Sheriff wants a new jail, knows odds are against him

Sheriff Lee Baca wants the county to tear down Men’s Central Jail, the hub of Los Angeles County’s overcrowded and violence-plagued jail system, and build a state-of-the-art facility in its place.

Baca conceded that his idea faces long odds because of its steep price tag -- he said it could cost between $500 million and $800 million -- and is just one among several proposals the county is considering as ways to upgrade and expand the nation’s largest jail system.

There is little indication that the county Board of Supervisors will agree to undertaking such an expensive project, but Baca said he still believes the county needs a new central jail.

Since it opened just east of downtown 44 years ago, Men’s Central Jail has been the scene of many of the jail system’s most disturbing incidents, including nine inmate homicides in the last seven years. In 2004, an inmate roamed the jail unsupervised for hours before tracking down and killing an inmate who had testified against him.

Months after that killing, Merrick Bobb, the county’s special counsel, wrote a report that described the jail as “nightmarish to manage” and suggested the department close it.

In 2006, after touring the facility at the request of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson called conditions in the jail “inconsistent with basic human values.”

Pregerson noted that the Sheriff’s Department had crammed six inmates into cells designed to hold four and that most prisoners spent days at a time in their cells, leaving only once a week to exercise on the roof.

The department responded by moving more than 2,000 inmates to other jail facilities, including the modern Twin Towers Correctional Facility across the street.

Even though Central Jail is more manageable with fewer inmates, deputies and sheriff’s officials contend the jail is outdated. It was, they say, intended for drunk drivers and the like, not for the gang members and other violent criminals who make up the majority of its population.

One of the biggest concerns is the jail’s design: Most of its cells were built in long, narrow hallways, making it impossible for guards to view inmates from a central booth. There are no video cameras. Instead, jailers make hourly walks down the hallways, peering into cells to make sure inmates are alive and well.

Later this month, the Board of Supervisors is expected to consider several options for the future of the county jails. Baca said he hopes the county can find the money to empty Men’s Central Jail of its nearly 4,000 inmates for several years while building a new facility.

“The jail is the oldest in our system. It has outlived its time,” Baca said. “The money part is critical. It’s an ambitious project.”

One alternative would be to refurbish the jail or build a new tower nearby to hold additional inmates, Baca said. Any construction would probably take place after the county reopens Sybil Brand Institute in Monterey Park in 2011 and a new women’s jail in Castaic, also expected in 2011.

“We have a problem where we cannot tear down a jail easily without having another place to put the prisoners,” Baca said.

The sheriff said plans to modernize and expand the jail system -- which holds about 19,000 inmates -- would allow him to increase the percentage of sentences that inmates serve. Since 2002, the department has been releasing inmates early because it lacks the resources to hold them.

He said a long-term plan to modernize the county jails could cost $1 billion and might not be possible without a bond measure, a loan that would require voter approval.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said he thinks the county should consider other alternatives to a new central jail.

“I believe any bond issue anywhere close to this magnitude for new county jails is unrealistic and doomed to failure until all other alternatives are exhausted,” the supervisor said in a statement. “Those alternatives would include a more modest investment in existing facilities and improvements in the sheriff’s management of the jails, both of which could lead to increased jail capacity without breaking the county treasury.”

Supervisor Mike Antonovich said he would like the county to find a way to build a new central jail.

“People are sick and tired of inmates serving 86 minutes of jail time,” Antonovich said. “We need a new facility. . . . What we need is a better prioritization of the funding that we have to meet the needs most vital to our community, to keep people behind bars and not released after a few minutes.”

Melinda Bird, a lawyer with the ACLU, said conditions at Men’s Central Jail have improved since her organization asked Pregerson to tour it and that a new jail may not be necessary.

“Every time I go over there, the inmates say thanks,” Bird said. “The guys totally can see the difference.”

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stuart.pfeifer@latimes.com