Jails and Mass Incarceration: the Cost of Pre-Trial Detention for Non-Violent Offenses

• In Event: 50 Years of Mass Incarceration: Survey of Harm, II

Abstract

Exponential growth in order maintenance policing and associated sanctions for low-level offenses have led to disproportionate consequences for people of color. Using data from qualitative interviews with individuals in the metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri, region and official jail data, the current study documents the racialized and monetized nature of police contact. This work extends extant scholarship by considering how minor contact with the police shapes avoidance behaviors which often lead to subsequent jail incarceration. I will describe the nature of the problem in one community and highlight the ways in which local actors have taken steps to reduce the jail population and increase public safety.

Author

• Beth Huebner, Arizona State University