Sarasota, Florida is actively working to only incarcerate the most heinous criminals:
Around 700 people per year who used to go to the jail are not taken there any more after Sarasota County committed $1 million annually to operate an "adult addictions receiving facility" at First Step of Sarasota Inc. The facility expanded from a 15-bed voluntary treatment center to a 30-bed, locked and secure facility in 2006, for people detained as alcoholics or substance abusers who pose a threat to themselves or others.Other municipalities must follow Sarasota's fine lead. Educating, reforming and helping the fallen -- is much cheaper in the short run and more beneficial to the community in the long run -- than jailing non-dangerous offenders.
Previously, officers had little other choice but the jail when they arrested people under Florida's Marchman Act. The number of people booked into the jail under the Marchman Act has dropped from 868 in 2004 to 114 this year, said county Criminal Justice Coordinator Wayne Applebee. The county also has spent $3.5 million since 2006 on a 10-week substance abuse program and transitional housing for those who complete it, with the idea of rehabilitating the inmates so they do not return to crime.
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