Gates Seeks to Hike Jail Beds by 600 : Sheriff Also Asks Supervisors to Set Up Detox Center

Sheriff Brad Gates on Thursday asked the county Board of Supervisors to provide 600 more emergency jail beds by year’s end in order to comply with a federal court order to control overcrowding at the central men’s jail in Santa Ana.

“We have reached the proverbial bottom line,” Gates said in a letter to the board. “Under the current conditions, it will be difficult to continue the safe and humane operation of the county jail and meet the mandates of the court.”

Gates wants 300 maximum security beds plus 300 minimum security beds to replace the temporary tents which currently house inmates at the James A. Musick branch jail near El Toro.

In a separate action, Gates also asked the board to establish a detoxification center within 60 days so that law enforcement agencies will be able to take drunks they arrest somewhere beside the County Jail.

Forced to Close Drunk Tank

The sheriff has said he was forced to close the jail’s drunk tank recently under pressure to comply with a federal court order to keep the jail population to no more than 1,400 inmates.

To find more jail beds, Gates suggested that the 300-capacity women’s jail in Santa Ana might be converted into a maximum security men’s jail, with the women prisoners transferred to another facility.

Gates was unavailable Thursday to explain how this could be accomplished. He has scheduled a news conference today to discuss the issue.

Board Chairman Ralph B. Clark said Thursday that Gates’ letter “clearly validates my position that the board has failed to solve the short-term jail overcrowding crisis.”

Court Order Modified

U.S. District Judge William P. Gray last week slightly modified his earlier order for a 1,400-inmate ceiling on the men’s population. He allowed Gates to house 1,450 inmates on weekends and 1,500 on three-day weekends.

But Gray warned that county officials must be prepared to live within the 1,400 ceiling by the end of the summer.

“We interpret that to mean we have to do something very soon, or we won’t be able to comply,” Gates said last week before issuing his proposal to the board.

The main men’s jail had a population of more than 2,000 when Gray issued his first order on March 18, 1985. That population has been reduced to somewhere close to 1,400, thanks to various steps taken by county officials under pressure from Gray.

For example, county officials built the 320-bed tent city at Musick, plus a 408-bed modular jail at Musick just a few yards away from the tents. They also accelerated operations of the county parole board to get inmates out of jail earlier.

County officials also speeded up plans to build a 180-bed addition to the Theo Lacy branch jail in Orange, which opened in March.

Last month, supervisors approved a new $138-million maximum security jail to be built in Anaheim, just half a mile from Anaheim Stadium.

Gates lauded those efforts in his letter but said they weren’t enough.

The problem, he said, is that the inmate population may be growing faster than county officials can plan for it.

Numbers Nearly Double

For example, the total inmate population for all the county’s jail facilities in March, 1984, was 2,709. That number jumped to 2,856 in March, 1985, and to 3,245 in March, 1986. Gates said the figure projected for March, 1987, is 3,984.

Clark and Supervisor Bruce Nestande were receptive to Gates’ idea of converting the women’s jail to a men’s maximum security jail.

“We may have to start moving females around in order to make more space for the maximum-security facility for men,” Nestande said.

The population at the women’s jail Thursday was 239. It has rarely exceeded its capacity and has never been the problem the men’s jail has been.

No Other Way

Nestande added that he sees no other way to provide more beds quickly except to expand existing jails.

Gates reiterated in his letter Judge Gray’s warning that there would be no more modifications of the order for a 1,400-inmate limit at the central jail after the summer is over.

“I have said that the inmates have a right to live in a jail that is not overcrowded, and I have determined that anything more than 1,400 at that jail constitutes overcrowding,” Gray said at that hearing.

Gates has taken several steps on his own to reduce the jail population during the past year.

Series of Steps

He stopped taking federal and state prisoners soon after Gray’s March 18, 1985, order. And, in recent weeks, he has authorized his staff to release misdemeanor inmates with a citation to appear in court.

Two weeks ago, Gates reluctantly informed city police agencies he would no longer take drunks in the jail, except drunk drivers--for four hours only--and people who committed a crime while drunk, such as assaulting a police officer.

Gates has long been on record as recommending the establishment of a detoxification center, or at least a sobering-up station, so that police agencies won’t have to take drunks to the County Jail.

Earlier this year, Gates said he sent letters to county health care officials asking them to take the lead in planning the establishment of a new detoxification center. However, Gates said he got only a lukewarm response, so he has decided to take the lead himself.

Community Opposition

The county considered a plan for such a facility two years ago, but supervisors backed down in the face of strong opposition from community groups.

Gates said county leaders should build a detoxification facility regardless. “It has to go somewhere,” he said. “You can’t build it in the sky and hang it by a hook.”

He added that the County Jail is no place for drunks because “they need to be in a medical environment.”

The police agency most affected by the new policy on drunks is Santa Ana, which handles a majority of the county’s arrests for public drunkenness.

Since Gates closed the jail to most drunks, the Santa Ana police primarily have been ignoring people drunk on the street, said Santa Ana Chief Deputy Eugene Hansen.

“We’ve called the paramedics for some, and we’ve taken some people home,” Hansen said. “But for the most part, we’ve simply had to let the transients lie on the streets. The County Jail is the only place we had to take them.”