SAN DIEGO COUNTY : Navy Helps Out on Jail

The Navy, intransigent about yielding any of its land for a new regional airport, is showing a neighborly side by offering to discuss helping the county with its overcrowded-jail emergency. With few options available, the county must seriously consider any offer of aid.

Under plans made public this week, the Navy will consider renting the brig at its 32nd Street Naval Base to the county, which would transfer prisoners there from the downtown jail. The county is under court order to lower the jail population there to 750 and must go to court Monday to tell Superior Court Judge James Malkus how it will accomplish this.

Without the Navy’s help, the county has scant hope of reaching the goal. State and federal prisons are full, and prisoner-release programs won’t lower the jail census sufficiently. Malkus has warned that he might fine or jail county officials if they don’t comply. The ACLU is sure to press for prompt action--and rightfully so.

Here’s a chance for the Navy to play savior and counter some of the civic ill will generated by its refusal to even discuss offering land at NAS Miramar or the Marine Corps Recruit Depot for a new or expanded airport. The aging 32nd Street Naval Base brig is less than half full. Navy prisoners there could be transferred to the NAS Miramar brig, where space is also available.

With the new East Mesa jail not expected to open until July (and the county short of money to operate it anyway), we hope that the two bureaucracies can quickly turn this idea into reality.