City officials discuss recidivism solutions

Sept. 29--Recidivism in the Fort Smith region is a problem with multiple solutions, officials say.

Officials on Friday met to discuss their perspectives on how to reduce recidivism in the Fort Smith region. Solutions included taking fresh perspectives to hiring practices, convicted felons' support systems and even the justice system as a whole.

"What a lot of people fail to realize is, you get caught up in a cycle," said Patricia Porter, founder of Oil and Wine International and event host.

About 800 former inmates each year return to the Fort Smith area from prison, Restore Hope director Paul Chapman estimated in August. Chapman and officials on Friday said recidivism and incarceration in general are predicting factors for other issues, such as an area's foster care rate.

Sebastian County Sheriff-elect Hobe Runion said convicted felons who return to their homes are often set up for failure because of obstacles like fines and a lack of identification.

"I'm not saying, 'send everyone to get a bachelor's degree,' but what we are doing is we're setting ourselves up for failure, because the majority of those people are going to get out, and right now, it's about 80-85 percent recidivism," Runion said.

Mayor-elect and state representative George McGill said convicted felons often go back to doing the same crimes they were originally arrested for because there's little stopping them from re-offending. Because of this, he and others in the state house have talked about creating "distance" between prison and the community.

"The state is not interested in spending millions and millions of dollars in building new prisons," McGill said. "It's not going to solve the problem. That's where agencies come in, that's where programs come in, just like this."

McGill also said employers in the Fort Smith area need to create job opportunities for convicted felons. He said this means being more lenient in who they hire, he said.

An example, Fort Smith police Sgt. Wendall Sampson said, is Police Chief Nathaniel Clark asking the Civil Service Commission on Thursday to allow people with misdemeanor offenses to apply for police officer after a certain number of years.

"If we said, 'If you were arrested for misdemeanor marijuana possession 10 years ago, you're eliminated from the hiring process of being a police officer,' you have to think about that. Is that fair for that individual?" Sampson said.

Runion also said former inmates need a support system in order to succeed. Deacon Greg of Restore Hope said his organization strives to give convicted felons such a support system.

"We bring them out, we try to find them a job and a place to live," Greg said. "The idea is, we're helping them through this, and as they go through that job, then what happens is, maybe they want to go back to college or school -- whatever they need to do."

"If you get past those things, and you grow up and you become a better person, society shouldn't shun you," Sampson said.

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