Jail Charges Spur Escondido’s Plans for Drunk Tank

Escondido unveiled preliminary plans Wednesday to create the first drunk tank in the county, outside San Diego, to avoid paying a controversial county fee for booking a prisoner into jail.

The “inebriate reception center” would act as an overnight holding area for persons arrested in Escondido for public drunkenness, which made up one-third of all arrests in the city last year, said Jerry Van Leeuwen, director of community services.

By processing people through the center instead of the county-run Vista jail, the city would be able to evade the $154 fee for each person booked into jail, Van Leeuwen said. Last year, 1,499 people were arrested for public drunkenness in the city.

The county did not begin charging booking fees until last year, and Escondido is one of several cities that joined in a lawsuit challenging the county’s right to do so.

The center would also save time, allowing police officers to remain in the community while dealing with public drunkenness.

“We’re arresting a lot of public inebriates, and the cost of that in terms of transporting them to Vista for booking in terms of officer time is very significant,” Van Leeuwen said. It takes at least two hours for an officer to arrest and book a person in Vista jail for drunkenness, he said.

Also, of those people booked for drunkenness, more than 80% are released without prosecution, Van Leeuwen said.

“They arrest them, then let them sober up and then they kick them out the door,” he said.

Van Leeuwen said the center, although not providing services itself, could be linked to health organizations such as those providing alcohol detoxification and recovery services.

The cost of the project and the timetable for its development have not yet determined, pending negotiations with the county, Van Leeuwen said.

City staff members must enter formal negotiations with the county to resolve issues of maintenance and operation of the center, as well as decide on a site for the project, before the City Council votes on the plan.

The city hopes that the county will bear some of the costs of running the program, given that the center would reduce the burden on an already overpopulated jail.

Van Leeuwen stressed, however, that the facility would only be used by Escondido and not by neighboring cities.

County officials could not be reached for comment.

City Council members were generally receptive to the proposal, citing the amount of time that police deal with inebriates.

“I did a ride-along (with Escondido police officers) last Friday, and the one inebriate that we dealt with took up more time than any other case. The time expended was astronomical,” Councilman Sid Hollins said.

Councilman Kris Murphy said he is concerned with the liability that the city might have to bear.

“My gut tells me that I would rather put those people in the county’s charge than to keep them. . . . The resulting liability could wipe out any savings that we might get over the next 20 years,” Murphy said.

The Escondido Community Clinic, at the corner of Spruce Street and Norlak Avenue, has been mentioned as a site for the center. The low-income community clinic provides dental and medical services, and is situated in a non-residential neighborhood.