Dr. Kirchwey recommends that steps be taken to reduce the jail
population: first, by prompt and thorough investigation immediately
after arrest, in order to ascertain whether there is sufficient
evidence to justify holding the prisoner; second, by so reorganizing
the courts as to secure speedy trials and avoid the necessity for long
detention; third, by releasing, on their own recognizance without bail,
many prisoners who, having families or having regular employment, are
not likely to run away.
Dr. Kirchwey regards the present jail site as entirely inadequate. He
would prefer to remove the jail to some other part of the city where
sufficient ground could be had to provide a suitable yard for outdoor
exercise. The present site is only 600 feet square, and it contains
both the jail and the Criminal Court Building.
The writer is in the fullest sympathy with the purposes of the
Committee and with the principles advocated by Dr. Kirchwey. He agrees
with Dr. Kirchwey that women, young prisoners, witnesses, and insane
persons should be excluded from the county jail and provided for in
separate detention houses. When this is done, however, there will
still remain an indefinite number of men, which may be 200, 300, or
at times even 500, who must be held in detention awaiting the action
of the grand jury or the criminal courts. He believes that suitable
provision may be made for these prisoners, in strict accordance with
the principles advocated by Dr. Kirchwey, in the manner hereinafter
suggested.
[Illustration: ADMINISTRATION FLOOR PLAN]