Absence of Smoke May Fan Flames of Unrest at Crowded Jails in San Diego County

In the best of times, summer is long and hot in San Diego County’s overcrowded jails. It could get hotter today when sheriff’s deputies begin enforcing a total ban on smoking at all detention facilities.

The ban could spark protests and violence from inmates suffering the effects of nicotine withdrawal, say health experts and corrections officials.

Debbie Kelley of the American Lung Assn. visited every facility in San Diego County’s jail system in an attempt to help the inmates adjust to the new rule.

“The speed with which the jails moved, and the time of year they chose to do it concern me,” she said, adding that more time for the transition was needed.

Tensions inside the over-crowded jails have risen since cigarette sales were cut off June 17. A riot Sunday at the County Jail in Chula Vista was followed by another Tuesday at the Descanso honor camp. Fights among inmates over the dwindling supply of cigarettes contributed to both disturbances, the deputies who serve as jail guards acknowledged.

The price of a single cigarette inside the Chula Vista jail sky-rocketed to $9, or $180 per pack, said Sgt. Dennis Ferons, a watch commander. “Realistically, if you are an inmate with a cigarette, they will try to trade for it. And if you don’t do it, they will fight for it,” Ferons said.

Kelley said she was cooly received by most inmates during her tour of the jails. Some threatened to riot, while others demanded to negotiate changes to the no-smoking policy. “There was an awful lot of apprehension, at the minimum,” Kelley said.

At the Descanso honor camp, jail commander Lewis Jones said he is most concerned about the first weekend under the ban, anticipating possible protests today and on the first work day Monday. “We are seeing a lot more physical stuff as the cigarettes run out,” he said. “Guys are walking around with shorter fuses.”

Extra guards may be added to work overtime over the weekend at the Descanso and El Cajon facilities, jail officials said.

But a Sheriff’s Department spokesman was more optimistic: “We are always concerned, but do not anticipate any more problems than usual.”

The smoking ban was proposed by a task force of assistant jail commanders and approved by the Board of Supervisors last month, Sgt. Jim Cook said. Public health and maintenance costs combined with the threat of litigation by incarcerated non-smokers, assured the policy’s approval, he said.

Similar Programs

San Diego now joins Sacramento, Kern and Yolo counties in California, along with King’s County in Washington State and a jurisdiction in Utah, as the only systems in the nation which prohibit smoking in at least some of the jails. Many other California counties, and one each in Michigan and Virginia, also plan jail smoking bans. The policy receives generally favorable reviews from those who live with it, but there are problems as well.

When the ban first went into effect in Kern County, “I thought they were going to burn the place down,” said Al Gutierrez, chief of detention for Kern County Sheriff’s Department. “I was amazed we had as few problems as we did.”

Yolo County experienced protests and threats by inmates for a month after the change, said Lt. Stan Rommel, manager of the county jail. But Yolo County is not San Diego--it is not 231% over its rated inmate capacity.

“If you assume inhumane overcrowding, and an adversarial relationship between guards and inmates, and then throw in the ban, it could all add up to a very big number,” Rommel said. “If I were (in San Diego County), I would be thinking real hard about this ban.”

Ban in Los Angeles

The federal Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles experimented with a complete ban for one month before smoking was again allowed in some areas, Warden Margaret Hembrick said. Inmate protests against the policy played a part in its reversal, she said.

One of Sacramento County’s jails adopted a smoking ban in late December, 1988, said Sacramento Sheriff’s Capt. Philip Murphy. “The reason everyone is talking of doing it now is that they waited to see what would happen here. Before long this will be standard policy everywhere.”

But nicotine addiction expert Rosemarie Kelly said the San Diego system’s overcrowding added a “volatile” ingredient to the mix. Kelly, program director of Second Breath smoking cessation clinic, said a cigarette gives the smoker an illusion of personal space that may not exist beyond his imagination. “You will see anger and hostility when that illusion is taken away” from the inmates, she said.