Leadership Notes: Criminal justice reform requires patience, perseverance

Oklahoma County’s journey of criminal justice reform began in late 2015 when the Chamber convened a task force to dig deep into our system to better understand where reform was possible and ultimately make significant strides in improving our county’s jail and detention center.

We have undoubtedly changed the system for the better and set the stage for continued transformation. The number of people being held has dropped from an average of more than 2,500 a day to 1,600 and falling. That drop has given the county room to make changes in operation, and in improving the facility.

Last year we made another leap forward with the establishment of the jail trust. Why was this so important? With the jail trust, the county was able to create greater transparency around jail operations. The decisions being made about the jail are now based on data and made in an open meeting. Is there more scrutiny? Yes – but that is exactly what is necessary.

The professional corrections managers tasked by the trust inherited years of mismanagement borne out of an overcrowded and dysfunctional system. Through the Criminal Justice Advisory Council, and now the Jail Trust, our community is more engaged and aware of how the system is operating and has more input into the changes we want to reflect our community’s values.

Calls to reverse this progress and return the management of the jail to the sheriff’s office will only slow the progress and put a cloak over the problems that exist. We need to keep working together to solve these problems out in the open – it is what our citizens deserve.

This story originally appeared in the May 2021 edition of The Point.