THE VERMONT CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM’S RESPONSE TO …

Data Driven Decisions

THEVERMONTCRIMINALJUSTICESYSTEM’SRESPONSETODRUGCRIME:2009-2012

Preparedby:

TheVermontCenterforJusticeResearch158HarmonDrive

Northfield,VT05663

Thisprojectwasfundedby:

FFY2013StateJusticeStatisticsProgramGrant#2013-BJ-CX-K022U.S.DepartmentofJustice,BureauofJusticeStatistics

October,2014

THEVERMONTCRIMINALJUSTICESYSTEM’SRESPONSETODRUGCRIME:2009-2012

Preparedby:

THEVERMONTCENTERFORJUSTICERESEARCH

ResearchTeam

RobinWeber,J.D.,Ph.D.,InterimExecutiveDirectorandPrincipalInvestigator

PeterWicklund,Ph.D.,ResearchAssociate

NancyStetsonBA,ResearchAnalyst

Thisprojectwasfundedby:

FFY2013StateJusticeStatisticsProgramGrant#2013-BJ-CX-K022

U.S.DepartmentofJustice,BureauofJusticeStatistics

TableofContentsIntroduction.............................................................................................................................................1

Highlights..................................................................................................................................................1

DrugIncidentsReportedtothePolice.....................................................................................................2

Chart1:NumberofDrugIncidentsbyCounty2009-2012...................................................................2

Chart2:MostCommonDrugTypes2009-2012...................................................................................2

Marijuanawasthemostcommondruginvolvedindrugincidents,with54%oftheincidentsinvolvingmarijuana.Almost12%ofdrugincidentsinvolvedeitherheroinoranothernarcotic........3

Chart3:MarijuanaRelatedIncidentsbyCounty..................................................................................3

Chart4:HeroinIncidentsbyYear.........................................................................................................3

Chart5:IncidentswithBulkQuantitiesofDrugs.................................................................................4

Chart6:ArrestTypebyCounty............................................................................................................4

Chart7:ArresteeAge...........................................................................................................................5

Chart8:AgeofArresteebyDrugType.................................................................................................5

Chart9:ArresteeGenderbyDrugType...............................................................................................6

Chart10:RaceofArrestees..................................................................................................................6

CourtAdjudication...................................................................................................................................7

Chart11:TimingofSignificantCourtEventsinDays...........................................................................7

Chart12:FelonyDrugChargeDispositions..........................................................................................7

Chart13:MisdemeanorDrugChargeDispositions..............................................................................8

Chart14:GuiltyChargesDisposedbyFinalOffenseLevel...................................................................9

Chart15:FelonyDrugSentencing........................................................................................................9

Chart16:MisdemeanorDrugChargeSentencing..............................................................................10

Table1:SentencingStatisticsFelonyDrugCharges,TimeSentenced..............................................10

Table2:SentencingStatisticsMisdemeanorDrugCharges,TimeSentenced...................................11

Chart17:MisdemeanorFineAmountbyCounty.............................................................................11

Corrections.............................................................................................................................................12

Chart18:FelonyDrugChargeTimeServed........................................................................................12

Chart19:MisdemeanorDrugChargeTimeServed............................................................................13

Chart20:PostReleaseSupervision....................................................................................................13

2009-2012DRUGCRIMETHROUGHPUTMODEL...................................................................................14

Recidivism..............................................................................................................................................15

Chart21:OverallRecidivismRate......................................................................................................15

Chart22:RecidivismbyOriginalOffenseLevel..................................................................................16

Chart23:TimetoRecidivate..............................................................................................................16

Chart24:ThreeYearRecidivismRate................................................................................................17

Chart25:NewOffenses.....................................................................................................................17

DataQuality............................................................................................................................................18

VermontCriminalJusticeSystem’sResponsetoDrugCrime:2009-2012

1

Introduction

ThisreportisthefirstresearchinitiativedetailingdrugcrimeinVermont.ThereportfollowsdrugcrimeinVermontfrom2009-2012.Incidentsweretrackedfrompolicecontactthroughthecourtsandcorrections.Acohortof2009convicteddrugdefendantswasfollowedforthreeyearstodeterminetheirrecidivismrate.Thetablesandgraphscontainedinthisreportareintendedtogivepolicymakersandcitizensanoverviewofdrugcrime,caseprocessing,andrecidivism.

Highlights

• Marijuanawasthesoledrugfoundin54%oftheincidentsreportedtopolicefrom2009-2012.

• Theaverageageofdrugarresteeswas28yearsold.Theagerangefordrugarresteeswas11yearsofageto80.

• Drugincidentsinvolvingherointripledfrom2009-2012.

• Fifty-onepercentoffelonydrugchargesweredisposedofbyguiltyplea.

• Approximately48%ofmisdemeanordrugchargesweredisposedofbyguiltyplea.

• Thetypicalsentencetoincarcerationforfelonydrugconvictionswasonetothreeyears.

• Thetypicalsentencetoincarcerationformisdemeanordrugconvictionswas11to62days.

• Themostcommonsentenceformisdemeanordrugcrimesisafine.

• Misdemeanordrugdefendantsaremorelikelytoservethemaximumincarcerativesentencethanfelonydrugdefendants.

• Ofthosedefendantsconvictedofadrugoffensein2009,49.2%earnedanewconvictionbyAugust2014.

• Thirty-fivepercentoftherecidivistsearnedanewconvictionforadrugoffense.

• Theaveragetimetoanewoffensewas21.4months.

Thisstudyhighlightedseveraldataqualityissuesthatarediscussedattheendofthereport.ForaricherandmoreaccurateanalysisofdrugandothercriminalincidentsinVermont,severalofthesedataqualityissuesshouldberemedied.


2

DrugIncidentsReportedtothePolice

Therewere11,415drugincidentsreportedtoVermontLawEnforcementAgenciesfrom2009-2012.Thechartsinthissectionprovidedescriptiveanalysisofthenatureofdrugcrime.

Chart1:NumberofDrugIncidentsbyCounty2009-2012

Asexpected,themorepopulatedcountiesexperiencedmoredrugcrimeincidents.

Chart2:MostCommonDrugTypes2009-2012

627 708483

3328

43

680

73

384231

585

900

481

1012 976

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Num

bero

fInciden

ts

6421

884 527 451 438

01000200030004000500060007000

Marijuana Narcotics Cocaine CrackCocaine Heroin

Num

bero

fInciden

ts

NumberofDrugIncidentsbyDrugType


3

Marijuanawasthemostcommondruginvolvedindrugincidents,with54%oftheincidentsinvolvingmarijuana.Almost12%ofdrugincidentsinvolvedeitherheroinoranothernarcotic.

Chart3:MarijuanaRelatedIncidentsbyCounty

Nocountyhadfewerthan46%ofdrugincidentsinvolvingmarijuana.InAddisonCounty,from2009through2012,76%ofalldrugincidentstargetedmarijuana.

Chart4:HeroinIncidentsbyYear

Drugincidentsinvolvingheroinmorethantripledinthefouryearsstudied.

76%60% 55% 51% 50% 50% 54%

63%53%

65%57% 52%

65% 61% 53%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

MarijuanaRelatedIncidents

PercentofCountyIncidents

47

7081

183

020406080

100120140160180200

2009 2010 2011 2012

Num

bero

fInciden

ts

HeroinIncidentsbyYearStatewide


4

Chart5:IncidentswithBulkQuantitiesofDrugs

Thelargerquantitiesofdrugsweremostlymarijuana,with274incidentsinvolvingmarijuanaplantsand52incidentsofpoundsorkilograms.Theothernotabledrugswithlargerquantitiesincluded13incidentswithouncesofcocaine,3incidentswithouncesofcrackcocaine,and6incidentswithpoundsofheroin.

Chart6:ArrestTypebyCounty

326

13

36

NumberofIncidentsWithDrugsQuantitiesinBulk

Marijuana

Cocaine

CrackCocaine

Heroin

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Addison

Benn

ington

Caledo

nia

Chitten

den

Essex

Franklin

GrandIsle

Lamoille

Orange

Orle

ans

Rutla

ndWashington

Windh

amWindsor

Total

MethodofArrestByCounty

MultipleArrestees-DifferentArrestTypes

Summoned/Cited

ArrestWithoutWarrant

ArrestWithWarrant


5

Ofthe6,582incidentswheresomeonewasarrested,77%ofincidentsinvolvedarrestbysummonsorcitation.LamoilleCountyhadthehighestrateofarrestviasummonsorcitation,with94%ofallarresteesofdrugincidentsarrestedthisway.Only52%ofdrugincidentsinWindsorCountyhadarrestsofthistype.

Chart7:ArresteeAge

Chart8:AgeofArresteebyDrugType

TheaverageageofaVermontdrugarresteewas28yearsold,theyoungestarresteeswere11,theoldest80.70%ofalldrugarresteeswerebetweentheagesof18and34.The25to34yearoldswere

9%

41%

29%

11%

8%

2%

AgeofArrestees

Under18

18to24

25to34

35to44

45to54

Over54

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Under18 18to24 25to34 35to44 45to54 Over54

DrugTypebyAge

MultipleDrugs

Other

Herion

CrackCocaine

Cocaine

Marijuana


6

theleastlikelytobearrestedformarijuanaoffensesandthemostlikelytobearrestedforheroin,cocaine,andcrackcocaineoffenses.

Chart9:ArresteeGenderbyDrugType

MaleandfemaledrugarresteesinVermonthadsignificantlydifferentdistributionsofdrugtypes,mostnotablyintheirarrestformarijuanaoffenses.While56%ofallmalearresteeswerearrestedformarijuanaoffenses,only37%offemalearresteeswerearrestedforthisdrug.Femalearresteesweremorethantwiceaslikelyasmentobearrestedforheroinoffenses.

Chart10:RaceofArrestees

TheracialdistributionofarresteesreflectsthefactthatVermontisprimarilyawhitestate.However,althoughonly7.8%ofalldrugarresteesareAfricanAmerican,theyaccountformuchless--only1.0%--ofthestate’soverallpopulation(accordingtothe2010census).

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Female- 1,836Arrestees Male- 6,339Arrestees

DrugTypesbyArresteeGender

MultipleDrugs

Other

Herion

CrackCocaine

Cocaine

Marijuana

7.8%

0.5%0.2%

1.2%

90.3%

RaceofArrestees(TotalArrestees)

AfricanAmerican(638)

Asian/PacificIslander(42)

NativeAmerican/AlaskanNative(13)

Unknown(97)

White(7,385)


7

CourtAdjudicationThe8,175arrestsmadebypoliceledto6,566casesfiledforarraignmentinVermontCriminalCourt.

Chart11:TimingofSignificantCourtEventsinDays

AstheStateofVermontmovestowardsanearlyinterventionforlowriskoffenders,thetimingofsuchinterventiondependsonhowquicklyacasemovesfromArresttoDisposition.

Chart12:FelonyDrugChargeDispositions

52.31

205

152

70.43

278.8

207.69

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

ArresttoArraignment ArresttoDisposition ArraignmenttoDisposition

Days

Misdmeanor

Felony

53.00 38.00

17.00

1043.00

3.0013.00

3.00

858.00

15

FelonyDrugChargeDispositions

DismissedByCourt

Diversion

NoProbableCause

GuiltyPlea

Aquitted

GuiltyVerdict

DrugCourtDismissed

DismissedbyState


8

Themostcommondispositionforfelonychargeswasaguiltyplea,with858(51.1%)chargesdisposedofbyplea.

Chart13:MisdemeanorDrugChargeDispositions

Themostcommondispositionformisdemeanorchargeswasalsoguiltyplea,with3,220(47.8%)charges

disposedofbyplea.AccordingtotheCourtDataonlyfivemisdemeanorchargesandthreefelony

chargesweresuccessfulcompletionofDrugCourt.Thelownumberisinconsistentwithpriorresearch

ontheDrugCourtprograms1,andpointstoadataqualityissueandnotaDrugCourtfailure.

1http://www.crgvt.org/uploads/5/2/2/2/52222091/rtc_final_report_3-5-13b.pdf

100 30

1435

1792

3320

365 3 3

MisdemeanorDrugChargeDisposition

DismissedbyCourt

NoProbableCause

DismissedbyState

Diversion

GuiltyPlea

Transfer

DrugCourt

VerdictGuilty

VerdictNotGuilty


9

Chart14:GuiltyChargesDisposedbyFinalOffenseLevel

Therewere1,582guiltydispositionsfordrugchargesoriginallyfiledasafelony.Sixty-Sixpercentofthe

chargesweredisposedofasafelonydrugcharge.Thirty-Threepercentwerefoundguiltyofa

misdemeanordrugoffense.Therewere2,814guiltydispositionsfordrugchargesthatwereoriginally

filedasamisdemeanor.Ninety-ninepercentwerefoundguiltyofamisdemeanordrugoffense.

Chart15:FelonyDrugSentencing

66%

33%

0%

99%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

FinalDrugFelony FinalDrugMisdemeanor

Percen

tofG

uilty

Cha

rgesDisp

osed

FinalGuiltyChargeOffenseLevel

OriginalDrugFelony

OriginalDrugMisdemeanor

47%

18%

10%

15%

1%10%

FelonyDrugChargeSentencing

Incarceration

Split

Probation

Deferred

Fine

IntermediateSanctions


10

Themostcommonsentenceforafelonydrugchargewasincarceration,with47%ofthecharges

receivingthatsentence.Onlyonepercentofchargesweresentencedtoafineonly.

Chart16:MisdemeanorDrugChargeSentencing

Themostcommonsentenceforamisdemeanordrugchargewasafine,with32%ofthechargesreceivingthatsentence.Thenextmostcommonsentencewasstraightincarceration(19%)followedbyprobationat18%.

Table1:SentencingStatisticsFelonyDrugCharges,TimeSentenced

Sentence MinimuminYears MaximuminYears DaystoServe

Mean Median Mode Mean Median Mode Mean Median ModeStraightTime 1.34 1 1 3.6 3 5

SplitSentence 1.5 1.5 1 4.15 4 5 164 180 183

Probation 1.13 1 1 3 3 3

Deferred 2.6 3 3

Thetypicalsentencetoincarcerationforfelonydrugconvictionswasonetothreeyears.Felony

defendantssentencedtoasplitsentence(ashortperiodofincarcerationfollowedbyprobation)

19%

5%

18%

10%

32%

15%

MisdemenaorDrugChargeSentencing

Incarceration

Split

Probation

Deferred

Fine

IntermediateSanctions


11

typicallyweresentencedfrom1.5yearstofouryearswith180daystoserve.Probationarysentences

typicallywereforaonetothreeyeartermofcommunitysupervision.

Table2:SentencingStatisticsMisdemeanorDrugCharges,TimeSentenced

Sentence MinimuminYears MaximuminYears DaystoServe

Mean Median Mode Mean Median Mode Mean Median ModeStraightTime .15 .03 0 .39 .17 .5

SplitSentence .45 .5 .5 1 1 1 40.9 30 30

Probation .30 .25 .5 .7 .5 .5

Deferred 1.19 1 1

Thetypicalsentencetoincarcerationformisdemeanordrugconvictionswas11to62days.Felony

defendantssentencedtoasplitsentencetypicallyweresentencedfromsixmonthstooneyearwith30

daystoserve.Probationarysentencestypicallywereforthreetosixmonthsofcommunitysupervision.

Chart17:MisdemeanorFineAmountbyCounty

$400

$438

$254

$240

$300

$241 $218

$326

$292

$312

$241

$326$336

$369

$-$50

$100$150$200$250$300$350$400$450$500

MisdemeanorFineAmountbyCounty


12

Thestatewideaveragefineformisdemeanordrugchargewas$307.Onlyfivecountiessentenceda

felonydrugchargetoafineonly.Thefinesrangedfrom$500inChittendenCountyto$8,250inOrleans

County.

Corrections

TheDepartmentofCorrectionsprovidedrawdataofthecustodystatusofindividualsinmonthly

intervals.

Chart18:FelonyDrugChargeTimeServed

Defendantswithonefelonydrugchargeserve48%oftheminimumimposedsentence.

0.89

0.43

2.3

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

AverageMinimum AverageTimeServed AverageMaximum

TimeinYears

SingleCountFelonyDrugCasesTimeImposedandServed


13

Chart19:MisdemeanorDrugChargeTimeServed

Defendantswithonemisdemeanordrugcharge,onaverageserve100%ofthemaximumsentence

imposed.Thediscrepancybetweenfelonyandmisdemeanordefendantstimeservedmaybereflecting

thewillingnessofthedefendanttoparticipateinprogrammingortheavailabilityofprogramminginside

oroutsidethefacility.

Chart20:PostReleaseSupervision

Ofthe213drugdefendantssentencedtoincarceration,15servedtimeonparoleafterincarceration

averaging174daysonparole.Ninety-Eightdefendantsservedtimeinareentryprogramafter

incarceration,averaging174daysonreentry.

0.09

0.270.24

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

AverageMinimum AverageServed AverageMaximum

TimeinYears

SingleCountMisdemeanorDrugCasesTimeImposedandServed

100

98

15

PostReleaseSupervisionStatus

None

Reentry

Parole


14

2009-2012DRUGCRIMETHROUGHPUTMODEL

LAWENFORCEMENT2

ADJUDICATION

CORRECTIONS3

v

2Becauseofthenatureofdrugcrimeinvestigations,actualnumberofarrestsmaybeoverreported.3Thesentencewasmissingorunknownsin19cases.

ARRESTS

8,175

CASESARRAIGNED

6,566

CONVICTIONS

3,734Cases

PROBATION

526Persons

FINE

1,096Persons

INTERMEDIATESANCTION

490Persons

DEFERREDSENTENCE

360Persons

SPLITSENTENCE

306Persons

INCARCERATED

213 Persons


15

RecidivismSixhundredandforty-fourdefendantsconvictedofadrugoffensein2009werefollowedthroughAugust2014todeterminetherecidivismrate.Recidivismisdefinedasanynewconvictionorprobationrevocationafterthedatethedefendantwaseligibletorecidivate.

Chart21:OverallRecidivismRate

Forty-ninepercentofthedrugdefendantscommittedanewoffenseduringthestudyperiod.

49%51%

RecidivismRate,DrugOffenders2009

Recidivist

Non-Recidivist


16

Chart22:RecidivismbyOriginalOffenseLevel

Almost40%offelonydefendantsrecidivatedduringthestudyperiod.Over50%ofmisdemeanordefendantsdid.

Chart23:TimetoRecidivate

39%

61%

51% 49%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Recidivist Non-Recidivist

RecidivismRatebyOriginalOffenseLevel

OriginalFelony

OriginalMisdemeanor

24%

17%

9%11%

10%

21%

8%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

0-6Months

7-12Months

13-18Months

19-24Months

25-36Months

37-48Months

49ormoreMonths

Percen

tofR

ecidvate

TimetoRecidivate,inMonths

AllRecidivist


17

Fiftypercentofrecidivistscommittedanewoffensewithin18monthsofbeingeligibletodoso. The averagetimetorecidivatewas21.48months

Chart24:ThreeYearRecidivismRate

Whenfollowedforonlythreeyears,therecidivismratewas44%.

Chart25:NewOffenses

The317recidivistsaveragedanother2.35newcasesresultinginaconviction.Thosecasesincludedthechargesdescribedabove:183newconvicteddrugcharges,208newconvictedpropertycrimechargesand129newconvictedchargesinvolvingcrimesofviolence.

44%56%

ThreeYearRecidivismRate

Recidivst

Non- Recidivist

183

208

129

NumberandTypeofNewConvictions

DrugOffenses

PropertyOffenses

ViolenceOffenses


18

DataQualityThisprojectillustratedseveraldataqualityissuesinthemajorCriminalJusticeDataSystemsinVermont.

Theseissuesmadeansweringsomeofthequestionsweintendedtoanswerdifficult.

NIBRSData:

VermontCrimeOn-Lineallowsforresearcherstodownloadincidentleveldataandarresteeleveldata.

Severaldataqualityissueswerediscoveredduringthisresearch.VermontCrimeOn-Linedoesnot

indicatetheweightofthedrug,onlytheunitofmeasurement.Additionally,thetypeofdruginvolved

wasmissingin700cases.Becauseofthenatureofdruginvestigations,multipleincidentsmaybe

clearedwiththearrestofoneperson,thusoverestimatingtheamountofpeoplethatwerearrested.

Onlyoneincidentnumberisfollowedintothecourtfilings.Thus,ifmultipleincidentsareclearedby

onearrest,onlyoneincidentnumberwillbeassociatedwiththefiling.Becauseoftheseissues,we

werenotabletoaccuratelymatchincidentsintothecourtadjudicationdatabase.Determiningthe

numberofcaseschosenforprosecution,andtherelationshipbetweenthearrestedchargeand

prosecutedchargewasnotpossible.

CourtAdjudicationDatabase:

IntheCourtAdjudicationDatabase,therewerealsodataqualityconcerns.Thedatadidnotaccurately

reflectDrugCourtgraduates.Thedataalsocontainederrorsondatesofsignificantcourteventsand

errorsonthelengthofsentence.Thestatusofthedefendantatpretrialwasnotconsistentlyaccurate

andthereforepreventedVCJR’sabilitytoreportonpretrialcustodyissues.Theseerrorsarenotunique

indrugcharges,theyareindicativeofalargerdataqualityproblem.

DepartmentofCorrectionsData:

ThedataprovidedbytheDepartmentofCorrectionslistedthesupervisorystatus(Probation,

IntermediateSanctions,Detained,Sentenced,Sentenced/Detained,ParoleorReentry)foreach

defendantforeverymonththedefendantisunderDOCsupervision.However,thereisnodistinction

madeforwhichcaseadefendantiscurrentlyundersupervision.Therefore,ifadefendantissentenced

concurrentlyorconsecutivelyitisimpossibletodistinguishwhenthedefendantisfinishedwithone

sentenceorbeginninganother.Thedataprovideddidnotdistinguishwhatlevelofsecurityadefendant

servedanincarcerativesentence.

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THE VERMONT CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM’S RESPONSE TO …