The program objectives included reducing jail crowding, reducing costs, and reducing recidivism. This evaluation study of the RID program entailed both process and impact evaluation components and a quasi-experimental design was used to assess the degree to which program objectives were being met. A group of 544 inmates admitted to the boot camp portion of RID were compared to 216 offenders who volunteered for RID but were not referred to the program by the courts. RID offenders were primarily young minority males, poorly educated, with fairly substantial prior criminal and drug involvement. Fully 80 percent of admitted inmates successfully completed the boot camp after spending an average of 91 days in the program. Tested grade level improvements over the course of boot camp participation were also impressive. However, the evaluation concluded that the RID program failed to meet its objectives in terms of reducing jail overcrowding, costs, or recidivism rates. Local jurisdictions considering establishing a boot camps should establish realistic goals, pretest selection criteria prior to implementation, limit program length, establish a strong aftercare component, and evaluate program operations and effectiveness. 20 tables, 2 figures, 3 exhibits, 2 appendixes, and 32 references
Assessing the Impact of a County Operated Boot Camp: Evaluation of the Los Angeles County Regimented Inmate Diversion Program
NCJ Number
154401
Date Published
1993
Length
145 pages
Annotation
In 1990, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department initiated the Regimented Inmate Diversion (RID) pilot program, intended to serve as a viable sentencing option for defendants likely to receive lengthy jail sentences or short prison terms to be followed by formal probation or parole supervision. Data set archived by the NIJ Data Resources Program at the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, located at URL http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/nacjd.
Abstract
Date Published: January 1, 1993