EDITOR:
Well, I received another mailer from the Platte County Courthouse “Know before you go!” about the reason (they say facts) we need before voting on Aug. 6. Also, I was able to get a copy of (and read) Bill Garnos’ Update Inmate Population Trends and Projections for Platte County Missouri April 2023 report.
Mr. Garnos’ report was well organized and consolidated a lot of the diverse data sources needed to plan for future Platte County detention facility needs. The data presented is good and I consider to be accurate based on my other research.
My problem exists with the selective use of data to create a projection of detention center needs which is statistically not reasonable. The data cited in the mailer are linear projections of data based only on 2008 through 2018 average daily population incarceration trends applied to non-current population projections. This gives an incarceration rate of .0024 percent. In fact, Platte County’s current incarceration rate parallels the national average of .0019 percent.
The trend data from the report of “Rate of Incarceration Trends (models 2A, 2B, 3A & 3B) parallels all recent actuals for incarceration rates of .0019 percent for our population figures. Why would our incarceration rates rise above the national average? Platte County is one of the two richest counties in the state, and shouldn’t we be even lower? Finally, shouldn’t recent changes in marijuana law indicate lower trends?
Clearly, Platte County needs to plan for a capacity growth over the next 30 years. However, the current proposal is a significant overbuild of needed capacity. This proposal should be defeated, and a different proposal be brought forward with better supporting information for the need and financing approaches.
The information presented on the https://www.co.platte.mo.us/Jail web site falls short of this needed justification information.
--David Copas
Platte City
