Inmate List at Co. Correctional Facility Offers Insights

CREST HAVEN – Cape May County Correctional Facility usually holds inmates for short periods while they await some adjudication of charges or transfer to state prison following sentencing for crimes.
The county provides an online list of its current inmate population (https://bit.ly/2FwSlql) with age, committing law enforcement agency, and pending charges. Freezing a copy of that list for Dec. 21, 2018, four days before Christmas, allowed a glimpse of the inmate population in county lockup.
Age and Gender
One of the first things to strike any reader of the inmate list was how young so many of the prisoners were. The list contained 210 names with a median age of 32, meaning one half of the population was 32 or less. Twelve of those incarcerated on that day were below the age of 21, with 40 percent of the total population below the age of 30.
The population was 93 percent male. The female population had a slightly higher median age, 35, with the youngest being 23 and the oldest 50.
Among the men, a few senior citizens represented the top age group with three inmates above the age of 65. One inmate, at 75, was the oldest listed. He joined the population in January 2017, committed by the Wildwood Police Department on burglary charges. He was also listed as a fugitive from justice which may have led to his incarceration as a flight risk.
The two youngest members of the population, barely old enough to be out of juvenile status, were both 18. One joined the population Nov. 30, 2018, for contempt of Middle Township Municipal Court. Another was placed in the facility by the Wildwood Police Department Oct. 10, 2018, for violation of a domestic violence order.
Overall, the population distributed this way by age:
•    Under 20 years old – 9
•    From 20 to 29 years old – 75
•    From 30 to 39 years old – 74
•    From 40 to 49 years old – 26
•    From 50 to 59 years old – 16
•    From 60 to 69 years old – 8
•    70 years old and older – 2
Charges
There were many individuals in jail for serious crimes – murder, kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, and distribution of child pornography to name a few. One out of every four inmates was incarcerated for violation of either parole or a domestic violence order, or for contempt of court.
Charges stating that the inmate violated an order under the provisions of the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1991 were visible throughout the inmate population, perhaps providing some hint to the environment afforded many county children at home.
The longest serving resident of the Cape May County Correctional Facility was not there for any offense within the boundaries of Cape May County. He was committed to the facility by the Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office on Nov. 12, 2015. The Galloway man was indicted for the murder of a Mays Landing man.
The charge list ran from first-degree murder to contempt of municipal court, from aggravated assault to driving while intoxicated, from burglary to providing false information to a law enforcement officer. Each individual would have his or her own story that would help explain why incarceration was deemed necessary in this era of bail reform.
Why one inmate, committed by the Lower Township Police Department in March 2018 on charges of drunk or drugged driver, would still be in the county facility in late December was not something one could discern from the bits of information on the list. The 45-year-old inmate has more to his story.
The same is true of one inmate, who was lodged at the facility in early April 2018 for driving on the revoked list, or one who began his second year at the facility, charged with shoplifting property valued at less than $200.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.