Isle parole OF 314 STATE PRISONERS paroled in 1998, a study released today found that 135 were returned to prison and had their parole revoked within two years -- a failure rate of 43 percent.
failure rate 43%
A study finds that the majority
of revocations were for technical
reasons, such as drug violations,
rather than for new convictionsBy B.J. Reyes
breyes@starbulletin.comThe study found that the majority of parole revocations, 60 percent, were for technical violations of the terms of their release. Such violations include drug use, drug possession, failure to maintain contact with a parole officer or failure to notify authorities of a new address. The remaining 40 percent of revocations were for new convictions.
"We need to improve on how we prepare people for parole ... but I think we're heading in the right direction," said Al Beaver, chairman of the Hawaii Paroling Authority.
The study, "Parole Decision Making in Hawaii," was prepared by the state Attorney General's Crime Prevention and Justice Assistance Division and the University of Hawaii's Social Science Research Institute. It looked at prison sentence lengths, parole decision making, success rates and other corrections-related information.
Of the 314 parolees tracked for two years following their release, the 135 who had parole revoked were offset by 37 who were returned to prison but did not have parole revoked and 142 who did not return to prison.
"What that says is that a large proportion of those in prison, and certainly of those being returned to prison, are incarcerated for these technical violations -- that's been a growing trend nationally for a while now," said Paul Perrone, chief of research for the state Attorney General's office.
"Another way of looking at that is that when they're returned to prison, they're going back to serve time on their original sentence -- you're returning them to prison to serve time for the crime they're originally incarcerated for.
"Nevertheless, the impact on the prison system ... is that a significant portion of the people that take up bed space are there for these technical violations."
Among the study's recommendations was that funding should be provided for improved record-keeping systems and more parole officers to deal with the larger volume of cases being reviewed by the HPA.
The study also recommended that treatment services, including access to mental health services, should be provided for parolees determined to be in need of them.
A study by the Department of the Attorney General and the University of Hawaii tracked 314 state prisoners paroled in 1998 for 24 months. The study found: PAROLE STUDY FINDINGS
>>135 parolees (43.0 percent) were returned to prison and had parole revoked.
>>37 (11.8 percent) were returned to prison but did not have parole revoked.
>>142 (45.2 percent) were not returned to prison.Source: "Parole Decision Making in Hawaii"
Beaver said he favors other types of treatment as well.
"I would like to see something like an employment counselor, I would like to see marriage counseling," he said. "A lot of these guys screw up big time because of their relationships. ... They can't handle it, they stress out and go back to drugs.
"We need to address that problem."
Overall, Beaver, who has headed the HPA since 1997, said he is pleased with the report and the job his agency is doing.
"We look at a lot of so-called red flags that may cause an individual to be a loose cannon in the community," Beaver said. "So if we see a lot of curfew violations or DUIs, we're going to pull them back before they start committing more crimes and become a burden on the community.
"It's just common sense," he added. "First of all, let's protect the community, but at the same time, let's prepare these criminals to become good citizens once they're returned to the community."
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