KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – For centuries the go-to solution for crime was jail. But now, Kalamazoo County’s groundbreaking program to fight crime using cognitive behavioral modification, has gone statewide. And Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is noticing.
The Director of Community Corrections, Ken Bobo says incarceration is expensive and leaves offenders worse off, and that their program gives felony suspects the option to avoid prison by learning to make better decisions.
Since October Bobo says they have trained 280 violators from all over the state online. And that’s in addition to the 180 local offenders who have gone through the program.
Bobo says although it’s a lot cheaper than jail, the big savings comes from all the crimes that are not being committed, because their graduates are not reoffending.
Offering the Program online is one of the lessons that Community Corrections and many other organizations have learned is possible because of the pandemic.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said on Friday, June 2 on her visit to Kalamazoo that they are looking at programs like this. And she went onto say also that it’s her job to put pressure on legislators to fund such programs.
reporting from John McNeill
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