The influx of prisoners into the jails of Los Angeles County has caused its population to increase significantly over the last few months. This has forced the officials to look for places in the Central valley to house the prisoners. The program, “realignment”, has led to the relocation of more than 5,000 prisoners who would have otherwise been housed in jails in Los Angeles. The jail system of the county is the largest in the nation and currently has a population of around 18,600 prisoners. Overcrowding will be a problem if the officials fail to find other locations for the inmates.
Two cities in Kern County have empty jails, and discussions with the Sheriff’s Department are ongoing about the relocation of up-to 1,000 low-level offenders. There are hopes that the deals will be done by the fall. Moreover, some officials are considering the use of fire camps in California to house additional inmates. However, the availability of sufficient funds to do so remains unclear. Realignment was an order by the U.S Supreme Court in an attempt to improve California’s prisons’ conditions. It has resulted into an increase in the population of inmates in many counties, and some counties have released their prisoners early to avoid overcrowding.
During an interview, Assistant Sheriff Cecil W. Rhambo Jr. outlined various strategies the department would use to deal with the rising population of inmates. For instance, releasing more women and tagging them with electronic monitoring systems. In addition, they asked the court system to consider faster resolution of low-level crime cases. The department preferred electronic monitoring to detention on those accused of drug crimes and prostitution. The officials of the Sheriff predicted that, by Christmas, the jail system will have no space left. Prisoners would only be relocated to a facility located outside the county only under extreme circumstances.
There are jailed owned by the towns, Shafter and Taft, which could accommodate around 1,000 inmates together. The city manager of Shafter, John Guinn, confirmed the availability of the jails since they had been closed down several months earlier due to budget cuts. The officials of the Sheriff added that they were in the process of discussions with two communities from Central Valley, Coalinga and Delano, on the matter of relocating 1,000 more inmates to their facilities. The daily cost of housing an inmate in the county of Kern was estimated at $61, compared to the cost in Los Angeles County, estimated at $113. Rhambo said that a cost effective bed space was crucial. He revealed the public’s concern about realignment and made an assurance of public safety during the process of realignment within the committed time.
The spokesman of the Department of Sheriff, Steve Whitmore, said that there were no changes made regarding the county’s policy of early release. The policy suggests that non-violent inmates to serve only 20% of their terms. However, members of gangs serve full terms. The rest of the violent inmates serve 75% of their sentences. The increase in the number of jail systems, in Los Angeles allowed for the accommodation of more inmates. A report by a Justice Department of the U.S indicated that, prior to realignment; the inmate population in the county’s jails experienced the largest decrease compared to other jail systems. It decreased by over 3,000 within a period of one year. The reopening of jails in North County will also facilitate realignment in Los Angeles County.
Works Cited
Blankstein , Andrew and Jason Song. County Acts to Handle Inmate Influx. 10 July 2012. 22 November 2012.
