Former Top Cop Names Biggest Trends in Corrections at Durrant

PHOENIX – The biggest forces at work in the corrections market today are the need to control paroled sex offenders, the fast-growing population of chronically mentally ill inmates, the increase in women offenders and the trend toward building more regional jails, says Ari Zavaras, justice consultant with the Durrant Foundation.

Zavaras, a former manager of public safety for the City and County of Denver, Colo., made his comments in November at the Durrant Foundation’s Sixth Annual Security Summit, hosted at the Wigwam Resort.

“Sex offenders will continue to be a problem. Offenders can be controlled if we have a ‘big brother’ watching over them, which is why GPS systems need to be in place.” He said CMI inmates are the fastest-growing population in correctional institutions, while the percentage of women offenders is also growing at a significant rate.

Jails are facing many of the same problems as prisons, he said, including overcrowding. Because new construction is so expensive, smaller counties in many locations are pooling resources to build regional jails.

Another area Zavaras said is booming is crime lab construction. “The technology there is exploding and there’s money to be made in this market. Police departments want to double the size of their crime labs, so there’s a need for additional room to accommodate technological tools.”

Although state and county budgets are volatile, Zavaras said he does not foresee a slowdown in jail construction. He also said that although the private corrections sector is not proving itself to be any cheaper than the public sector, states are still willing to work with private providers because it is a way of getting new facilities on “credit.”

The Durrant Foundation awards scholarships to promising architectural students. The architectural firm does extensive work in the corrections, health care and school markets. The Security Summit brings together experts to discuss trends in those industries.