Policing Criminal Justice Debt: Costs & Consequences

• In Event: Over-Policing Communities of Color

Abstract

Recent years have seen significant increases in the use of fines, fees, surcharges and other Criminal Justice Financial Obligations. In particular, there has been an enormous increase in the severity of fines for traffic violations and other misdemeanors. As a result, the pressure --and incentives-- for law enforcement to play the role of debt collector is becoming a widespread phenomenon. This paper documents this practice by examining administrative data (e.g. budgets, court statistics, sentencing), policing data (stops/arrests, traffic offenses) and statutes from counties in California, Nevada, Ohio, and Florida. Results elucidate whether systemic tensions put police in the role of enforcing monetary penalties and how the consequences of this increased police contact has devastating effects on the indebted. It concludes with a set of policy recommendations that stand to ameliorate the most harmful aspects of the status quo.

Author

• Karin Martin, John Jay College of Criminal Justice / CUNY Graduate Center