Prisoners back in home city
Ryan Carter
BURBANK -- Burbank Police have gotten their prisoners back.
Detainees arrested in Burbank were expected to return today to the
Burbank Jail after a four-week stay in Glendale.
The expected move comes after the prisoners were transferred to the
Glendale jail March 18 while workers repaired defective flooring.
Having the detainees and the use of the jail back will be a relief,
police said.
“You had two departments using one jail in Glendale. It’s stress on
our officers and it’s a stress on Glendale,” Burbank Lt. Roger Mason
said.
Burbank officers have had to drive to Glendale to interview prisoners,
and local jail workers have been driving to Glendale to work there.
Through a mutual aid agreement with Glendale, Burbank does not have to
pay to house its prisoners there.
Contractors finished repairing flooring at the Burbank Jail after
moisture routinely seeped up from the building’s foundation and onto the
floor surface, police said. The moisture created a safety hazard and air
bubbles in the surface’s vinyl covering, Burbank Capt. Gordon Bowers
said.
The problem has persisted since the Police and Fire Headquarters on
North 3rd Street in Burbank was completed in 1998, police said.
The building was partially evacuated April 6. Fumes from the repair
job had gotten so bad that 15 station employees from the basement and an
upper level complained of dizziness and shortness of breath. No one was
seriously injured, and large fans were used to blow the fumes out, Bowers
said.