Jail Locks Concern Officials

What good is a jail if the locks don’t work?

Things haven’t gotten that bad at the Ventura County Jail--yet. But sheriff’s officials say they could if something is not done soon to replace the jail’s aging electronic door and locking system.

For nearly five years, the Sheriff’s Department has been trying to get a new system installed without any luck.

“This has gone on and on,” Undersheriff Richard Bryce said last week. “We can’t afford to wait any longer. It’s a question of safety.”

Initially, the plan was only to replace the electronic system that opens and closes the doors of the jail’s 400 cells. The cost: $546,000.

But then the county got into a squabble with Fire Electric--the Los Angeles-based contractor hired in 1995 to perform the job--over the quality of materials and software it planned to use.

The county charged that Fire Electric was not living up to its end of the contract because of its insistence on using what the county considered to be inferior materials. The company disagreed and sued. The case is still in litigation.

In the meantime, sheriff’s officials discovered that the gears on the locks of the 400 cells were quickly wearing out and also have to be replaced. Estimated total cost of the project now: $3 million.

But the project has been stalled because of financing problems and the ongoing litigation involving the initial contractor, officials said.

“I can’t do anything until somebody gives me some direction and some money,” said Robert Quinn, the public works official who was overseeing the initial project.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors will consider a proposal to allocate $1 million in sales tax money collected on behalf of public safety agencies to replace the jail door system. The remaining costs will be picked up largely from the Sheriff Department’s own budget.

Sheriff’s officials said that if the board approves the allocation they can update their plans for a new locking system and start looking for another contractor within the next six months.

They said they are anxious to get going before the jail’s existing door system becomes a safety hazard. Indeed, even if a new contractor was hired immediately, officials said, it could be 18 months to two years before the replacement project is finished.

“We can’t delay this any longer,” said Cmdr. Joseph Harwell, who oversees the jail. “There are tremendous liability issues that we are faced with if we don’t proceed with a good conscientious effort to complete the project. I feel very strongly about the life and safety issues involved.”

His chief concern is not the escape of inmates--who would have to go through several security systems before reaching the outside--but the welfare of the deputies patrolling inside the jail, Harwell said. There have been instances in which cell doors have been found open because the electronic locking system failed, he said.

“Fortunately, no one has ever been hurt,” Harwell said. “We’ve been lucky. But you don’t want to run a facility like this on luck.”

Bryce agreed.

“It’s not like this is an office and you tell people to be a little extra careful,” he said. “This is a jail. We’ve got people that don’t want to be there. And the door locks are the primary element of security.”

The jail and its automated door system were built in 1980. But because of their heavy use--the doors on some of the jail cells are opened and closed two dozen times a day--the wear and tear is extensive, officials said.

Deputies on occasion have to open doors manually when the automated system has failed, and at times county maintenance workers have been called in to help, Bryce said.

Another pressing problem is that certain components of the 17-year-old electronic system that controls the jail doors are no longer manufactured and so officials have had to do a little improvising to keep the system running.

“Some parts of it are jury-rigged,” Bryce said, “so it’s a critical situation.”

The main thing, he said, is that his department wants to avoid a major system failure that poses all kinds of safety problems, even for inmates.

“The locks could break and we could have a situation where somebody is in distress and we can’t get in there to get them out,” he said. “We haven’t reached that point. But we don’t want to get to that point.”