DETROIT, MI (MPRN)-- A group of state lawmakers and law enforcement officials is meeting to address Michigan’s prison and jail systems as part of a bi-partisan criminal justice reform effort.
It’s called the Michigan Task Force on Jail and Pre-Trial Incarceration. The group is using data to identify issues in state and local imprisonment.
Studies presented at the group’s first meeting show Michigan’s jail population has tripled over the last three decades. Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist is co-chair of the task force. He says the coalition will work to identify trends in Michigan.
“We have seen such differences, for example, on the growth of the rate of women being incarcerated in county jails and understand what’s behind that. I really appreciated some of the task force members wanting to dig a little deeper on that and break that out along racial and ethnic lines so we can see what trends are contributing to this,” he says.
The task force will give its final presentation on jail and prison reform in January.