Hollister
– Crowding at the San Benito County Jail neared capacity levels
after a high number of arrests over the weekend.
Hollister – Crowding at the San Benito County Jail neared capacity levels after a high number of arrests over the weekend.
And as local peace officers make more arrests, the problem only continues to grow, Undersheriff Pat Turturici said. Every week, the sheriff’s office has to juggle inmates, finding places for them to go without endangering the community.
“It’s a tough situation for me because I love that we’re taking these people off the streets,” Turturici said.
With an inmate capacity of 142, the jail population was 138 when Turturici arrived at work Monday morning.
The ideal jail population for San Benito County is about 120, Jail Commander Edward Escamilla said.
Increases in the county’s population, drug use and gang-related crimes have stressed the jail’s capacity in recent years, Turturici said.
Female inmates are also becoming more common.
When Turturici began working with the sheriff’s office in the 1980s, he said it was rare to have even one female inmate.
Turturici said that women are committing crimes such as burglaries to support their drug habits.
“Meth addiction is just as bad for the women as it is for the men,” Turturici said.
As summer approaches, and people are out later and drinking more, the undersheriff said the jail population will only grow.
Every Monday, Sheriff Curtis Hill, Escamilla and the undersheriff look at a variety of options to move people out of custody.
The jail population had dropped to 127 Thursday, according to jail personnel.
The long-term solution is expansion of the jail, Turturici said. The sheriff is working to secure state funding to expand the jail and bring on more staff, he said.
For now, jail personnel will continue to juggle inmates.
To ease overcrowding, the sheriff often looks to San Benito County Superior Court judges for help.
Under sections of the California Penal Code, the sheriff can ask the presiding judge to reduce a low-risk convict’s sentence up to five days.
Judge Steven Sanders said the jail population waxes and wanes throughout the year. During certain periods in 2006, Sanders said he worked with the sheriff’s office weekly to review cases and release prisoners.
Sanders said as the jail population declined at the end of last year, he began reviewing sentences monthly.
“It’s a concern from our standpoint because we want the convicts to serve their full sentence,” Sanders said.
Home arrest and electronic surveillance is also an option.
“We work with probation in trying to get as many people out on home detention as we can,” Turturici said.
Jail personnel are concerned that the growing population could create problems among the inmates themselves.
“When you have a high population there tends to be more fights in the jail,” Turturici said.
There are about 100 people in the county’s work program, which allows convicts to serve their time out of custody.
The jail was built in 1992, when gang problems were not as prevalent in San Benito County, Turturici said. The jail features dormitory-style pods that make segregating prisoners difficult.
Segregating the prisoners by gang affiliation and their potential for violence is a must, Escamilla said.
“You can’t throw a cat in with dogs,” he said.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or [email protected].
