FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — Nearly 80% of Allen County’s budget – over $100 million annually – goes to public safety, according to Commissioner Ron Turpin, so imagine the savings if fewer and fewer people were caught up in the Allen County justice system.
“My north star has always been that the jail is so empty that the confinement officers look like the Maytag repairman,” Turpin explained, envisioning a facility where staff are bored because there is not enough for them to do.
People laugh at the idea, Turpin admitted, but he’s assembled a coalition from government, the private sector and non-profit groups to work to deter people from jail to help both them and county taxpayers…