Louisville's jail bookings, population, arrests all significantly down in 2020

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Jail bookings, populations and arrests all declined in Louisville last year, according to a recent report of statistics.

Arrests and jail bookings were down 52% from February to June 2020, while jail population went down by 34% in the same time span, the Louisville Metro Criminal Justice Commission Jail Policy Committee said in its report.

"There was a major shift in priorities regarding arrests to keep people out of jail, and LMPD's self-initiated activity declined to keep officers safe and healthy," Public Protection Coordinator Jamie Allen said during a January Jail Policy Committee meeting.

Louisville Metro Police and the courts developed temporary policies to limit people in the jails, which meant cutting back on misdemeanor arrests. These measures were taken to reduce the spread of COVID-19, according to city leaders.

Because Metro Corrections maintained violent offenders in its facility, length of stay inside the jail increased during 2020.

"COVID-19 had significant impact on jail bookings, the jail population, and length of stay," the report reads. "These data show a significant decline in jail bookings after COVID-19 restrictions were imposed in March 2020 which in turn lowered the jail population. Since February 2020, jail bookings dropped by 52% while the jail population dropped by 34%. Length of stay (LOS) was also impacted. Beginning in June 2020, the LOS made a sharp increase from approximately 35 days to 63 days as the jail bookings and the jail population declined."

Metro Council President David James said the data will be critical to city leaders in deciding how to move forward with policy as the pandemic ends.

"The effects of COVID onto how we perceive crime and how our city experiences crime has been very significant," he said.