Given chance to avoid jail/ criminal charges, mentally ill, addicted and homeless people in LA pass
A diversion program in Los Angeles designed to keep mentally ill, addicted or homeless adults out of jail and instead provide treatment and housing is having little success, according to statistics provided by police officials.
The problem? Little interest.
Nearly three-quarters of the 283 people deemed eligible for the Alternatives to Incarceration Diversion Program since it launched at the Los Angeles Police Department’s 77th Street jail last summer declined to participate in it, the LAPD figures show. Dozens of others have failed to comply with the program’s requirements.
Only 17 people have completed the program.
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Under the program, when mentally ill, addicted or homeless people who don’t have a record of violent crimes are arrested for some types of nonviolent offenses — such as prostitution, simple drug possession, trespassing or petty theft — they are given the choice to enter the diversion program or face prosecution.
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The largest factor, he said, is the court’s pandemic-related decision to do away with cash bail for people charged with minor offenses like the ones included in the diversion program. Under that policy, people who might have been unable to afford bail and so remained in jail before the pandemic now are released quickly to await trial.
For many of the people eligible for diversion, a quick release — even if it leaves criminal charges hanging over their heads — is more attractive than entering into a months-long treatment program, Pitcher said.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-05-20/given-chance-to-avoid-jail-and-criminal-charges-mentally-ill-addicted-and-homeless-people-in-l-a-pass
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