Week in Review : EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN THE NEWS : COUNTIES : Jail Will Stop Accommodating Drunks in Bid to Cut Crowding
Sidewalk drunks were crowded out of the Orange County Jail for the first time in 18 years Tuesday when Sheriff Brad Gates announced that the drunk tank would no longer accept them.
The move, designed to reduce inmate overcrowding, places cities in a crunch because many of them do not have their own jails.
“I realize there is no other place for the cities to take these people, but I don’t have any choice,” Gates said.
Gates and the county were ordered to reduce the men’s jail population to 1,400 by Thursday. But U.S. District Judge William P. Gray allowed temporary increases in the inmate population to 1,450 for weekends and 1,500 for three-day weekends.
The drunk tank will continue to house drunk drivers, but only for four hours and not overnight.
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