Many Vets Get Lost in Criminal Justice System, Group Led by 2 Former Defense Chiefs Says

A disjointed and haphazard system of programs and a lack of awareness are partly to blame for a staggering number of veterans getting arrested or otherwise having to deal with the justice system, a report from a criminal justice group that includes two former secretaries of defense said Thursday.

After studying the issue for half a year, the Council on Criminal Justice (CCJ) released its findings and recommendations, including that criminal justice agencies need to do more to identify veterans and provide them with deferment or treatment programs.

"Right now, there are approximately 181,000 veterans in prisons in this country's jails," Chuck Hagel, a former defense secretary and the head of the commission behind the findings, told reporters. Hagel added that means "one out of every three [veterans] has either been arrested or booked on some charge" at some point in their lives.