Robert Apel

Rutgers University Website

Robert Apel is Professor of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University. He holds a Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland.

Voting History

Pretrial detention

Reducing the number of people detained pretrial will lead to a net increase in crime in the medium- to long-term.

Vote Confidence
Disagree 8
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Disagree 7
Comments

The claim that pretrial detention as used in practice has mostly (or anything) to do with public safety is laughable. If there is any medium- to long-term impact of a reduction in pretrial detention, I predict it might actually reduce crime considering all the negative collateral effects of even short custody spells. And evidence is growing that offending worsens after pretrial detention and outweighs any incapacitation benefit.

Ending the use of cash bail will meaningfully reduce the number of people detained pretrial.

Vote Confidence
Strongly Agree 8
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Agree 7
Comments

Elimination of cash bail is a much-needed reform since the system amounts to punishment for poverty, and informational nudges can be used effectively to ensure appearance at future court proceedings. Carve outs for certain offenses are still overly broad, in my view, and should be restricted. An even more impactful reform would be to eliminate bookings altogether for a large class of offenses.

Using risk assessment to inform detention decisions will meaningfully reduce the number of people detained pretrial.

Vote Confidence
Agree 6
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Neutral/No Opinion 5
Comments

In the short term, yes, and the reduction can be sizable. But whether this can be sustained is unclear, as in some jurisdictions, pretrial detentions exhibit mild reversion to trend following implementation of a risk assessment regime. This suggests a need for recalibration over time. Reduction in racial disparity also needs to be a stated goal of these efforts.