Approximately 100 protestors demonstrated outside the Kenneth Hahn Administration Building on Tuesday, calling for the Los Angeles Board of County Supervisors to reduce the county’s jail system population instead of expanding its facilities to accommodate for more inmates.

Protesters at the Kenneth Hahn Administration Building want the county to reduce the size of its jail population instead of building more jails. (photo by Aaron Blevins)

According to county documents, the board has been looking to address overcrowding in the jails since at least 2006, though various legal hurdles have stalled or altered projects. Protestors, however, called for the supervisors to invest any project funding into the community instead.

“The California prison system has shown that you cannot arrest your way out of social problems,” said Susan Burton, the founder of A New Way of Life Reentry Project, which provides housing and support to formerly incarcerated women and their children.

Burton argued that the county should provide services in lieu of expanding its jail system, because inmates need resources in order to transfer back into society successfully. Since 1999, A New Way of Life has enabled 600 women to return home without government funding, she said.

Many protestors took issue with the county’s $1.4 billion jail expansion proposal, which was discussed at the supervisors’ Oct. 11 meeting. However, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky’s press deputy, Joel Bellman, said that proposal, suggested by county Chief Executive Officer William Fujioka, was “dead on arrival.”

On Tuesday, the supervisors received another proposal, calling for a $5.7 million report by AECOM Services to provide recommendations for solving the county’s jail overcrowding problem. The board, though, asked for a more concrete scope of work plan, Bellman said.

“The board was conceptually OK with the consultant taking a fresh look,” he said.

According to county documents, the board was advised to consider new, rehabilitation-based housing for female inmates at the Pitchess Detention Center; options for reconfiguring, modernizing or expanding the jail system with specific recommendations for Men’s Central Jail; and program alternatives that would reduce the jail population.

In 2006, the board approved a new female barracks at Pitchess and the refurbishment of the Sybil Brand Institute for a total of $258 million. That move would have allowed the county to transfer 2,024 female inmates from the Century Regional Detention Center, opening 1,222 high-security beds and 366 medium security beds at the detention center for male inmates. The state’s Correctional Standards Authority (CSA), however, determined that the reuse of the institute would require 100 percent compliance of CSA standards, increasing construction and operating costs.

The new proposal would create a female detention facility at Pitchess that would include 1,156 low-to-medium security beds and a 26-bed clinic at a cost of $194.7 million. The detention facility would open additional beds for male inmates at the Century Regional Detention Center.

Several issues had previously been raised regarding the condition of Men’s Central Jail. A panel in 2006 identified several issues, including overcrowding, inadequate indoor and outdoor recreation opportunities, a lack of direct inmate supervision and the deterioration of the facility itself. While the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has worked to alleviate those issues, the facility doesn’t lend itself to improvements in those areas, according to county documents. Additionally, a large seismic event could create severe structural damage to the facility.

While a report would further outline the potential costs, county officials are looking to receive $100 million in grant funding from the CSA. The grants give funding preference to counties that committed the largest percentage of inmates to state custody in relation to the total inmate population of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. In 2010, Los Angeles County had the largest percentage. The grants are expected to be awarded in March.

Bellman said the supervisors requested that Fujioka’s office explore additional options or alternatives to incarceration. For example, the county may be able to find a better way to supervise inmates awaiting trial, he said.

“We need someone to keep them in the area under supervision, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be in a jail cell,” Bellman said.

He said he isn’t sure when Fujioka will return with a revised proposal, though the supervisors would like to have jail facility options presented to them in June.

“It’s obviously urgent,” Bellman said.

Protestors, however, reiterated their desire to see the inmate population reduced without building projects. Esther Lim, of ACLU Southern California, said Los Angeles County should stick to being known for its celebrities, glitz and glamour.

“It should not be known for having the largest jail system in the world,” Lim said.

Mary Sutton, of Critical Resistance, a nonprofit that aims to abolish the use of prisons, said California has one of the largest prison populations in the United States, second only to Texas.

“Keep our people home, keep them safe and let’s have a healthy and happy L.A.,” Sutton said.