kkallday21

So if it isn’t enough pain I am dealing with awaiting for my grandmother to pass, yesterday on my way to go see her at hospice, I witnessed my ex in a high speed chase… I was just about to pull out on to the cross street and there he was flying by me doing about 100 mph down the street.. Following him were 12-15 cops cars .. It was crazy, I never seen nothing like it before in my life… Thankfully I didn’t pull out, because he probably would have killed me, my aunt and cousin who were in the car with me.. My stomach just sank.. Supposedly it went on for quite some time, until he crashed, then tried to get out and flee the scene.. They got him eventually.. One part of me feels relieved, because thankfully no one was killed or severely injured and honestly he is not safe to himself or others to be in society, but there is a little part of me that holds sadness.. I just feel like enough is enough… I’m having such a hard time dealing with the near death of my grandmother and can’t understand why I had to witness something so tragic.. Well from what I heard that happened, I truly believe he will be in jail for life.. Crazy how someone just does 11 yrs in prison and a year later is headed back.. I guess it’s not crazy, it’s common, but I don’t get how someone can be so destructive and blow the second chance he was given… I guess it’s because I am normal and he is not… He was on crack when I left him and I knew in my heart that me leaving was going to just cause him to get worse and worse and deep down inside, I knew eventually he was either going to be dead or back in jail.. I have to stop looking at the good in him and accept him for all that he is – the good and evil.. When he is on that stuff man, anything can happen… My heart hurts today and I feel deeply overwhelmed with grief and sadness.. I am proud of myself for the choice I made to leave when I did and how I remained NC throughout all of this.. I also gave the phone back last week, which was my only last tie… Although I may not feel it today, I have noticed how much I have grown and how differently I am handling things than I would have in the past. I have also had family members compliment me as well, which really made me feel good about myself.. I am going to continue focusing on me and building a life that I know I want and deserve… And most importantly a loving relationship with myself. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I will continue to do the same for all of you. Xoxo
40 days- Since the breakup
34 days- NC

Mountainmanbob

Sorry
I have also seen many go back to prison
Best to make plans for a new life
MM

hopeful4

For some it seems prison just becomes a way of life. A very sad way of life. I am so very sorry for all you are going through. You and your family are in my prayers.

XXX

zoso77

There will always be those amongst us that, on the surface, don't "get" it. My take is they don't want to. Addiction is more that just a physical condition. It's a disease of the mind and the soul. And to recover from that condition means accepting and adapting a way of life and thinking that's orthogonal to their current norm. For some people, that's just way too hard.

And what would he have done if you stayed? Probably what he's doing now. You're not that powerful, you know. He has continued to make bad choices. And bad choices mean adverse consequences.

Thankfully, no one was injured by his GTA-style vehicular stunts. That's a blessing. Let God, and the legal system, deal with him.

AnvilheadII

Crazy how someone just does 11 yrs in prison and a year later is headed back

some just don't want to play by the rules. conform. comply. also prisoners with long-term incarcerations are of one of the groups most likely to make a hasty return to prison.

a recent comprehensive study done on recidivism (return to prison) found that up to 52% of those released will re-offend and return to prison.

Crime in America.Net
We have a reader request; she asks about recidivism of people released from prison (arrests, convictions, returns to prison).
Possibly one of the most significant studies on recidivism (defined for this report as a return to prison) was offered by the Pew Center on the States, Pew Safety Performance Project and released in April, 2011.
The study analyzed returns to prison for 33 states for those released in 1999 and 41 states for those released in 2004 making the study the most comprehensive analysis of returns to prison ever done.
The report compared earlier studies on recidivism conducted by the US Department of Justice for 15 states for releases in 1983 and 1994 and concluded that recidivism rates “have consistently remained around 40 percent.” California was excluded from this finding due to that state’s large percentage of the nation’s prison population and the fact that California’s rate of return to prison is traditionally high.
The report singles out three states, Oregon, Michigan and Missouri for lowering rates of return to prison.
Source: State Policy-Topics-Pew Trusts
Before the Pew report there was nothing of a national and substantive nature except for a US Department of Justice study from the Bureau of Justice Statistics that was released in June of 2002 based on inmates released from prison in 1994.
Note that there are a variety of older studies from the Bureau of Justice Statistics that remains definitive for many years. This study involved a very large set of data from 15 states and the methodology (quality of the research) was very good. This is the most quoted recidivism study in the country.
It followed offenders for three years and tracked results.
Principle Findings:
The study (see summary below) found that:
Two-thirds (sixty-seven) of offenders were arrested for “serious” crimes.
Fifty-two percent of the offenders were returned to prison for “serious” crimes and technical violations (they didn’t follow the rules of their release after prison).Current Studies:
There are a wide variety of state and local studies that also examined recidivism but none with the same large data set (numbers of people followed) and none with the same rigorous methodology. We will address these studies in a future post.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics is redoing the study discussed here and will have results in 2011.
Main Characteristics of Recidivism:
The study found two primary variables in recidivism which seem to be present in virtually all past and current studies:
Younger prisoners and those with longer records were more likely to be rearrested.
Post-prison recidivism was strongly related to arrest history.

Ann

I am grateful that you and your relatives in your car were not injured.

It's a terrible thing to have to wrap your head around, but sweetie, it just is what it is and nothing you did or did not do could have changed any of it.

I am so glad you have found the courage to move forward and that you have support here and in your family.

Just keep walking forward...don't look back, you're not going there.

Hugs and Hugs

desypete

its a hard cycle for anyone to understand, even more so if your used to normal living, ie if you have a wife and a good job and money and a family who is decent etc

the guys i have tried to help come out of prison and just try a new way of life instead of coming out picking up the drink again and going futher down its just crazy

but then they do have a more of an uphill battle in society than someone who is just a drunk with family still behind them and a job still intact etc

to come out of prison and the only people you know are the same like minded types ie drink drugs and crime is a huge undertaking for people to give up on if its all that they know
thankfully some do change and dont go back to prison just like me and we do go on to rebuild our lives and get jobs and earn money again and fit in

i have aa and the people in aa for all there efforts to help me to thank for it
they didnt turn there back on me, they didnt treat me like scum, they just welcomed me and helped me.
today i can show others that it is possible to come back from that mess, as they can : )