Milwaukee Drug Treatment Centers: High Imprisonment Ratios of Blacks – What Are the Root Causes?

Finding the cause and the cure of our social ails is similar to the process of searching for the root cause and cure of cancer. Cancer was first discovered in Egypt in 1600 B.C and today the root causes and cures of cancer are still not fully defined. Similarly, metropolitan inner cities continue to grow at astronomical rates as does the crime and number of imprisonments with no comprehensive solution in site.

In 2005, the United States imprisoned 2.3 million people. This level exceeds Western Europe by 5 to 8 times and is 12 times higher than Japan. From 1974 to 2005 the number of federal inmates increased from 216,000 to 1,525,924, a number that increased by 7 times in 31 years. Perhaps as an American certain pointed questions should be asked of ourselves starting with “why?” More alarming is that for every 100,000 prisoners, 3,138 are black next to 481 who are white. A discussion on the root causes of this disparity is critical mostly to the livelihood of blacks but also to the outlook of what the United States will look like in another 100 years.

Assessing social problems on a smaller scale, county by county is a means of shedding light on differences in social and economic systems. According to the 2005 US Census, more than one half of the black population was incarcerated in 173 counties. In Swift County, Minnesota a staggering 95% of the blacks were incarcerated. Several Wisconsin counties fall well above 25% as illustrated below with Dodge County exceeding all the others with a curiously disparaging 89%.

Some may argue that the numbers below are skewed because of the population sample of blacks are minimal. With only 12.5% of the black population in rural communities, these numbers may look worse than what they truly are. However, one might ask why is the population of blacks so low in small communities?

Wisconsin Counties

50 to 89% Percent of Black Population Imprisoned SHEBOYGAN JACKSON CRAWFORD COLUMBIA MARQUETTE DODGE

25 to 50% Percent of Black Population Imprisoned GRANT BROWN WINNEBAGO FOND DU LAC

In either case, one can infer that a problem with social disparity probably exists with the counties listed. Invariably, with social disparity follows serious economic inequities. Writing social problems off with the all-to-often chime of racism, drugs, violence, and theft is not solving the problem of an ever growing population of prison inmates. Analyzing the root cause and asking 1000 “whys” of the high drug trafficking, theft, and violence may be a better long-term approach to save the millions down the road from a further down-hill spiral of social and economic deprivation once released from jail.

The problems compound incrementally when incendiary growth of mental turmoil kicks in and one slowly watches 1.7 million children who have parents in jail or who will be released from jail be alienated as well. Nearly all inmates think about suicide and 47 out of 100,000 in fact, carry through with it. Thus the problem keeps growing and the 2.3 million in prison looks small after one adds the millions upon millions released from prison, the families, and extended families. Aside from the devastating social demise crime creates, the outfall of economic and political inequities are factors that should be reckoned with as well.

Prisons are necessary, but to what extent? There lies the bigger 1000 questions. Of these Wisconsin counties listed above, should we dare ask the business community or the police department if unfair treatment exists? And by chance or happenstance do people truly revert to drugs because they are happy or unhappy? When a person is down, who becomes his or her next best friend, a drug dealer? And how does that all come together so conveniently at the most apropos time? Should we ask why some children with certain parents lose opportunities to succeed at school? Should we wonder why some people get over charged at the check-out counter and others do not? Should we ponder why some are given decent healthcare and others are ostracized? And oh, should we dare wonder why an otherwise healthy person might become depressed? Should we be asking these questions from the communities listed above?

While the 973 other questions are being asked “why?” should we be pointing the finger where the intrinsic shame and blame should be? Should we assess the drivers of social and economic deprivation? Or will the only solution be to continue pointing the finger at drugs and the inevitably poor but human choices of crime?

Hope is on the Horizon Times are changing and the purple haze of drug addiction, depression, and crimes associated with drugs may lift, hopefully, sooner than later. Judge Ashley, the first black judge to be elected to serve as a Judge to Milwaukee County Circuit, is a chair person for a committee regarding justice improvements in Wisconsin. He announced at a recent fundraising luncheon for the Benedict Center, the implementation of the first pilot program called AIM, which means Assess, Inform and Measure.

The AIM program is designed to assess and determine the needs to provide community intervention prior to a sentencing. The intention of the program is provide treatment to non-violent candidates who may benefit from treatment rather than being imprisoned. Ashley is hopeful that the program will instill solutions to a population of candidates who could be productive, tax-paying citizens who would otherwise be a drain on tax payers pocket by being in jail.

The lock-um-up and jail-um mentality for a non-violent candidate is, in large part, a lose-lose program economically and socially for everyone. If other counties throughout Wisconsin incorporated the same AIM program, more data would be available to determine the economic and social benefits that may be derived from a solution-based driven program.

References

Black Population. (March, 2002) The Black Population in the United States: March 2002. History of Cancer.

Sawan, Y. & Knutsen, K. (June, 2004). Counting Prisoners in Wisconsin. Prison Policy Initiative. U.S.

Department of Justice. (2007) Bureau of Justice Statistics. WisBar.org. (2008).

OJA, (2009). Justice System Improvement Assess, Inform and Measure (AIM), Milwaukee County 2009. Office of Justice Assistance.

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