ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Footing the Anti-Crime Bill

Anyone thinking that all criminals sent off to an Orange County jail will serve their full terms is wrong. Anyone who thinks the problem is likely to get better anytime soon is equally misinformed, as the Orange County Grand Jury pointed out this week.

The panel deserves credit for its report, which should keep the heat on the Board of Supervisors to address the problem of too many criminals and too few jail cells. Especially valuable was the jurors’ warning that the popular “three strikes” law mandating lifetime prison sentences for three-time felons will make a bad situation worse as inmates in the county jails stay there longer before space opens in overcrowded state facilities. The grand jury reported that the county needs 3,615 more beds to house all inmates. Because it lacks those beds, and because a federal court order bars jail overcrowding, “tens of thousands” of people have ducked at least some jail time in recent years.

The grand jury was also right to suggest considering building a jail at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station when the base closes in several years. El Toro is big enough to support a jail as well as other uses. That is why a base reuse committee needs to complete its work and why a proposed November ballot initiative requiring a commercial airport at El Toro is premature. The county should not get locked into one position but rather should let the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority do its work.

The grand jury had a message for county residents too. If they really want to be “tough on crime,” they will have to consider some kind of new taxes to build the jails to house the criminals. County voters rejected a proposed Gypsum Canyon jail and tax increase in 1991. Nobody wants to pay more taxes; however, it may be time to see whether sentiment has changed and action now matches rhetoric.