PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92025 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
.com MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
VOL. 28, N0. 7
Feb. 14, 2014
SAN MARCOS -NEWS
Jails on the brink
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County inmate populations balloon, pushing jails beyond capacity
THE VISTA NEWS
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By Rachel Stine
Initiated in October 2011, California Assembly Bill (AB) 109 and AB 117 required low-level felony offenders who would have previously been sent to state prisons to instead serve their sentences in county jails. The legislation was designed to fulfill the state’s Three-Judge Court order for Gov. Jerry Brown to reduce the number of inmates in California’s overpopulated prisons. County jail populations throughout the state have
RANCHO SFNEWS
The dorms for the county’s new women’s detention facility in Santee are near completion, like the housing for low-level offenders above. The $270 million new jail will contain over 1,200 beds, hundreds more than the current Las Colinas Detention Facility. Though the women’s jail so far has not experienced a shortage of beds, its inmate population has been rising steadily since the implementation of California’s prison realignment. Photo and graph by Rachel Stine. San Diego County Daily Jail Adult Inmate Population Aug 1, 2013-Jan 1, 2014 6500
The highest inmate population = 5,985 inmates on Nov. 18, 2013
Voters give.com OK to less restrictive use policy
6000
By Bianca Kaplanek
5500 The lowest inmate population = 5,464 inmates on Oct. 6, 2013
Average daily adult inmate population Total beds available in all jail facilities
5000
Court and Sheriff's inmate population capacity for all jail facilities State recommended capacity for jail facilities
been growing ever since, as jails take on more inmates and house inmates longer as they serve lengthier sentences. San Diego County’s inmate population is no exception. San Diego County had an average of 4,640 adult inmates in its seven jails per day in September 2011, the month before realignment took effect, according to data from the Sheriff’s Department. In January 2013, the County jails housed an average of 5,192 inmates each
day. By December 2013, the average daily inmate population rose to 5,715 inmates. “The increase in our population is almost exclusively related to realignment,” said Cmdr. John Ingrassia, who monitors the jails’ inmate populations for the San Diego Sheriff Department’s Detention Services Bureau. Currently over 1,500 inmates in the county’s jails are there because of realignment and prior to October 2011 would have been sent to state prisons,
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Realignment’s Impacts on County Jail Populations
A less restrictive use policy that allows larger, more frequent weekend parties at Fletcher Cove Community Center was approved by voters in the Feb. 11 special election. Photo by Bianca Kaplanek
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REGION — Over two years after the implementation of California’s prison realignment, the adult inmate population in San Diego County’s jails is still rising, nudging the facilities closer to the brink of maximum capacity and sometimes beyond it. One of the county’s detention facilities is operating over a court-ordered inmate population capacity, and last fall over 200 inmates had to sleep on the floor at one jail due to lack of appropriate housing. The Sheriff’s Department is working to mitigate the safety and health risks of overcrowded jails, while eagerly awaiting the opening of two new facilities. Detention policy experts are monitoring the jails closely to ensure that constitutional housing standards are met. But, they also hope that the County will rely less on jail and more on alternative custody options and reentry programs for offenders. While the realigned inmate population appears to have stabilized, officials cannot pinpoint a time when San Diego County’s jail inmate population will level off.
he said. Realigned offenders are those sentenced for non-violent, non-serious, and non-sex felonies or for violating the conditions of their parole. Realigned offenders in jail for felonies are serving longer sentences due to the increased severity of their crime than non-realigned offenders who are in jail serving sentences for misdemeanor crimes. realignment, Before TURN TO JAILS ON A10
SOLANA BEACH — Larger, more frequent private celebrations with no limit on beer and wine consumption will now be allowed at Fletcher Cove Community Center. Proposition B, an initiative defining a use policy for the bluff-top facility, was approved by slightly more than 51 percent of voters in the Feb. 11 special election that cost the city about $200,000. “I’m in great spirits today,” proposition supporter Mary Jane Boyd said the day after the election. “Obviously we’re overjoyed with the results. This restored our faith in the democratic process.” The 1935 Civilian Conservation Corps barracks that was moved from Vista to its current location on Pacific Avenue in 1944 could once be rented for private parties such as wedding receptions, birthdays and anniversary celebrations. The events took a toll on the adjacent residential neighborhood, resulting in drunken behavior, noise and parking issues. The
parties eventually stopped and the building fell into disrepair, being used only for community events and classes. But as a $370,000 renovation, funded mostly by private donations and grants, neared completion in 2011, residents began asking when the center could again be rented for private parties. Those living near the 1,100-square-foot venue — some new and others who remember issues from decades earlier — set out to avoid repeating history. Together with city officials and community members, they tried to work out a compromise. Most issues were resolved except alcohol consumption, which isn’t allowed at any city facility. Council members failed to reach a consensus at a meeting last June and tabled the discussion to set a use policy. That prompted a group of residents to gather signatures for a citizen initiative so voters could decide what events could take place at TURN TO FLETCHER COVE ON A20