Board Votes to Install Cameras in Central Jail
Chipping away at a security problem that plagues old jails, Orange County supervisors voted Tuesday to install a closed-circuit television surveillance system in the Central Men’s Jail.
“We would like to have video cameras everywhere in the jails system, but it’s quite costly. So we add them as we can,” said Assistant Sheriff Rocky Hewitt. “It’s critical we have them in the Central Jail complex.”
About 50 cameras will be installed on the third and fourth floors, at a cost of $200,000.
Hewitt said the cameras are crucial to ensuring the safety of both sheriff’s deputies and inmates.
The jail in Santa Ana was built in 1968 in what was then a state-of-the-art rectangular design. In recent years, however, jail design has become more round or oval to give guards clustered in the middle a better view of inmates.
“A lot has changed in 30 years,” Hewitt said. The biggest change is in the inmates themselves, he said. Three decades ago, about 70% were held for misdemeanors, now most are held on felonies.
“We have very little problems, but there are occurrences,” Hewitt said. “People who don’t get along on the outside don’t get along any better on the inside.”
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