In 2015, Missoula County began taking critical steps to address issues like overcrowding at the Missoula Detention Facility and over-incarceration. Chelsea Wittmann, the Safety & Justice Challenge coordinator at the Community Justice Department, is uniquely equipped to discuss these issues. Chelsea started as a detention officer at the jail, then worked for the County Attorney’s Office before landing in her current position.
This week, the commissioners talked with Chelsea about how the County and other stakeholders are evaluating the criminal justice system in our community. Tune in to learn how the County is approaching these complex topics with community input and strategic, evidence-based programs.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Thank you to Missoula's Community Media Resource for podcast recording support!
Thank you to Missoula's Community Media Resource for podcast recording support!
In 2015, Missoula County began taking critical steps to address issues like overcrowding at the Missoula Detention Facility and over-incarceration. Chelsea Wittmann, the Safety & Justice Challenge coordinator at the Community Justice Department, is uniquely equipped to discuss these issues. Chelsea started as a detention officer at the jail, then worked for the County Attorney’s Office before landing in her current position.
This week, the commissioners talked with Chelsea about how the County and other stakeholders are evaluating the criminal justice system in our community. Tune in to learn how the County is approaching these complex topics with community input and strategic, evidence-based programs.
Links mentioned in this episode:
Thank you to Missoula's Community Media Resource for podcast recording support!
Thank you to Missoula's Community Media Resource for podcast recording support!
[intro music plays] Welcome back, everyone, commissioners. I'm Commissioner Dave Strohmaier, and I'm joined today by my colleagues, Commissioners Juanita Vero and Josh Slotnick. And we are also delighted to have with us today Chelsea Whitman the Safety and Justice Challenge coordinator in the Community Justice Department. Welcome.
Chelsea Wittmann:Thank you, thanks for having me.
Juanita Vero:Chelsea, this is such a huge title. Can you explain a little bit about this position and a bit about your own professional background?
Chelsea Wittmann:I started working for Missoula County in 2009 officer at the Missoula detention facility, and in my time there I wore several hats. I was a member of the Tactical Response team. I was a training officer and eventually I became a shift supervisor. I really liked that work, but I wanted to learn more about the criminal justice system and have a more proactive role in it. So I left and went back to school, worked in the private sector for a couple of years, and eventually came back to work as a criminal paralegal in the Missoula County Attorney's office. And then about a year ago, I saw that the Community Justice Department was looking for a Safety and Justice Challenge coordinator, which is a long title, kudos to you for getting through it. At that time I didn't know anything about the Safety and Justice Challenge, but I was really attracted to the opportunity to work in the justice system on a policy and a program level and looking at issues like responsible jail, diversion and pretrial and reentry programming sounded really fun to me. So I've got kind of a diverse background here in the county, but I'm happy to be doing this work, and I find the system work is absolutely fascinating. I really like the folks that we have working in Missoula's criminal legal system. I think it's just an amazing network of professionals.
Josh Slotnick:Well, thanks, Chelsea. So you mentioned the Safety and Justice Challenge. Given that that is your coordinating role, if I understand it right, that's a national effort.
Chelsea Wittmann:It is.
Josh Slotnick:Yep. So what's our role at Missoula County
Chelsea Wittmann:So the Safety and Justice Challenge is a Foundation. So it is a national effort. There's about 50 Safety and Justice Challenge sites throughout the country. The foundation's focus in that initiative is responsible use of jails, and the work of the foundation centers around safely reducing local jail populations through evidence based screenings, programmatic alternatives, and increasing efficiency. In our criminal legal system. We look at drivers of crime and drivers of recidivism and identify areas that our programs might have impacts. We're also looking at socioeconomic factors that impact the justice system, and we examine where racial, ethnic or economic disparities exist through our current practices. So that work really spans from a person's first contact with law enforcement or 911, and it might go all the way through their experience reentering society after incarceration. And the programs that we develop are aimed at helping folks succeed at supervision.
Dave Strohmaier:And I guess not unrelated to the Safety and have heard about, and that is the Jail Diversion Master Plan. Can you talk to us just a little bit about the background of of that plan when it started? What sort of initiatives does it cover and how is it going?
Chelsea Wittmann:Sure. So the Jail Diversion Master Plan was a It was a report that was assembled to address sources of overcrowding at the Missoula County detention facility. And at that time, in 2014, 2015, there were overcrowding issues at the detention facility. But the plan identified jail population drivers by three categories: behavioral health, pre sentencing, and post sentencing and disposition. And what it came out with was 40 recommendations for reducing our jails' population. This was an important document for Missoula County because overcrowded jails are they're unhealthy, they're unsafe, and they're not useful to the criminal legal system. So for a lot of reasons, nobody in Missoula wanted to see folks held in crowded conditions. So we began to work to ensure that our jail remained sustainable resource for our justice system. You know, since 2016, when that plan was written, a ton of work has happened throughout our criminal justice system to ensure our jail stays operational and that our population is healthy. This year, in 2022, we wanted to write an update to the Jail Diversion Master Plan to really reflect the breadth and depth of work that had been undertaken by our justice system stakeholders to address a problem even through COVID, our county Attorney's offices, our courts, and our law enforcement. We all found ways to serve the public and keep the legal system going, but we actually improved many aspects of case processing.
Dave Strohmaier:So it sounds like, as opposed to some plans and collect dust, this is one that we've actually made some concerted effort to try to implement.
Chelsea Wittmann:Absolutely. It's a living document.
Josh Slotnick:I wonder if... Some folks hear the words jail think, well, wait a minute, why? Why are we diverting people from jail who should be in jail? What would your response be to that?
Chelsea Wittmann:The jail is it's definitely not the solution There is absolutely nothing wrong with use of the jail if there is a public safety concern that arises in a case. But oftentimes it's not the best course of action.
Juanita Vero:So this is tagging on to Josh's because I want to ask why should we evaluate and attempt to decrease the jail population?
Chelsea Wittmann:So the Safety and Justice Challenge, the work evaluation of the pretrial jail population. So these are the folks who have been accused of a crime, but they haven't had a trial yet.
Josh Slotnick:Sorry to interrupt, but why are they in jail
Chelsea Wittmann:Oftentimes, folks are held pending a hearing case being resolved. And maybe something has to be processed. Some sort of an evaluation might have to happen.
Juanita Vero:Just give us a little example of a case.
Josh Slotnick:Or a... And how does bond fit into that? And some of this is really is because for folks who do not work in this system and thankfully have not been involved in it because of whatever is impacted their own lives, they don't know about it. And I have to say that from my own experience until really doing this work, I didn't know what these even these terms really meant.
Chelsea Wittmann:It should come with a glossary. Absolutely. If a person is arrested, there are charges that you can be held in the jail on and there are charges that are not associated with holds in the jail. So if a person is arrested, sometimes they are booked and held, sometimes they are booked and released. The bond question is an interesting one. Some charges have bonds associated with them. So if a person is arrested, they have the opportunity to bond out with cash. People in the pretrial phase who are held in jail either on a foldable charge, but if they haven't posted bond or if there is no bond associated with their charge, they will see a judge before they can be released. So that's like an initial appearance that happens in Justice court. Oftentimes, folks are released at that point. So we see a lot of people who are in jail between one and three days. That's a common hold time to say, hey, you know, you were arrested for this charge. We had to sort a couple of things out. But this is not an offense that we want to hold you on until the time of your trial.
Josh Slotnick:So they wait a couple of days. They make an initial appearance before a judge in justice court.
And then the judge says:"We think that you're not a flight risk and you're not a risk to public safety. So we'll just let you go and then you're going to come back in three weeks and come to trial."
Chelsea Wittmann:Correct. And oftentimes there are conditions So if you are released from jail, you will be out of custody. But you might have to go and report into a different program. You might have to report for testing. There's a myriad of things that that a judge can set for conditions.
Josh Slotnick:Yeah, that is helpful. There are folks out there who might hear the words jail diversion and feel like, well, we're we're letting dangerous people out into the world. One, we have a perfectly good jail. Why would we want to divert anyone from jail? And and you were saying, well, it's not always yeah, it's not always the right answer. And I'm wondering, is there a connection between what you all are doing in jail, diversion and a reduction in recidivism? That wouldn't happen if we just sent everybody to jail.
Chelsea Wittmann:Yeah. So, you know, many of the folks in this public safety. And those folks have jobs and families and homes just like the rest of us. So in those instances, keeping that person in jail does more harm than good for our community. Also across the nation, not just in JJC sites, but in many county jails, folks are moving towards lowering pretrial detention populations for people who have a low risk of reoffending and a low risk to public safety. So this keeps defendants working and providing for their families. But for us, that also saves Missoula City and county resources. As I mentioned, everyone who is arrested and appears in front of a judge, that case is the case. And the defendant is evaluated by the judge, by prosecution, by defense attorneys. All of those folks have a chance to review the case and the defendant before a release decision is made. So this is a vetted process. And in Missoula, we've got several program options for folks who are released from jail pretrial. Missoula Correctional Services offers formal pretrial supervision where a person might have to go in and actually check in with a pretrial officer. The Missoula County Sheriff's Office offers intensive case management through the Community Supported Reentry Program. Missoula Municipal Court has started a supportive pretrial program called Pass. The Office of the Public Defender offers case management for all clients, but they also house a Native American support specialist who intentionally works with tribal. Members and tribal nations. And the Missoula County Attorney's Office offers the Calibrate program, which is prosecution led diversion, and that's focused on defendants who are charged with non-violent and non-sexual felony crimes.
Josh Slotnick:Those programs all sound great. Some of them are mandated and some are voluntary. That's correct. Could you describe which is which and how that works?
Chelsea Wittmann:Yeah. Typically, pretrial supervision from mandated program.
Josh Slotnick:So that means the judge says...
Chelsea Wittmann:A judge orders you to check in with pretrial got a case manager who works with you. The Community Supported Reentry Program is a voluntary program. The PDS programs are available to everyone, but you can opt out of them. It varies a little bit about what is mandatory and what's voluntary.
Josh Slotnick:Is it too soon to have some data on these
Chelsea Wittmann:There's data on pretrial supervision, and The other programs are too new to have quality data. Usually we look for several months or years of data to see trends.
Juanita Vero:Speaking of trends, I mean, can you again services address root causes or what are those? So what are we seeing?
Chelsea Wittmann:So each of the programs are designed to defendants to increase their involvement and increase their understanding of their legal process. The folks who work in these programs get to know their clients and they're able to address some of their needs. So that can be connections to treatment, housing, clothing, assistance, getting a job, or help accessing health services. Addressing these issues will ultimately lower a person's risk of reoffending due to unmet needs.
Juanita Vero:Great. Yeah. Thank you. What is a comprehensive justice system? What's that supposed to look like?
Chelsea Wittmann:So for me, a comprehensive justice system it also includes programs and supportive services that that can help strengthen public safety while also offering meaningful help to people. Our goal here in Missoula is to build a better response networking and tailoring the resources that we have, putting everyone in contact with each other, making sure that everyone is operating to the best of their ability with good communication. So we end up with a tailored response for individuals that results in a meaningful impact.
Dave Strohmaier:I like that, "meaningful impact."
Josh Slotnick:And a meaningful impact means... a change in behavior?
Chelsea Wittmann:Correct.
Josh Slotnick:Out there in the national media world, at ton of talk about crime and punishment. How does what you do and what your office do you fit in or maybe exist apart from that conversation?
Chelsea Wittmann:Our department, the Community Justice within our justice system. So we are purposefully a neutral entity that looks at criminal justice services. We look at programs and we evaluate whether or not those programs and those services are as effective as they can be. So it's kind of a fascinating position to sit in, to have access to so many different facets of the criminal justice system and to look at things and say, what do we need here? You know, where is there a gap in services? Can we address this with what we have? You know, if if not, is there something that we can build around it to make the system go better? That might help multiple offices? It's not revolutionary adjustments that we're looking for. It's tweaks in our system. Our criminal justice system is fairly functional. We do a good job here in Missoula, but but there are slight changes that can be made that make the whole system operate better.
Josh Slotnick:Earlier, you had said the nature of the from, say, pre-COVID to where we're right now. We much have much more of a felony jail. Do you think that's a good thing when we think about the goals of your program?
Chelsea Wittmann:Yeah, it is. It's important to remember the in our pretrial population, especially, these people have not stood trial yet. So these people are not necessarily guilty of anything. And yes, having a jail population shift from a misdemeanor holding facility to a felony holding facility ultimately follows national best practice.
Josh Slotnick:Great. That's great. Thanks. Glad we're following national best practice. That's a good thing.
Chelsea Wittmann:It's a very good thing.
Dave Strohmaier:Is there is there anything within the safety effective that would fall into the category of not radical change?
Chelsea Wittmann:But yeah, so I really like the work that our increasing case managers in their office and also bringing on a Native American support specialist. We have heard from multiple stakeholders across the system that that those positions are such a help getting people associated and referred to different services that. It's making, you know, accessing treatment and chemical dependency evaluations easier. If folks need transportation to get back home, maybe they're stuck in Missoula or they don't have a cell phone, they don't have any means to contact someone. Those are the people in our system that are helping those defendants get plugged into those resources. So I think I can I can point to those positions and say I think that they have had the most direct impact that I have seen. And our Native American support specialist has done a great job of working with courts of other jurisdictions and troubleshooting answers and saying,"How can we make cross jurisdictional cases go better?"
Juanita Vero:I mean, when you say courts of other or I mean, other states or.
Chelsea Wittmann:Out of county tribal courts? I mean, those are the the big ones around here just geographically. But that is an area that historically we hadn't really addressed is how do we how do.
Juanita Vero:We better coordinate..
Chelsea Wittmann:Better coordination throughout our offices.
Josh Slotnick:So I'd love to get your thoughts on this is for a few minutes here today. Traditionally, jurisdictional lines mean a ton for government. So that's a state thing. That's a city thing. That's a county thing. And we can try and get along with each other. But those lines are really hard and fast. You just described OPD, there's the state municipal court judges and past. That's the city and you work with the county. And at no point did you say, well, that's their thing, that's our thing. You just made it sound like it's all our thing.
Chelsea Wittmann:It is all our thing.
Josh Slotnick:That's a great level of cooperation. What do you want? And this is me, you know, gleaning this incredible insight after 90 seconds of chatting. But what do you what do you have to say to that?
Chelsea Wittmann:It's like I said, I think that our Missoula network of people. Everybody really works together. Like you said, it's city, it's county, it's state, it's tribal nations. I've got multiple meetings a week that combine those entities. And so important we all compare notes and say, "What are you saying? You know, what are you seeing with your folks? Where can we help? You know what what can I plug you into? What resources do you have so important?" We just work to really tear down those silos of different offices.
Josh Slotnick:Because I could imagine if a person was victim of a crime or they are accused of a crime, those jurisdictional boundaries don't mean anything. What matters is how you're treated in that moment. And you expect that people who are working off the public dime to be cooperating with each other.
Chelsea Wittmann:Ideally. Yeah. And like you said, you know, folks generally don't understand the first thing about it. And and I can speak to that from my time working at the jail. The moment that you are booked in can be a very scary moment if you don't understand any part of the criminal justice process. So sometimes it just takes a person sitting down with you and explaining this is what to expect. This is what's going to happen tomorrow. This is what they're going to ask you to do next week. And you can navigate this, no problem. But just to have that conversation with people and I think that's what we see across our offices is a willingness to collaborate both as professionals but also collaborate on behalf of that client to help that person navigate the system more smoothly.
Juanita Vero:It's just critical. So it's really exciting Before we close, can you share with us a good book or podcast or nuggets of wisdom that you've come across recently?
Josh Slotnick:About anything, it doesn't have to be about
Chelsea Wittmann:I've got quite a response. Yes, I recently came into possession of a box of old letters that I spent a lot of time reading, and the letters belong to a young man who, like me, attended the U of M and played in the band. It was very much a peer situation, but he did it in 1931. Wow. So it was interesting to read his cards and his letters, and it was an opportunity for me to get to know him by the correspondence he received. So it was very much like reading a reverse diary. It was easy for me to identify with a lot of his experiences, and I've actually driven around town and seen that some of the houses that he rented as a student are Missoula homes to this day. So it was a really interesting picture of historical Missoula. But this young man, his most consistent correspondent, was his mother, which I think we can all relate to for undergrad times. But this was western Montana in the 1930s. So we are heading into the Great Depression at this time and it was really interesting to hear her anxiety about it, her political observations, her distress about economic failure. She talked about homeless families in an area that's about the good food store now people living in tar paper shacks. She had a concern of what she called technocracy was going to overtake our society and erode our moral fiber.
Josh Slotnick:I think we have that.
Juanita Vero:And she she was correct.
Chelsea Wittmann:She you know, she she saw a lot. And in one of the letters to her son. She was explaining this homeless family that she ran into near the river. And and she said, you know, as good people, what can we do to help? So I reflected a lot on these letters because they were so interesting for a variety of reasons. But what I ended up with after reading them is realizing that while some of our societal issues wax and wane, the challenges that we're facing is Missourians are nothing that our community has in faced before. His mom actually reminded me of the Mister Rogers quote of "Look for the helpers." That's what she was looking for, was the helpers. And this was in the middle of the Great Depression. And even in the face of what seemed to her like incredible adversity, there were always people who were willing to help. And if you find the helpers, you find the good work being done. And when you find the good work being done, things seem more manageable.
Josh Slotnick:Hmm. Wow. That's great.
Dave Strohmaier:Yeah. How did you come upon the letters?
Chelsea Wittmann:Oh, I can't reveal my sources.
Juanita Vero:Oh, yeah.
Chelsea Wittmann:I got them. I got them at a thrift store. Seriously?
Josh Slotnick:Oh, cool. If you bought a box and it was
Chelsea Wittmann:I bought a box of old correspondence, and it of different places, and. Wow, a card that this kid's grandma tucked a dollar bill into. Oh, that's right. And he. And he kept it intact.
Dave Strohmaier:Wow.
Josh Slotnick:Well, Chelsea, thanks so much for coming by. And thanks for all the work you do every day.
Dave Strohmaier:You are welcome.
Juanita Vero:Thanks so much, Chelsea.
Josh Slotnick:Thanks for listening to the Tip of the Spear If you enjoy these conversations, it would mean a lot if you would rate and review the show on whichever podcast app you like. And if you know a friend who would like to keep up with what's happening in local government, be sure to recommend this podcast to them. The Tip of the Spear podcast is made possible with support from Matt, better known as Missoula Community Access Television and our staff in the Missoula County Communications Division. If you have a question or topic you'd like us to address on a future episode, email it to communications at Missoula County US and to find other ways to stay up to date with what's happening at Missoula County. Go to Missoula DOT CEO slash County updates. And thanks for listening.[outro music plays]