San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
COUNTY JAILS THIN POPULATION IN EFFORT TO OPEN BEDS
Move made to ready space for expected virus quarantines
In less than a week, the number of inmates in San Diego’s county jails dropped by 6 percent, the result of intentionally releasing some inmates and taking fewer people into custody as authorities grapple with the threat of the coronavirus spreading quickly in communal living spaces.
The plan is to open up beds for inmates who will need to be quarantined for COVID-19 reasons, and to get healthy inmates into other housing areas. As of Friday, no one in the jails had tested positive for the virus, although some symptomatic inmates had been put in quarantine.
Last week, the Sheriff’s Department turned to an early release program for inmates. It also warned agencies throughout the county that it had new restrictions regarding who would be taken into custody. For example, jail staff would not book people who had been arrested for violating misdemeanor marijuana laws.
Plus, prosecutors are reviewing cases with an eye toward releasing people who have committed low-level, non-violent crimes, and who either can’t afford to post bail or likely would have seen their bail lowered if they’d been able to see a judge — which hasn’t happened since coronavirus fears led the courts to essentially close up shop last week.
“From the moment we realized the court would likely close, we began working to find concrete solutions to lessen the impact coronavirus could have on the jail population and the health of the wider community while at the same time maintaining the public’s safety,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a news release Saturday.
“Our concerns include defendants who are not an imminent threat to public safety, who are unable to post bail and would be forced to wait weeks or potentially months for their first court appearance because of the court shut down,” she said.
Combined, the changes had a quick effect. Earlier this month, the population in county jails hit a high of 5,485 inmates. On Saturday, that number was down more than 9 percent.
The biggest drop happened last week. Last Sunday, county jails had 5,303 inmates. On Saturday, days after the changes went into effect, the inmate population was at 4,980 — a 6 percent drop in six days.
Some of that drop came because the Sheriff’s Department, with approval from the presiding judge of the San Diego Superior Court, began releasing certain inmates early. To qualify, an inmate had to have 30 days or less left on their sentence.
At least 160 inmates were released. More may follow.
The early release was done “only to free up the bed space we felt was necessary to manage the requirement we have for housing,” said sheriff’s Capt. Alan Kneeshaw with the department’s Detentions Support Division.
According to Kneeshaw, people who need to be isolated will be put alone in a cell, which usually houses two inmates. That means in some parts of the jail, half of the beds will be unusable. (Many inmates do not typically live in two-person cells, but are housed in large rooms with multiple bunk beds.)
Then there were the changes on the front end, regulating who gets accepted into jail. That caused a big drop in the numbers as well.
That’s because on Monday, the Sheriff’s Department put into place “emergency booking acceptance criteria.” The idea was to limit the kinds of crimes that could land someone in jail. The department sent out those stricter booking guidelines to the region’s law enforcement agencies.
On March 13 — a Friday — 193 people landed in jail as new inmates. The following week, in a 24-hour period ending early Friday morning, the jails accepted 115 new inmates.
And in the 24 hours that followed, according to booking records available to the media, the jails took in 93 new inmates. (It’s important to note that the state has been in a shelter-in-place mode since Thursday, with fewer people going outside.)
Other California counties have also decreased their inmate populations. The Los Angeles Times reported the population of jails there dropped by 6 percent in three weeks.
Jail populations could drop further as officials continue to seek workarounds in the face of the spreading virus. On Friday, for example, California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-sakauye asked officials throughout the state to consider several measures, including dropping bail to zero for some offenses.
More than half of the population in San Diego county’s jails have not been sentenced, and are sitting in custody as they wait for their case to work through the system. Some can’t afford to make bail.
San Diego Superior Court has suspended most operations, including criminal proceedings, through at least April 3. That means, for some inmates like those accused of more serious crimes, it could be three weeks before they can first see a judge. Although the law requires them to be arraigned within 48 hours of arrest, the courts have declared a state of emergency that hits the pause button on that clock.
One possible workaround: The department is trying to install video systems so inmates to have their court hearings at a distance. Keeshaw also said that, even though the courts are closed, San Diego city and county prosecutors review the cases involving new arrestees and let the jails know if they don’t plan to file a case.
And on Saturday, the District Attorney’s Office announced it had worked with the Sheriff ’s Department to craft policies that would bolster the release of inmates accused of low-level, non-violent crimes, people who “normally would have been released if the court was open or can’t afford to post bail.”
Other actions being taken by the district attorney, according to the news release, include identifying inmates who have not yet been convicted or sentenced to see who may be suitable for release. Prosecutors are also working with law enforcement “to prioritize the release of vulnerable inmates,” including seeking re-sentencing for those deemed medically fragile or vulnerable.
Stephan said people who commit crimes “aren’t going to get a free pass.”
“This is about prioritizing and making thoughtful decisions based in fairness and equity during a time of crisis in order to relieve pressure on the system while protecting the public,” she said.