‘Powder Keg’ Theory on Jails Downplayed

San Diego County’s jails--though overcrowded, understaffed and inadequately maintained--meet all state standards and seem unlikely to explode in crisis, according to a just-released inspection report.

The biennial review by the state Board of Corrections warns, however, that the jail system’s persistent shortcomings leave the county susceptible to new inmate lawsuits and to fresh court findings that conditions in the jails flunk constitutional requirements.

Language Is Mild

The language of the report is mild--particularly given the desperate terms in which county officials usually discuss the jail system. But R. Neil Zinn, the state board representative who inspected the jails, said Wednesday that the county is so aware of its jail problems that there seemed little point in contributing even more alarming rhetoric to the debate.

“Everybody understands that they are on tenterhooks and that they are vulnerable to lawsuits, so I guess I chose not to state the obvious,” Zinn said.

Even so, Brian Bilbray, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, took umbrage at the report, charging that the state--by shortchanging San Diego County and inadequately funding criminal justice programs statewide--is largely responsible for the county’s jail woes.

“This is like Judas pointing the finger at the other disciples and calling them traitors,” Bilbray said. “The state is the No. 1 culprit in this dilemma.”

County officials have scrambled for years, usually unsuccessfully, to find answers for a jail system bursting at the seams.

On Wednesday, there were 3,187 inmates in the six county jails--89% above the system’s 1,689-inmate capacity. There were no beds available for 475 inmates, forcing them to sleep on floors at five jails, including Las Colinas, the women’s jail in Santee, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Sleeping on Floors Assailed

The state report says that “floor sleeping” is blatantly unconstitutional. Such as practice, along with inadequate maintenance of jail facilities and short staffing, provides minimal supervision to inmates, leaving the county increasingly vulnerable to legal challenges, the report said.

“Means must be found to get prisoners off the floor,” the report stated.

Already, the downtown jail operates under a court-ordered cap of 750 inmates--the result of an inmate lawsuit in 1980. While sheriff’s officials acknowledge the cap is regularly violated, Zinn’s report notes that efforts to minimize overcrowding downtown exacerbate jam-packed conditions in the other jails.

The report urges interim steps to reduce the likelihood of lawsuits and to increase planning--with heavy input from the Sheriff’s Department--for longer-term solutions.

Stop-Gap Measures Urged

“Overcrowded jails are less vulnerable to suit where temporary measures are taken to eliminate floor sleepers, additional staff is assigned to assure proper levels of supervision, basic programs . . . are continued and . . . facility sanitation, and maintenance is provided for,” the report says. “When these elements slip, the risk of suit increases dramatically.”

Zinn endorsed a proposal to add temporary jail facilities at Las Colinas, and he urged the county to use minimum-security facilities--with tightened safeguards--to house medium-risk prisoners.

Sheriff officials were studying the report Wednesday and had no comment on the findings, according to Lt. John Tenwolde.

The study--based on a compliance review mandated by state law--is likely to provide ammunition for both county supervisors and for Sheriff John Duffy in their increasingly testy battle over jail funding and responsibility for the system’s problems.

Early this month, Duffy--terming the overcrowding problem “a crisis”--threatened to impose a systemwide population cap that could result in the release of hundreds of potentially dangerous inmates weekly.

Duffy’s ‘Inaction’ Criticized

Last week, Supervisor George Bailey fired his own salvo, charging that inaction by Duffy--in particular, his failure to turn away state parole violators from county jails--had contributed heavily to the jails’ woes.

The state report lauds the Sheriff’s Department for its success in operating the jails under difficult circumstances--a compliment Duffy can be expected to take note of.

Zinn said the capable management of the system has kept tensions to a minimum, making explosive conflicts in the jails unlikely. Such comments seem to belie Duffy’s warnings of an impending crisis in the system.

“Despite all the overcrowding, I didn’t feel like the place was a powder keg ready to blow,” Zinn said. “I’ve been in places overcrowded less than San Diego, and I was concerned if I was going to get out of the darn place.”