Funds Approved to Boost El Cajon Jail Security

The county Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved spending up to $794,000 to install surveillance cameras and other detection devices to curb jail outbreaks at the escape-prone El Cajon Jail.

Ten inmates have escaped from the nine-story building since it opened in 1983.

Demands to improve security at the jail intensified in November, when seven inmates escaped from cells on the seventh floor by shinnying down a 250-foot rope made of bed sheets. Three of the prisoners remain at large.

Led by Supervisor George Bailey, whose district includes El Cajon, the five-member board unanimously approved his “two-phase approach” for tightening security at the jail.

Also, during the board’s first regular meeting of the new year, Supervisor Leon Williams was unanimously elected chairman, replacing Supervisor Susan Golding.

The board’s decision immediately set into motion “phase one” improvements, which call for installing 15 surveillance cameras in the inmate visiting area and on the roof; adding moisture detectors to notify jail officials of leaks, and more lights. Such improvements are expected to cost a total of $210,400.

Bailey’s proposal recommends that “phase two” improvements--$583,600 to fortify the jail’s walls and ceilings with galvanized sheet metal--should be made only if the county plans to continue using the El Cajon building as a jail.

Critics of the jail, citing its many shortcomings--such as inmates’ ability to kick holes through cell walls--have suggested converting the building into office space or courtrooms. The balance of $583,600 for sheet-metal reinforcements in the walls will not be spent until county officials complete a study evaluating alternate uses of the building.

“It would be stupid to sink in all that money if we decide to use the jail for another purpose,” Bailey said. “The initial improvements make the jail relatively safe and give us time to study alternate uses.”