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Countywide : Police Chief Pushes for OK of Jail Site

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Ventura Police Chief Richard F. Thomas has urged the Board of Supervisors to approve construction of a new jail near Santa Paula as soon as possible.

In a letter to the board, Thomas said crowding at the existing County Jail has forced the Sheriff’s Department to release inmates prematurely.

“If this continues, the safety of the public we serve will be further jeopardized and the quality of life we enjoy in Ventura County will erode further,” Thomas wrote. The presiding judges of Superior and Municipal courts also cited safety concerns in making the same request of the board earlier this month.

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The supervisors approved construction of a 752-bed jail on Todd Road near Santa Paula in 1990, and are considering a detailed environmental study of the site, which they must certify before construction can begin.

About 300 people turned out Jan. 8 for a hearing on the jail study, and many speakers urged the board to abandon the Todd Road site because it is in an agricultural greenbelt. The location is also prone to floods and earthquakes, they said. But Thomas said in his letter that the issue has been studied enough.

“The Todd Road site seems to be a nearly perfect location,” he wrote. “Let’s face it--very few people want a jail in their back yard, but it needs to be somewhere.”

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