Thursday, December 17, 2009
Travis County, Texas, (population about 100,000) is struggling to find ways to keep Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans out of trouble. A local report found that 25-30% of veterans suffer from mental illness, and more than 450 ex-soldiers were in jail at the time of the survey.
The Veterans Intervention Project determined that approximately 150 veterans are incarcerated in the Travis County Jail at any one time. Most of the violations were found to be misdemeanors (73%), with driving while intoxicated leading the way, followed by assault with bodily injury, theft, possession of an illegal substance and public intoxication. Among felony cases, 22% were for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Officials Say Report Shows Veterans' Arrests Too High (News 8 Austin)
Travis County Look to Set Up Court for Veterans (by Jeremy Schwartz, Austin American-Statesman)
Report of Veterans Arrested and Booked into the Travis County Jail (Veterans Intervention Project) (pdf)
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