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Philosophy shift brings lower jail numbers

“It is easier to build strong children than to fix broken men.” – Frederick Douglass
The abolitionist’s words, nearly 200 years old now, still hold true today.
County Attorney Dan McIntosh, who heads the office that’s in charge of prosecuting criminal cases in Steele County, used the quote during a panel on crime last month.
“We should also be looking at what’s going on that brought that person into the justice system,” he said. “If there’s some condition or some status that we can treat in a safe way for everyone, then we should be doing that, too. If we don’t deal with the causes of crime – and the people who are committing crimes – in a way that is effective to prevent next time around, we don’t make progress.”
If the number of detainees at the Steele County Detention Center is any indication, local officials may be making progress.
The facility has a capacity of 154 beds, but the Minnesota Department of Corrections allows it to operate at the 138 mark.
More recently, the actual number hovers around 20, with up to a third of them housed for other law enforcement agencies.
Jail Administrator Anthony Buttera reiterated McIntosh’s sentiments about the declining detainee population.
“There’s been a huge philosophy shift toward incarcerating people,” he said. “One of the things that’s been highlighted over the last couple of years is the factors that lead up to it. They start to look at some of the data that’s come through… and you base your decisions off the numbers in front of you, and hard numbers say that we’re having some success” with things like drug courts.
“Across the board, a lot of agencies have found a lot of success in reducing incarceration numbers,” Buttera said.
That doesn’t mean his job is becoming obsolete.
“Obviously, we’re a 24-hour-a-day, 365-days-a-year operation,” he said, “and we’re here to take people when needed. We process a lot of people through here, but we tend not to hold people, and it’s no choice of our own. They just end up getting released pretty quickly.”
Gone are the days of high bails set at arraignments, originally used to ensure people make their court appearances.
“We don’t see bails anywhere near where they used to be,” Buttera said. “If it’s not a public safety-related crime, they’re immediately released back into the community.”
Still, he said, “we’ve had a pretty steep climb in the number of warrants we’ve had, generated by people not showing up” for court.
Low detainee numbers “don’t negate the fact that a jail still needs to be present for people that are dangerous,” Buttera said, “but for the lower-level drug crimes, it makes a ton of sense. Let’s get that addiction piece treated first – I think that, from a societal standpoint, is good.”
A report from April 2021 indicated the facility’s operating cost to taxpayers at $3.6 million, and the “population is expected to remain flat through 2045” – though it cited a study that projected the county would need “just under half of its 138-bed operational capacity.”
A smaller population would also mean a smaller operating cost.
A month after that report, the detainee numbers continued to dip, in part due to COVID protocols, Buttera said. That prompted county officials to consolidate some of the jail’s housing units to accommodate staffing – which was also dropping.
The staff, he said, “works so well with the detainees. They try to be patient with folks coming through, honestly hoping for the best – and giving them the tools to do better.”
It’s all part of the philosophy shift over the last 30 years or so, Buttera said.
“Now you use your words, you use your de-escalation skills, you talk to them and treat them humanely, working within what it is,” he said. “The staff here has always had that philosophy amongst them: We can do better, we can get these people out (doing) better – whether it’s by talking with them or getting them treatment” or other resources.
The Steele County facility, according to its mission statement, “takes a program-based approach to incarceration, with the end goal to reduce recidivism and return subjects to the community with better skills to cope with everyday challenges.”
Cindy Fowler, the programs coordinator at the jail, “is such a caring person,” Buttera said. “She does not lose faith in them, and eventually, it clicks.”
The entire corrections department sits at 36 employees, with two vacancies for correctional officers.
“The staff here is a great group of people, caring, and invested in what they do and in the people who come through our doors,” Buttera said.
“You can look at the low numbers and say the jail’s empty,” he said, “but it can also be that the jail’s successful in doing a little bit better with some of these folks, and they aren’t coming back.”

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