Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1937-08-17
|STAFF INADEQUATE,
|SAYS PAROLE UNIT
Board, in Report, Declares
Freed Prisoners Denied
Proper Supervision.

Enlargement Of the District parole
machinery was urged today by the
Board Of Indeterminate Sentence and
Parole, which charged, in its annual
report, that many young men con-
fined at the Lorton Reformatory
never have had reasonable oppor-
tunity to become good citizens"
Members of the board, Wilbur La
Roe, jr.; Emmett J. Scott and Frank
r. Jellef1, said parole often must be
denied young prisoners because pow
erty, poor home conditions or lack
OF jobs made parole unsafe. The
board asks an increase In its staff.
The report, for the last fiscal year,
shows prisoners who were paroled had
a better record after confinement than
those denied parole but released at
the end of their short" terms.
1868 Under Supervision.
The board had 1858 PAROLES under
supervision in the last year. Paroles
were revoked in 26 cases, or per
cent. Eleven Of the men, or 80 per
cent, committed new crimes and the
other IS revocations were for minor
offenses and violations of board rules.
The board also had supervision over
$50 men "conditionally released" at
the end of their short terms, who re-
manned under the boards jurisdiction
until the end of their maximum terms.
OF this group 10, or nearly II per cent,
hoI fhojv ra1oo vnuNko1 irc linz
Is who were accused Of serious new
crimes. About the best that can be
said of our work with this group is
that the little supervision we are able
to give is better than none" the board
said
Our staff is still inadequate, it con-
tinued. I'VE have only two field off,
GERS to supervise 1853 PAROLES, not to
speak of the large additional number
of conditional releases. The inadequacy
Of our staff creates a serious situation
and one that demands correction in the
interest Of assuring adequate protec-
ton to the public.
Cost Was $4,000.
THE total cost of the parole work
last year was approximately $4,000,
an average Of about s38 per parolee
under supervision and an average Of
about 1880 If the conditional releases
are included It Is said the cost Is
about dollar a day to keep a man at
the reformatory. II, therefore, 1858
men had not been paroled, the cost to
the District of keeping them would
have been $l34,320 instead Of $4,000.
These figures would seem to justify a
more adequate parole staff
The mixture of first offenders with
hardened criminals at Lorton is a
serious handicap to our work and is
to be condemned from every viewpoint.
Another and even more serious
handicap is extreme poverty and in
adequate homes, especially among the
colored. Effective rehabilitation is i'm
possible in the midst Of wretchedness
and misery. Such conditions prevail
ing among a substantial part Of our
population are not only a prolific
cause of crime, but serious handicap
to successful parole work
"Too often we are obliged to keep
young men incarcerated whom we
could safely parole If decent home
and job were available. There is a
tendency to deal with the manifesto
tons of crime and with the treat
ment Of criminals instead OF striking
at the underlying causes Many Of
the young men at Lorton have never
had reasonable opportunity to be-
come good citizens"