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82 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 610 (1991-1992)
An Evaluation of Intensive Probation in California

handle is hein.journals/jclc82 and id is 622 raw text is: 0091-4169/91/8203-0610 THE JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW & CRIMINOLOGY Vol. 82, No. 3 Copyright 0 1992 by Northwestern University, School of Law Printed in U.S.A. CRIMINOLOGY AN EVALUATION OF INTENSIVE PROBATION IN CALIFORNIA JOAN PETERSILIA AND SUSAN TURNER* I. STUDY BACKGROUND Probation is no longer a sentencing alternative reserved pri- marily for first-time misdemeanant and petty offenders. In 1988, forty percent of the 114,000 adults placed on probation in Califor- nia had been convicted of felonies in Superior Court.' Of those adults, fifteen percent were convicted of violent crimes.2 The pro- bation population has not only changed to include more serious of- fenders, it has also increased substantially in size. Over the past decade, the number of probationers has increased by fifty percent, yet the number of probation officers has declined by twenty percent. Probation caseloads have grown so large (400 persons per officer in some locations) that several departments can provide active supervi- sion to less than one-third of their probationers. Thus, it is not sur- prising that probationers typically receive minimal supervision and that enforcement of probation conditions is spotty.3 Most Californians agree that something must be done to de- crease the threat to the public posed by felony probationers. But what correctional alternatives are available other than routine pro- bation or prison? There is a growing consensus that the best hope for both relieving prison crowding and ensuring public safety may be intensive supervision probation (ISP), a type of sanction that is * Joan Petersilia, Ph.D., is Director of the Criminal Justice Program, RAND, Santa Monica, California. Susan Turner, Ph.D., is a Senior Researcher in the program. I See BUREAU OF CRIMINAL STATISTICS, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, CRIME AND DELINQUENCY IN CALIFORNIA, 1988 (1989). 2 Id. 3 See JOAN PETERSILIA, SUSAN TURNER, JAMES KAHAN & JOYCE PETERSON, GRANTING FELONS PROBATION: PUBLIC RISKS AND ALTERNATIVES, RAND R-3186-NIJ (1985). 610