County Would Face Costly Repairs for ‘Unsafe’ Brig : Prisons: Loan of the Navy’s old brig would ease jail crowding, but the facility needs $1 million in repairs.

The Navy’s brig at 32nd Street, offered to San Diego County as a temporary solution to crowded county jails, has not met the Navy’s own safety or security standards for at least four years, according to a report obtained by The Times.

Washington Navy officials demanded that the brig either be closed before March, 1991, or fixed--a venture that would cost almost $1 million, according to the report by the Bureau of Naval Personnel, dated March 23, 1990.

The report cites “serious inadequacies” in the old facility, including water leaks that produce electrocution hazards, a lack of smoke alarms and poor fire sprinklers. Navy officials say they have been able to operate the facility safely because they maintain a one-to-one staff/prisoner ratio.

“If the brig was perfect, we wouldn’t be abandoning it,” said Capt. James G. Prout III, commanding officer of the Naval Station at 32nd Street. “While it may not meet our standards, it’s superior to the alternatives the county faces. . . . But they could end up with a terrible black eye (if a prisoner was hurt). Then the press would say: ‘Why the hell are you putting prisoners there--look what the report said.’ ”

Because of the brig’s decrepit condition, the Navy will transfer 84 prisoners from the 32nd Street facility to the new brig at Miramar Naval Air Station. This move is scheduled for Dec. 3, one day before county officials must report to El Cajon Superior Court Judge James A. Malkus on any plans to use the Navy brig. Last month, the Navy broached to the Sheriff’s Department the possibility of loaning the county the brig for an unspecified time to temporarily relieve jail crowding.

On Dec. 4, county officials must explain to Malkus their solution for easing crowding in the county jails. Systemwide, the county jails are housing 297 more prisoners than ordered by the court. The downtown jail is now the most crowded. Built to house 750 inmates, it holds 1,004.

County officials say the Navy brig offers the best solution. And the Navy report, which county officials have not yet seen, threatens to put the kibosh on their only option, they say.

“If someone puts you on notice that they are getting out because it is unsafe, you have to pose the question, ‘Can we then take our inmates in?’ ” said Ken Wigginton, assistant sheriff for detention facilities services with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

A member of the Sheriff’s Department had gotten an “unofficial look-see” at the brig and said it “looked good,” Wigginton said.

Wigginton, who had seen neither the report nor the brig, said officials need to tour and evaluate the 61-year-old Navy facility. Such a tour, however, will not occur until Secretary of the Navy H. Lawrence Garrett III decides whether t e Navy will loan the brig to the county.

The report was based on an inspection conducted every three years by engineers and specialists. During the inspection, conducted over three days beginning Nov. 13, 1989, experts found many of the same discrepancies that had been detailed in a 1986 inspection.

On a rating system of “A” through “D,” the brig received a “D” in both inspections.

“This rating means that serious inadequacies exist which preclude” the successful confinement and “affect the safety and health of staff and prisoners,” according to the report. Fire hazards pointed out in earlier reports had not been corrected, according to the report.

The fire and “life safety” discrepancies must be corrected by March, 1991, “or the authorized prisoner capacity of the Naval Brig, San Diego will be reduced to zero,” the report said.

The items needing immediate attention included water leaks in the scullery garbage disposal area that posed potential electrocution hazards, the dearth of smoke detectors in the sick bay, as well as a dormitory, lounge and weight room area.

The report goes on to list several hazards in a number of categories, including fire and safety, physical security, mechanical, electrical, environmental and industrial hygiene.

The report also suggested the installation of fire-proof doors with steel frames, smoke seals around stairwells and a fire sprinkler in several areas. Other parts of the aging structure posed hazards for the inmates. The light fixtures and glass mirrors could be broken and used as weapons, the report said. The pipes, situated less than 12 feet above the floor, were dangerous because prisoners could hang themselves from them. Several areas also have confirmed asbestos.

In a separate attached report, F.J. Dahn, head of the Fire Protection Engineering Branch of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command, was equally blunt about the run-down brig.

“Overall, this facility is considered to be in poor condition. This facility utilizes buildings which were never intended to be used as a detention facility,” Dahn wrote.

Brig officials say its problems are a result of old age. Safety standards have outpaced renovations and improvements, they say.

Rather than sink the funds into fixing the building, Naval Station Commanding Officer Prout said it made more sense to evacuate.

“If something should happen to a prisoner, I would hate to have to explain to a sailor’s parents or to a congressional committee why they were there when there was a modern facility up the road 11 miles (at Miramar),” Prout said.

Prout said the Navy was able to keep the facility safe and secure because it had almost as many staff members as inmates.

(In county facilities, the staff-prisoner ratio is much lower. At its worst, in the South Bay jail, there is one deputy for every 14 inmates. At the best, in El Cajon, there are five inmates for each deputy.)

In the past 16 years, there have been no escapes from the older brig.

“It’s almost impossible to escape from the cell block, unless a prisoner is a Houdini,” said Cmdr. Jerry Rea, commanding officer of the brig.

Rea and other brig officials are as proud of that record as they are of the well-maintained condition of the brig. Scrubbed down daily, the brig floors gleam. Inmates and guards have taken care of niceties such as wrapping rope around iron door handles or adding wood decorations to the walls.

“It’s like an old car. You got a lot of knocks and bangs, and you have to keep it up. If you don’t, it quits,” said Rea, who acknowledged that he is concerned whether the county would be able to keep pace with the almost constant repairs.

There is, however, a precedent for the military loaning jail facilities. The armed forces have negotiated arrangements with jails in the past, said Glenn Flood, a Department of Defense spokesman. Federal prisoners, for instance, are housed at the Army’s Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas and the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

But some San Diego officials fear the price tag for renovating the brig may kill their plans to use it. County officials have not yet determined how long they would need the Navy’s brig.

“I doubt we would invest that much money for using it for a short time,” said County Supervisor George Bailey. “It depends what we would get out of it--they are not giving it to us, even if we put a million bucks into it.”