Navy Plans 400-Bed Prison for Miramar : Decision to Build Medium-Security Brig in 1987 Made Quietly in Washington

The Navy has quietly decided to build a 400-bed, medium-security prison at Miramar Naval Air Station in early 1987 to house sailors from all Pacific Fleet ships and West Coast bases, The Times has learned.

Construction of the facility had been discussed since 1981 and the decision was made in Washington within the last six months, according to a Navy source here. All but a handful of Navy officials in San Diego were left in the dark about the plan. Similarly, city officials and residents of the communities surrounding the base were not informed that Miramar was under consideration as a prison site.

City Councilman Ed Struiksma, who said he had heard “only rumors” about the proposed prison, said there isn’t much the city can do about the Navy’s plans.

“It would be terribly naive to think the Navy doesn’t have its problem people,” said Struiksma, whose council district includes the nearby communities of Mira Mesa and Scripps Ranch. “They have to keep them somewhere. The bright side is it’s a medium-security facility, and it’s certainly not a Leavenworth situation.” The military’s maximum-security prison is at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan.

Rep. Bill Lowery (R-San Diego), whose district includes the neighborhoods surrounding Miramar, said he is convinced, based on Navy staff reports, that the facility will pose no danger to neighbors.

“I think the studies the Navy has done have truly identified that what they are dealing with is a minimum-risk situation,” Lowery said. “The hardened criminals and serious felons will be processed through just as they are now. They’ll have some for a brief period on their way to do big time at the big house at Leavenworth.” But, Lowery added, “I think we will hear from some constituents. Let’s see what the public reaction is.”

So far, very few residents in nearby communities have learned about plans for the new brig, said Robert Dingeman, a retired Navy colonel and president of the Scripps Ranch Civic Assn. “Even if they knew about it, it’s so far away from us it doesn’t even impact on us at all,” Dingeman said.

Dingeman said he had heard from a Tierrasanta resident concerned that the prison would be constructed near his community. The man threatened to distribute petitions opposing the facility, Dingeman said.

Navy officials had planned to inform City Council members of their plans before making any public announcement, Capt. Peter Litrenta said. The facility, which will be partially visible from heavily traveled Miramar Road, is scheduled to be built on a 20-acre site south of Miramar Golf Course. It is expected to be completed by mid-1989.

The proposed Miramar brig is part of a national plan to overhaul the Navy’s correctional system. Most of the Navy’s current 21 brigs are more than 40 years old and have serious fire and safety code violations. Some still include wood construction, and others have cell doors that can be cranked open, said Litrenta.

Two-story prisons also will be constructed at a cost of about $17.5 million apiece in Charleston, S.C., and a third undisclosed site. San Diego was selected as the West Coast site over Navy installations in Long Beach, Concord, Stockton, Fresno and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Navy will use money from its fiscal 1987 budget to pay for the brigs, which must be approved by Congress.

Navy medium-security brigs are designed for inmates serving terms ranging from 31 days to one year. About 80% of the sailors currently incarcerated at brigs are being held for unauthorized absences. The remainder were convicted of disobedience, drug or alcohol abuse, assault, theft or robbery.

The majority of sailors sentenced to Miramar will come from ships at sea and bases in San Diego, Long Beach, the Bay Area and Seattle. The new brig will include training and treatment facilities.

Nationwide, 9,000 Navy personnel are confined to brigs annually. About 1,300 return to duty, 6,000 receive punitive discharges, and the remaining 1,700 get administrative discharges. Through its training and treatment facilities at the proposed brigs, the Navy hopes to reinstate many of the latter category to active duty.

“What we have here is a systematic approach to correcting some serious deficiencies we’ve had in our existing brig system,” said Rear Adm. Bruce Boland, who was briefed on the new facility Tuesday by Navy Military Personnel Command officials from Washington. “We are going to approach the community and just tell them about it. I think once the community sees it is within the patrolled confines of Miramar, they will have little or no concerns.”

Miramar was selected because it is one of a few chunks of Navy real estate in San Diego located near the largest concentration of sailors on the West Coast as well as hospitals and housing units, Litrenta said.

The only adverse condition at the Miramar site is the noise level from the Navy aircraft that fly in and out of the air station on training exercises. Those sounds will be reduced at the prison through special construction methods, Litrenta said.