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.