The Garden City Commission on Tuesday directed the Garden City Police Department to revise its existing practices regarding “Own Recognizance,” or OR, bonds for people who have violated the city’s code of ordinances, changing the language relating to repeat offenders.
Suspects issued an OR bond are released with only explicit instructions to appear in court at a certain date and time, rather than posting a payment or other surety.
Since July 2016, the GCPD has released people arrested on non-warrant arrests for municipal charges on an OR bond almost immediately, unless they are considered a danger to the community or under the influence of drugs or alcohol, in which case they are held for an additional six hours, City Prosecutor James Dummermuth told the commission.
The practice has resulted in some people being arrested for another charge within the same day, said Garden City police Capt. Courtney Prewitt. Someone could be arrested for criminal trespass, for instance, be released on an OR bond within an hour, per the practice, and then immediately trespass on the same property again, he said. The result, he said, was a persisting safety issue.
“From the law enforcement perspective, the safety of the community, the safety of our officers and even the safety of the suspects is important,” Prewitt said.
Over the last year, the department has arrested a person for a second charge within a 12-hour period about 25 times, Prewitt said, sometimes arresting individuals up to three times in relatively quick succession. With every repeated arrest, interactions become more confrontational between officers and jail staff and the suspects, he said.
(Read more: News – The Garden City Telegram)