New Jail

By Memo Morantes

There is no denying that the new, $165 million, 576-bed correctional facility will be built. It took a little for our community to get over the sticker shock but the facts supporting the need for a new jail were too pressing. This is a wise investment that will serve the County well for many years to come. And it is a smart jail that is being built in a hybrid design where there will be future unfinished floors and space available for build-out + something neither current facility possessed which led to this problem. And I am also supportive of our County looking into available space in other surrounding jails including the San Francisco jail located in San Bruno.

However, space isn't the issue that is plaguing the jail. Instead, the issue that is of grave concern now is the roughly $35-40 million estimate in annual operating costs to keep the jail running. It, too, is an astronomical figure that will prove difficult to fund and manage. My desire to tackle this cost is to not only find new funding streams locally, statewide and nationally, but to also find ways to create and sustain innovative rehabilitation programs to drive those operating costs down through collaborative partnerships and through lessening jail population and the current 70% recidivism rate that plagues all of California.

Some of my proposals are not new ideas + I will never take credit for the work or ideas of others nor only listen only to myself for solutions + but ones that I support and hope to champion. These are solutions that include programs for assessing defendants to separate those who need treatment from those who need to serve time. One of the populations that is unfairly incarcerated are individuals with mental health problems. These are people who need medical help through treatment and medicine to help them sustain an independent life where they do not pose harm to themselves or others. In the field, first responders are already assessing the mental health needs of some individuals through the SMART program where law enforcement works with EMS and hospitals to get mental health patients the help they need rather than sending them to jail. These are creative, pre-emptive methods that keep folks out of prisons and out of the justice system.

For those individuals who committed a crime under their own volition and must go through the justice system, there are ways that we can separate the hardened criminals and flight risk candidates from those who made a bad mistake or judgment or were caught under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. There are plenty of rehabilitation programs for the latter where those who made a one-time error don't need to be locked up but rather pay a fine, enter a program and prove they can change their ways and not make another mistake. And for the former, unless they are a continued threat to themselves or others or a flight risk, there's no need to keep them locked up while they make their way through the justice system. And even after their conviction, our Sheriff and Probation have excellent programs for electronic monitoring and release-on-your-own-recognizance programs where convicts can serve creative jail times without necessarily clogging up the jail system.

And I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the amazing rehabilitation programs that our non-profit organizations like the Service League provide inmates during and shortly after jail so that they are properly rehabilitated and have the necessary support group and treatment programs to successfully re-introduce them back into society where they can begin anew as productive residents of our community.