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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2017
County: Clatsop County Jail is chronically overcrowded
Continued from Page 1A
Paula Brownhill, the pre-
siding judge of the Circuit
Court, signed an order in
September for a new pretrial
release policy based on the
risk to public safety, the likeli-
hood of new criminal activity,
the threat to victims, and the
probability the accused will
appear for court.
Ditching a locally drawn
measurement known as the
Matrix, the court order directs
the county to use two risk
assessment tools — the Public
Safety Checklist for Oregon
and the Virginia Pretrial Risk
Assessment Instrument —
to determine the risk of pre-
trial failure and make release
recommendations.
The court order grew out
of a work group Brownhill
formed earlier this year to
examine the county’s com-
paratively high use of state
prison. Under a reform drive
known as justice reinvest-
ment, Oregon has provided
grants to counties to supervise
more drug and property crime
offenders locally, through jail
and probation, rather than sen-
tencing them to more costly
state prison stays.
An overcrowded jail makes
that shift diffi cult.
“Our jail has always been
overpopulated with pretrial
defendants,” Brownhill said.
“And I’m really hopeful that
we can turn that around so that
we can put sentenced inmates
in the jail and let more of the
pretrial population, who are
presumed innocent, out while
they’re awaiting trial.”
Using justice reinvestment
grant money, the county hired
a pretrial release specialist
who prepares risk scores and
interviews defendants before
arraignment. The interviews
help the specialist vet whether
defendants have jobs, places
to live and family ties —
life anchors that increase the
chances they will appear for
court if they are released.
The trial court adminis-
trator estimates the county’s
failure-to-appear rate is about
32 percent, a burden that can
slow the wheels of justice.
Lt. Matt Phillips, the jail
commander, said the Matrix
was never scientifi cally vali-
dated for accuracy and gave
too much weight to the fail-
ure-to-appear
component.
The new risk assessment tools
have been validated else-
where, but will take a few
years to perfect locally. The
Public Safety Checklist, the
automated tool, functions like
an actuarial table for life insur-
ance or a FICO score, a credit
risk analysis that helps lenders
determine whether consum-
ers will make mortgage or car
payments.
“We would never try to
maximize release at the cost
of public safety,” Phillips said.
In the fi rst month under the
new policy, judges already are
fi nding they have more infor-
mation to make rulings.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Clatsop County has a new pretrial release policy.
Jail overcrowding
Clatsop County’s 60-bed jail in Astoria
is overcrowded. An estimated 70
percent of inmates are awaiting trial, a
figure criminal justice experts consider
too high. The county has a new pretrial
release policy to make more effective
use of the jail, which is often forced to
release inmates when over capacity.
Average daily population:
(January through late-October)
68
2,007
Forced release: 455
Bookings:
Weighs factors
such as age, gender
and Oregon criminal
history and produces
a risk score:
Low — 0-25
Medium — 26-42
High — 43-100
Looks at the
severity of the
crime, criminal history,
employment, housing
and drug abuse to help
determine risk factor:
Low — 0-2
Medium — 3-4
High — 5-9
Measuring risk
Clatsop County is now using new risk assessment tools
to help determine whether someone charged with a
crime should be released from county jail pending trial.
Derrick DePledge and Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group
Source: Clatsop County
READ MORE ONLINE
The Daily Astorian has examined how Oregon’s justice reinvestment initiative has played out in Clatsop County.
• County out of step with state drive to reduce prison use: bit.ly/2hdJM5F
A pop-up tent
in Portland
• Work group to look at prison use: bit.ly/2zJ08du
• ‘So the stakes are going to be quite high for you’: bit.ly/2gIbHu3
• Oregon takes new steps to reduce prison use: bit.ly/2y92IgD
“Previously, it was the DA
telling us the criminal history.
And that’s about it,” Brown-
hill said. “So now, not only do
we have the risk assessment,
but we have verifi cation of
housing, employment.”
‘The bucket’
In the district attorney’s
offi ce, the cases that stack up
for 1:15 p.m. arraignments
on most days each week
are known as “the bucket.”
Instead of delegating to junior
prosecutors, Marquis often
handles arraignments him-
self, a front-end screening of
defendants who have been
locked up.
The veteran prosecutor is
one of the biggest critics of
justice reinvestment and dug
in his heels after Brownhill
formed the work group to dis-
cuss policy changes. But he
recognizes the acute problem
of jail overcrowding and sees
value in a pretrial release spe-
cialist providing more infor-
mation about defendants.
“I think the idea of having
someone interviewing them is
a great idea,” Marquis said.
The district attorney’s con-
cern is that judges will refl ex-
ively place too much cre-
records show he has felony
convictions — for identity
theft, unlawful use of a vehicle
and drug possession — along
with a string of misdemeanors
and probation violations.
The
escape
charge
stemmed from an incident in
Warrenton in May. Long was
sleeping in a bus without per-
mission at Calvary Assembly
of God Church on South Main
Avenue, according to court
records. Police Chief Mathew
Workman told Long he would
ask the church whether they
wanted to take any action. The
chief also discovered Long
had a warrant for his arrest.
Long, who had asked to
collect his belongings from
the bus, allegedly jumped out
the back and bolted. After
Workman chased Long down
a slough and threatened to
charge him with escape, Long
allegedly ran again. He was
eventually arrested after he
was spotted hiding behind a
large dumpster and again tried
to fl ee.
While Long’s high risk
score made him an improba-
ble choice for pretrial release,
other factors broke in his
favor. The jail was over-
crowded on the day of his
hearing. His escape charge is
a misdemeanor, not a felony.
More importantly, Palm-
rose learned from Long’s pro-
bation offi cer that Long’s
mother was willing to let him
stay at her home in Seaside.
“She said he could live
there,” Palmrose said, “as
long as he stays sober.”
dence on risk scores
to pay their bills.
and pretrial release
It’s a prediction that
recommendations.
they’re going to pay
“Some of the algo-
their bills,” Marquis
rithms — and over-re-
said. “The difference
liance on a number —
between FICO scores
have resulted in some
and release scores is
real tragedies,” Mar- Kyle Michael the worst thing that
quis said.
happens in a FICO
Long
Edward French,
score is somebody
a fi lm scout and photogra- misses a payment. The worst
pher, was shot and killed in thing that happens if you let
San Francisco in July during the wrong person out of jail
an early morning robbery. is somebody could get hurt or
The San Francisco Chronicle killed.”
reported that one of the two
suspects — who was arrested Data-driven approach
Several counties in Ore-
days before the murder for
gun possession as a felon, gon and across the nation have
and who was on probation for started to focus on pretrial
car break-ins — was released assessments, gathering infor-
from jail by a judge based in mation and compiling data
that could help improve deci-
part on a risk score.
The CEO of the nonprofi t sion-making at each step of
that conducts the risk assess- the process.
Over time, some experts
ments in San Francisco told
the court afterward that a hope a data-driven approach
staffer had miscalculated the might help drain the bias and
suspect’s jail history, leading inequality that often clouds
the criminal justice system.
to an incorrect score.
In Yamhill County, which
Clatsop County uses differ-
ent risk assessment tools than has prioritized pretrial justice
San Francisco. But the exam- for the past several years, the
ple shows the hazard of mak- failure to appear rate dropped
from 17 percent to 4 percent.
ing the wrong calculation.
Unlike Clatsop County,
“FICO is not a guaran-
tee that the person is going Yamhill County’s 250-bed
jail in McMinnville is usually
under capacity at about 175
inmates. The county has been
able to reduce the share of
inmates awaiting trial from 45
percent to about 35 percent.
Jessica Beach, the direc-
tor of the Yamhill County
Department of Community
Justice, said the county heard
early concerns about relying
too heavily on risk assess-
ment tools to make jail release
decisions.
“By its nature, the court
is an adversarial system. And
so I think it’s important for
everyone to have a voice,” the
former probation offi cer said.
“Never, ever, ever do we sug-
gest that the assessment make
the decision.”
‘No way we’re
letting this guy out’
Alan Palmrose, Clatsop
County’s pretrial release spe-
cialist, is a former sheriff’s
deputy. When he fi rst saw
Long’s risk score of 95 ear-
lier this month, he thought:
“No way we’re letting this
guy out.”
The high score was infl u-
enced by Long’s age and his
compressed criminal his-
tory as a young adult. Court
Five days after Long was
released from jail in Astoria,
a passenger at the Gateway
Transit Center in northeast
Portland told a transit police
offi cer Long was injecting
heroin on a train.
When the transit offi cer
tried to talk with Long, he
appeared agitated and had a
stick in his hand, court records
show. He agreed to drop the
stick and, when asked about
his drug use on the train,
admitted he was carrying her-
oin. The transit offi cer saw
a syringe sticking from his
pocket.
Long was arrested and
charged with misdemeanor
heroin possession.
Rather than stay with his
mother in Seaside, Long told
authorities he had been living
in a pop-up tent in Portland,
using heroin and meth daily.
Long is eligible for a drug
treatment program if he agrees
to plead guilty or no contest.
If he successfully completes
treatment and probation, the
possession charge may be
dismissed.
Long, who was released
from jail in Portland, has until
an early November court date
in Multnomah County Circuit
Court to decide.
His next court date on the
escape charge is in Astoria in
late December.
Parking: ‘We’re an old city, and we don’t have parking’
Sea lions: ‘Pets
‘Parking is a
should be kept away’
Continued from Page 1A
Continued from Page 1A
In Astoria, sea lions con-
gregate on docks at the Port of
Astoria’s East Mooring Basin.
Marina Manager Janice Burk
received a report of a dead sea
lion there on Wednesday, but
said it isn’t clear why the ani-
mal died. She notifi ed fi sh and
wildlife and expects they will
run tests on the sea lion to see
if leptospirosis was a factor.
Risk to pets
Leptospirosis
occurs
worldwide and can spread
when animals come into con-
tact with an infected animal’s
urine or bodily fl uids. The
disease can cause weakness,
fever and muscle pain, and
lead to kidney failure. Young
sea lions, with their lower
immune systems, are more
susceptible.
The Department of Fish
and Wildlife says the risk
of transmission to people is
slight, but dogs are more at
risk if they approach stranded
sea lions on the beach or come
into contact with body fl uid
from sick or dead sea lions.
Sick sea lions may be
dehydrated, their eyes sunken
in their heads, and will gen-
erally appear less lively and
alert.
“Pets should be kept away
from sea lions as leptospi-
rosis can cause severe dis-
ease,” said Emilio DeBess,
state public health veterinar-
ian with the Oregon Health
Authority, in a statement.
Vaccines to protect dogs
and horses against leptospiro-
sis are available at veterinary
hospitals.
The disease, though it can
be fatal, doesn’t seem to dev-
astate sea lion populations,
Burco said.
“It’s really something that
happens and they move on,”
she said. “Their populations
can deal with this.”
Federal and state laws pro-
tect sea lions. It is illegal to
harass, disturb, touch or feed
marine mammals. People
who discover a sick sea lion
or other marine mammals on
the beach should stay 50 feet
away and report them to the
Oregon State Police, which
shares these reports with the
Oregon Marine Mammal
Stranding Network.
downtown that would not be
negatively impacted by that
decision.”
City Manager Brett Estes
said it is still not clear what
may be required of Astoria,
given that larger cities like
Portland and Salem don’t com-
ply with the rule either. The city
also needs to determine if the
rule applies to all intersections
indiscriminately or if there are
exceptions for one-way streets
versus two-way streets where
the lines of sight differ.
City Attorney Blair Hen-
ningsgaard is looking at how to
interpret the state statute.
“We’re an old city, and we
don’t have parking, particu-
larly during the tourism sea-
son which is stretching lon-
ger and longer,” said Planning
Commissioner Jan Mitchell
at a Traffi c Safety Advisory
Committee meeting Tuesday,
when the issue was brought up .
“Parking is a scarce resource.”
Lois Dupet, who spoke
to the planning commission-
ers , drives a medical shuttle
in Astoria and had brought up
Oregon’s intersection require-
ments before at a meeting in
February.
Parking spaces are so close
scarce resource’
Jan Mitchell
planning commissioner
to the intersections downtown
that “it is literally impossible to
see pedestrians,” she said.
Pedestrian and driver safety
are ongoing concerns, but
Astoria has a relatively low
pedestrian crash rate, Har-
rington said. There has been
only one pedestrian fatal-
ity in the last 10 years. The
downtown association and the
city are working together to
develop a master parking plan,
and addressing parking is one
of the City Council goal’s for
the coming year.
But Dupet warned on
Tuesday that even though
other cities ignore the intersec-
tion parking rule, it does not
excuse Astoria.
“I can tell you that if some-
body is killed in a crosswalk
and they get a high -powered
law fi rm after this city, you
may be bankrupt, because
you’ve been warned multiple
times and it is the law and you
are liable,” she said.
“I am liable. I’m driving
through the city every day,
going through all these streets
and crosswalks every day, mul-
tiple times. And so are all the
other public transport opera-
tors, and we cannot see these
people.”