
J
12
153
Alpine _ .
Amador
17
1
o
o
18
Calaveras 1
Colusa
7
o
o
7
Del Norte
2
2
o
o
4
El Dorado
o
o
4
Glenn
4
2
o
o
6
Inyo
Lake 1 . ._. ..
Lassen _ _ _
4
12
2
6
o
18
Madera
3
12
10
o
9
34
Mariposa 1
Modoe
3
1
o
o
4
Mono _ _- _ _
Plumas - - _
2
2
4
San Benito
o
41
1
42
Sierra
o
Sutter _
1
5
4
10
Trinity
2
2
Tuolumne
J Not recorded.
3 Fiscal year 1914-1915.
STATE BOARD OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTIONS.
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