National
On April 21st, LEAP sent a letter to the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the US Conference of Mayors, endorsing a set of recommendations for how police agencies can best respond to the pandemic. The recommendations were authored by a broad coalition of 11 organizations: REFORM Alliance, R Street Institute, Right on Crime, The American Conservative Union Foundation, Equity Distribution, FreedomWorks, The Heritage Foundation, Justice Action Network, Americans for Prosperity, Faith and Freedom Coalition, and the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Thirty-five police chiefs, sheriffs, and officers of all backgrounds signed the letter in the interest of public health and safety. The recommendations include ensuring officers have the authority to give verbal warnings and citations in lieu of arrest; reassigning officers from non-essential departments to emergency services; requiring thorough reporting of new COVID-19 cases up the chain of command; ensuring equipment, work spaces, and vehicles are sanitized regularly; and protecting officers’ ability to take sick leave.
"Right now, the most important things police can do to protect themselves and their communities from coronavirus are to reduce arrests, focus on violent crime, provide an access point to essential services, and tend to their own physical and mental wellbeing. These also happen to be things that would greatly improve our departments once this is over."
"I signed this letter because policing in America has been at a crossroads for some time now. The coronavirus pandemic demands we enact these changes, which improve public safety and public health outcomes for both communities and police. Reason dictates we stick to them. Experience will show they are more effective than what we have been doing."
State by State
Arizona
LEAP sent recommendations and a sample executive order, signed by local law enforcement professionals, to Gov. Ducey urging his office to take immediate executive action to reduce incarcerated populations in Arizona to slow the spread of COVID-19. Even as the virus spread into Arizona prisons in early April, Gov. Ducey asserted that no category of prisoner should be released. We disagree. Most people serving time for technical parole or probation violations, non-serious offenses, victimless crimes, non-violent drug crimes, unpaid fines and fees, those serving time simply because they cannot afford bail, and the elderly and medically at-risk should be released immediately.
"It is essential that the state reduce incarceration to help control COVID-19. Inmates and correctional officers are at extreme risk for sickness and death due to the close contact conditions inherent in prisons."
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California
LEAP sent recommendations and a sample executive order, signed by local law enforcement professionals, to Governor Gavin Newsom, urging his office to take immediate executive action to reduce incarcerated populations in California to slow the spread of COVID-19. Though Newsom took early action to release a relatively small number of people from behind bars, the incarcerated population, correctional facilities, their families, and surrounding communities are still being put at unnecessary risk of contracting coronavirus, with new cases still exploding weeks later. Most people serving time for technical parole or probation violations, non-serious offenses, victimless crimes, non-violent drug crimes, unpaid fines and fees, those serving time simply because they cannot afford bail, and the elderly and medically at-risk should be released immediately.
We have also been hard at work amplifying this message through local media.
- Want to stop coronavirus spread in jails, prisons, and detention centers? Let some inmates go. By Fmr. Prosecutor Michael Cindrich — The San Diego Union-Tribune
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Colorado
LEAP sent recommendations and a sample executive order, signed by current and retired Colorado law enforcement, to Governor Jared Polis urging for immediate action to reduce the incarcerated population to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The governor passed an executive order shortly thereafter which allowed the DOC to release people through earned time credits and compassionate release. Thank you, Governor Polis!
“While these short-term recommendations are designed to ensure greater safety for people who are incarcerated and those who interact with them, I strongly recommend that our state’s long-term philosophy, policies, procedures and practices be overhauled to deal more effectively with the safety of our communities.”
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Connecticut
LEAP sent recommendations and a sample executive order, signed by local law enforcement professionals, to the office of Governor Ned Lamont. The letter urges his office to take executive action to reduce the incarcerated population to slow the spread of COVID-19. The Department of Corrections has quietly released some people, but Gov. Lamont has resisted pressure to increase releases, despite cramped conditions contributing to hundreds of new illnesses and at least one death.
The time to reduce incarceration has never been more urgent. Most people serving time for technical parole or probation violations, non-serious offenses, victimless crimes, non-violent drug crimes, unpaid fines and fees, those serving time simply because they cannot afford bail, and the elderly and medically at-risk should be released immediately.
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Florida
LEAP sent recommendations and a sample executive order, signed by local law enforcement professionals, to the office of Governor Ron DeSanitis. The letter urges his office to take executive action to reduce incarcerated populations in Florida to slow the spread of COVID-19. The DeSantis administration does not want to release immunocompromised inmates or share information about how many corrections officials or inmates have been tested for the virus. They are also not sharing how many prisoners are in medical isolation over the virus. As of Tuesday April 14th, 54 corrections officials spread across 24 prisons and three probation offices tested positive for COVID-19. That same day, 35 inmates had tested positive.
The time to reduce incarceration has never been more urgent. Most people serving time for technical parole or probation violations, non-serious offenses, victimless crimes, non-violent drug crimes, unpaid fines and fees, those serving time simply because they cannot afford bail, and the elderly and medically at-risk should be released immediately.
We have also been hard at work encouraging police agencies and local officials to rethink policing practices that put officers and civilians at heightened risk of infection.
- Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw cannot take “business as usual” approach with COVID-19 crisis, by Sheriff Jim Manfre (Ret.) — The Sun Sentinel
- Stop the Spread of COVID-19 in Detention Centers, by Special Agent Ray Strack (Ret.) — The Tampa Bay Times
- We need to stem the spread of COVID-19 among inmates - Col. David Parrish (Ret.), Hillsborough County Jail Director — The Tampa Bay Times
"As a former sheriff with experience dealing with natural disasters, I learned to listen to the experts to save lives. When the epidemiologists tell me this is a crisis, I know we can safely release many people sitting in our jails and prisons to stop the spread.”
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Georgia
LEAP sent Governor Brian Kemp recommendations, signed by local law enforcement professionals, urging him to reduce incarceration to slow the spread of COVID-19.
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Iowa
Governor Reynolds approved about 500 individuals for early release. LEAP sent a letter, signed by local law enforcement, with recommendations urging executive action to further reduce the jail and prison population to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
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Louisiana
LEAP sent recommendations and a sample executive order, signed by local law enforcement, to Governor John Bel Edwards, urging his office to immediately address the threat of COVID-19 in correctional facilities. Louisiana has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. It also has one of the highest contraction rates of coronavirus. Incarcerated people have already died, and corrections employees continue to become ill and carry the virus home to their families.
Rather than release significant numbers of people, Gov. Bel Edwards created a review panel that is slowly examining individual cases and vetoing many of those approved for release. He also passed an emergency executive order that suspends due process by suspending legal deadlines for district attorneys to file charges, leaving people to languish in what the ACLU called “legal limbo.” Many of these folks are being held despite not being charged or convicted of a crime. A report of Louisiana’s pre-trial system found more than half of people incarcerated in Louisiana are being detained for nonviolent offenses.
We have also been hard at work pressuring police agencies and local officials to rethink policing practices that put officers and civilians at heightened risk of infection.
- A Plea to New Orleans Police: Stop ‘Business as Usual’ During Pandemic, by Former NOLA Patrol Officer Jerry Kaczmarek and Walter Katz, Vice President of Criminal Justice at Arnold Ventures — The Crime Report
- NOPD Can Adapt to Protect Officers and Our Community, by Former NOLA Patrol Officer Jerry Kaczmarek and Susan Hutson, the Independent Police Monitor for the City of New Orleans — The Advocate
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Maryland
LEAP sent recommendations and a sample executive order, signed by current and retired law enforcement in Maryland, to Governor Larry Hogan. The letter urges his office to immediately address the threat of COVID-19 in state and local corrections facilities. Inmates live in conditions far too crowded to maintain social distancing practices that slow and prevent the spread of the virus, all while being deprived of adequate soap and cleaning supplies.
Maryland LEAP speaker Capt. Leigh Maddox (Ret.) was published in the Baltimore Sun, pleading for a reduction in incarceration.
Despite resisting initial pressure from groups like LEAP and the ACLU of Maryland, Hogan ordered the expedited release of hundreds of prisoners in mid-April. Thank you, Governor Hogan! More can and must be done to reduce incarceration while maintaining public health and safety during this time, and LEAP will continue to support those initiatives.
“People tend to think of jails as isolated places but in fact they’re quite porous. Correctional officers, visitors, suppliers, medical staff, and others come and go on a regular basis. So it’s important that we prevent them from becoming incubators of virus spread not only among the inmates themselves but for the entire community.”
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Michigan
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has encouraged counties to reduce the jail population but has not ordered corrections facilities to reduce the prison population. LEAP sent a letter, signed by local law enforcement professionals, to the governor’s office urging her to sign an executive order that would immediately release many incarcerated people to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The time to reduce incarceration has never been more urgent. Most people serving time for technical parole or probation violations, non-serious offenses, victimless crimes, non-violent drug crimes, unpaid fines and fees, those serving time simply because they cannot afford bail, and the elderly and medically at-risk should be released immediately.
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Missouri
Gov. Parson has not ordered correctional facilities to reduce their populations. LEAP sent a letter, signed by law enforcement professionals, to the governor’s office urging him to sign an executive order that would immediately release many incarcerated people to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The time to reduce incarceration has never been more urgent. Most people serving time for technical parole or probation violations, non-serious offenses, victimless crimes, non-violent drug crimes, unpaid fines and fees, those serving time simply because they cannot afford bail, and the elderly and medically at-risk should be released immediately.
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New York
LEAP sent recommendations and a sample executive order, signed by local law enforcement professionals, to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office. The letter urges him to immediately pass an executive order to reduce incarceration, thereby slowing the spread of COVID-19 throughout the state’s jails and prisons.
Governor Cuomo took some early preventative action by releasing some people who were serving time for technical parole and probation violations. Tragically, this did not go far enough. As of April 15th, more than 580 corrections employees and more than 130 inmates tested positive for COVID-19. That’s roughly double the numbers of the previous week.
More must be done to safely reduce the incarcerated population while protecting the public safety needs of the surrounding communities. Most people serving time for technical parole or probation violations, non-serious offenses, victimless crimes, non-violent drug crimes, unpaid fines and fees, those serving time simply because they cannot afford bail, and the elderly and medically at-risk should be released immediately.
LEAP speaker Sheriff Jim Manfre (Ret.) of Flagler County, Florida, used to be a prosecutor in New York. He spoke with NBC News and called jails and prisons “ticking time bombs.”
“People refer to cruise ships as petri dishes, but nobody has invented a more effective vector for transmitting disease than a city jail.”
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Ohio
LEAP sent a letter to Gov. DeWine urging prison releases. He has since approved a few hundred prison releases, but more action is necessary.
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Oklahoma
Governor Stitt has approved about 500 commutations, but Oklahoma has one of the highest incarceration rates in the country. A much more significant reduction in the jail and prison population is needed to have an impact on the spread of coronavirus.
LEAP speakers sent recommendations to the Governor’s office urging him to immediately pass an executive order that would release people serving time for technical parole or probation violations, non-serious offenses, victimless crimes, non-violent drug crimes, unpaid fines and fees, those serving time simply because they cannot afford bail, and the elderly and medically at-risk.
We have also been hard at work amplifying this message through local media.
- Parole Board Can Protect Us Against the Spread of COVID-19, by Judge Gordon McAllister (Ret.) — The Tulsa World
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South Dakota
LEAP has submitted a letter to Governor Noem. She has not taken action on this issue.
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Washington
LEAP sent recommendations and a sample executive order, signed by local law enforcement professionals, to Governor Jay Inslee. The recommendations encourage his office to take swift action to reduce the spread of COVID-19 throughout the jail and prison system.
Inslee has since ordered the release of nearly 1,000 people living behind bars whose freedom does not endanger the community. Thank you, Governor Inslee! More can and must be done to reduce incarceration while maintaining public health and safety during this time, and LEAP will continue to support those initiatives.
“Many if not most people incarcerated should never have been behind bars to begin with, but coronavirus makes holding them not just an injustice but a health risk to us all.”
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