Assignment:
Part 1
From what I found, the cost of incarceration does not seem to be cost effective. With the amount that is spent on one inmate for a year, the cost of supervision would cost a lot less. The cost of putting an offender in prison was eight times that of putting the offender under supervision such as parole. As a tax payer, I would really want to see my money being used to help an offender stay off the streets.
Post conviction, the cost of holding an offender in an facility cost around $79.16 daily, $2,421 monthly and $28,948 a year. If an offender was held by an offender by supervision of probation officers would cost around $9.17 a day, $278 a month and $3, 347 a year.
While looking at those numbers, I feel that tax payers money is being wasted holding offenders in prison. There should be alternatives as to how to handle offenders before trail. Even just finding a alternative to that would save a lot of money.
When I look at the all the spending a state does to take care of a person, the cost is pretty much what a person makes in a year working a minimum wage job. Some states, it cost a bit more to take care of an inmate. It is a job to take care of someone else and frankly, I feel that our incarceration system really needs to reevaluate how they handle taking care of their budget.
Supervision Costs Significantly Less than Incarceration in Federal System. (n.d.).
Part 2
After doing research, I don't think that incarceration is cost effective. On average, it cost about $31,000 per year for just one inmate. Some states could cost up to $60,000 per year for an inmate. So those who may get sentenced to 25 years would use $775,000 of taxpayers money. Also, those who are sentenced to life in prison, on an average cost of $89 billion dollars. This includes housing, feeding, and clothing.
Doing additional research on probation and parole, it is cheaper than having someone incarcerated. It normally would cost $3.42 per day to put a person on probation which would cost at least $1,248.30 per year. But, when a person is placed on parole, it can cost up to $7.47 a day which would be $2,726.55 per year.
Although it would be cheaper to put prisoners on parole or on probation, there are those that deserves and needs to be behind bars. The amount of money that is being spent per year on criminals can take a major cut back if those who commit petty crimes can be given probation or parole because whichever route is taken, still wouldn't add up to a one year sentence.
Reference:
Staff, M. (n.d.). How much does it cost to send someone to prison?
CreditLoan. (2018, June 15). How Much Does It Cost to Keep a Criminal?