It’s Time for Whole County to Get Serious About Jails : All Locales Must Share Load in Easing Overcrowding

For years now the “not in my backyard” syndrome has triumphed over the “lock ‘em up and throw away the key” mentality in Orange County. There are too many criminals, too few jail cells. The situation keeps getting worse.

Supervisor Don Saltarelli phrased it aptly a week and a half ago: “It’s gut-check time in Orange County.”

The occasion for Saltarelli’s remark was a proposal by Sheriff Brad Gates to upgrade the James A. Musick Branch Jail near Irvine from a minimum-security detention camp to a maximum-security facility.

To no one’s surprise, that angered many South County residents. They were already upset with Orange County government, and residents north of the El Toro Y, for voting against a measure that effectively would have blocked a commercial airport at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, not far from the Musick jail.

It is time for county residents to face reality. Inmates are getting out of jail early because there are too few cells. Some who are freed before serving their full sentences commit crimes again. Rhetoric about tough punishment is fine, but we should not fool ourselves into thinking that the reality matches the tough talk.

It has been 18 years since a federal judge ordered the county to end overcrowding in its jails. Yet today we have facilities built for 3,600 inmates, while the daily average is around 5,100, according to the Sheriff’s Department. The total behind bars keeps increasing. The daily total three years ago was around 4,700. The county cannot continue increasing its jail population without adding cells; to do so runs the risk of being held in contempt of court and squandering money on fines and attorneys’ fees that should be spent on solving the problem.

The county’s bankruptcy has made matters worse. The Theo Lacy Branch Jail in Orange has a 166-bed wing that is unused because of a lack of $2 million to pay for guards. Last year the county and the city of Orange agreed to expand Lacy from 1,300 inmates to 3,000. That has been moot, since the county has no money for expansion.

Gates said the county could receive $60 million to $70 million if a statewide jail construction bond measure is put on the November ballot and voters approve it. That would pay for much of the Lacy construction and part of a Musick expansion.

To get the city of Orange’s agreement for expansion, the county had to promise a $10-million package of benefits for the city. If Musick is expanded, Irvine and Lake Forest, the nearby communities, will also expect extra considerations.

A concern of all communities with jails is security. Fears of jail breaks and convicts wandering nearby streets must be allayed. The maximum-security jail in Santa Ana has a good record in this area. That experience shows the Sheriff’s Department can keep its inmates behind bars and should help reassure communities near Musick.

But the county’s record in winning over communities is not good. Agreed, it’s a tough task. But too little was done three years ago to explain the need for a work-furlough facility in Costa Mesa. Those convicted of offenses like drunk driving and not paying child support would be locked up at night and work at regular jobs during the day. But the county came up with what appeared to be a good site only after two unsuitable locations were rejected and failed to brief the community fully on its plans. The result was no jail.

Jails are part of a community, not just one city. It is unfair to expect Santa Ana and Orange to take all the county’s maximum-security prisoners, while other communities get only low-risk inmates or none at all.

County supervisors should take the initial step of preparing an environmental impact report on a transformation of Musick into a maximum-security jail. They should also explore other sites around the county since neighbors of the El Toro base now seem positioned to get a commercial airport they never planned on. Officials will need to communicate clearly and frequently with affected residents. In turn, those living in the county must realize it does no good to sentence a criminal to jail if there is no space.