On last week’s Z107.7 Up Close Show, host Gary Daigneault spoke with Sheriff’s Captain James Porter with the Community Service and Reentry Program, and Dr. Evan Thomas of Cal State University San Bernardino about their efforts to reduce recidivism in the county through the Community Service and Reentry Program. The goal of the program, which was formed in 2021 is to is to provide resources to people recently released from prison as well as repeat offenders, to provide assistance and non-punitive measures for who find themselves frequently on the wrong side of the law.
As part of the conversation, Captain Porter described a specific type of offender, a person who is experiencing homelessness, and how the program has resources to try keep them from returning to prison.
Captain James Porter: “There is often this meshing of circumstance with crime, and the homeless piece is the greatest example. Folks that are homeless often do get arrested, whether its for trespassing or panhandling, or theft, or whatever the case is. Those two things go together and we’ve got to address the homelessness, because the criminal behavior often comes with that.
So our division goal is not the crime piece. If they commit a crime, there are cops out there that can address that. That’s not our goal. Our goal is to get that underlying root. For the the first time this year, the Sheriff’s Department has hired a social worker assigned to me whose full time job is reentry services. She spends every day working with these difficult clients, “high utilizers” we call them. People who are getting arrested 40, 50 times a year. She spends every day with them, working with their family trying rebuild family bonds, trying to connect them to resources, vital documents. Because if we don’t do those things, we’re in a cycle that’s never going to end.”
You can listen to the full conversation as part of the Z1077 Up Close Show, available below or at the show page.
