JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A group of judges is getting ready to talk to Jacksonville city council members about expanding a mental health program that helps people who are continuously arrested for non-violent crimes.
There was a story about a man who was arrested 97 times in three years for nonviolent crimes like trespassing — but he continued to end up in jail. For three years, the city of Jacksonville, the Sulzbacher Center, the courts and others have been trying to help people caught in similar cycles.
“We’re trying to figure out a way to get those people out of the jail to reduce the jail population, to reduce the sheriff’s office response time on those individuals,” Circuit Court Judge Mark Mahon said. “Just to give those people a better quality of life, it makes economic sense. It makes fiscal sense. And it’s morally the right thing to do.”
The Mental Health Offenders Program targets people who’ve been arrested dozens of times and by keeping those offenders out of jail, it saves the taxpayers a lot of money.
In February, the News4JAX I-TEAM spoke with James, a veteran who suffers from schizophrenia and substance abuse. He said he was arrested 10 times.
“The little level misdemeanor, it’s the trespasses, the petty thefts, those types of people. There’s really no court program for them, so it’s a revolving door where they get arrested,” Mahon said. “They get held in jail for several days. They get looked at for Baker Act. They’re not dangerous to themselves and not dangerous to others. So, they get put back on the streets.”
City Council President Ron Salem said he will be putting additional dollars toward this program under his leadership.
“It has been a success. We can show you statistics, where the dollars we’re saving. The most expensive place to treat someone is to jail and treating them outside the jail is so much more cost-effective, and it’s more compassionate,” Salem said.