Of the convicted criminals Wisconsin imprisons, most will serve a sentence and be released. Then what?
The released offenders usually will be supervised, with the official hope that they avoid further crime. This requires a lot of watching on the part of the state, and that watching could be done more closely on those who most merit it if the state had better means of tracking individuals — such as convicted drunken drivers — who present known and lesser risks than violent offenders.
This is urgent, not just because our prison system is overcrowded but because public safety requires that the taxpayers’ resources be focused where they are most needed.
The Badger Institute has long studied this matter — how state corrections dollars can offer the best protection of the public. Here, we summarize the results of that research, offering recommendations about how the state’s resources can best be used in preventing more crime from those who already have been caught and convicted.
