Fy 09-10 budget for LASD, Pitchess Closing?

[ten-ninetyseven]

I make a habit of checking the BOS correspondence nearly everyday and this was just issued today 6/26 "Fiscal Year 2009-2010 Adopted Budget Curtailments" by the Sheriff and it mentions closing Pitchess facility on July 1, 2009. Thoughts?

http://file.lacounty.gov/bc/q2_2009/cms1_134446.PDF

[DAL]

It refers to the "North Facility." There are four facilities at Pitchess. See http://www.lasd.org/divisions/custody/pdc-south/index.html

I imagine it is a negotiating ploy, especially given the short time frame to closure.

[Copp'rPenny]

When I took a jail tour of the North Facility a few months ago, it was half empty. I think they could probably juggle the inmates there to other facilities if they had to.

[DAL]

Sheriff threatens to shut down a county jail because of cutbacks
6:47 PM | June 26, 2009

PitchessLos Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is threatening to close one of the county's five jails next week if he is forced to cut $25 million from his $2.5-billion budget.

Baca sent a letter to county supervisors today saying that in order to cut costs he plans to shut down the 1,600-bed North Facility at Pitchess Detention Centerin Castaic on Wednesday. He told the supervisors that he will release some of those inmates early and transfer others to already overcrowded jails, according to sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore.

The 187 staff members currently working at Pitchess will be reassigned, Baca wrote.

Whitmore said Baca was reluctant to propose the closure. “This is the last thing he wants to do,” Whitmore said.

Baca wrote that closing the jail will “potentially result in an increase in inmate violence and a resultant increase in the use of force.”

Whitmore said sheriff’s staffers are already planning for the potential closure.

“This is not just a red herring. This is something that is seriously being considered,” Whitmore said. “If the budgets continue this way, he might have to close portions of other jails. Everything’s being looked at.”

Baca also proposed lowering bail for non-violent offenders so that they can be released early, “in an attempt to further relieve jail overcrowding.”

It would not be the first time Baca has shut down jails or released inmates early. In mid-2002, faced with cuts amid a county budget crisis, Baca began wide-scale early releases, saying he was unwilling to cut on-the-street deputies. Over the next four years, nearly 200,000 inmates were released early, the vast majority walking out after serving no more than 10% of their sentences.

In this budget go-around, Baca already has cut $31.6 million from his budget, eliminating 51 vacant positions. In his letter, he complained that he is now facing a $103-million budget shortfall fueled by overtime costs because of understaffing.

He suggested county leaders pay for his $25-million cut with utility user tax revenue and provide him with an additional $5.6 million for security patrols at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center jail ward and $8.3 million for testing DNA evidence from thousands of backlogged rape and sexual assault cases.

Supervisor Michael Antonovich has asked the sheriff and county staff to discuss the department’s budget before the board on Tuesday.

“The board passed the budget with the full support of the sheriff,and our office was assured that any cuts to the department would not affect jails or patrols,” said Antonovich spokesman Tony Bell.

The sheriff has not yet made plans to attend the meeting, Whitmore said.

[LA DEP]

This isnt the first time a custody facility has been shut down for a period of time, nor will it be the last......

North is the obvious one to shut down for awhile, as they are currently doing construction/repairs of the facility as it is......

[KataKlysmic]

South has a capacity for 1500 inmates.

So some of the inmates will come to South, go to East, NCCF and downtown and others will be released.

Hell some inmates are worried about the lack of bodies in the barracks because they know the more bodies the higher chance they have of being released.

One inmate told me "Man alot of open bunks and im worried that I might not get out early"

LOL I was like "Well"

“potentially result in an increase in inmate violence and a resultant increase in the use of force.”

Very possible.

[hankido2000]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/county-jail-to-stay-open-for-now.html

3:33 PM | June 30, 2009

After threatening to close a County Jail on Wednesday if he is forced to make an additional $25 million in cuts to his $2.5-billion budget, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca agreed today to delay making such a move until September, after a testy exchange with county supervisors.

The sharp words on both sides took place amid demands for belt-tightening across county departments. Last week, the county supervisors passed a budget that required 7% to 15% cuts by all departments.

Baca sent a letter to the board saying that cuts planned for his department would force him to close the 1,600-bed North Facility, one of five jails at Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic. The sheriff said he planned to move 187 jail staff members to other county facilities, transfer some inmates and release others early.

Speaking to the board at their meeting this morning, Baca said he did not want to close the jail. He proposed that instead of cutting his budget, they consider covering his budget shortfall by tapping utility user tax revenues earmarked for the county’s unincorporated areas.

“You’ve got to fund it if you don’t want it closed,” Baca said, criticizing supervisors for “attacking the sheriff’s budget.”

Supervisor Gloria Molina castigated Baca for using the jail closure as a ploy to get more money.

“You’re not the only department that’s having to go through this,” Molina said, adding that Baca should have found ways to save before the budget was passed.

Supervisors ordered the sheriff to work with the county’s chief executive to identify cost-saving alternatives to jail closures and layoffs and report to them in September.

“We’re going to look through every bit of your budget,” Molina said. “We’re in tough times right now.”

“Go ahead,” Baca shot back. “Let’s just put everything on the table. Anytime this board has gone into the fiscal elements of any department budget, it will show substantially that we’re underfunded.”

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said the sheriff could start by cutting overtime, noting that one deputy last year earned more than $235,000 in salary and overtime.

“How many hours does he have to work to earn $235,000? Is it in the best interest of the department to have someone working that many hours?” Yaroslavsky said.

Baca said overtime is necessary for public safety, that his office attempts to distribute overtime hours fairly, but that some staff seek out excessive hours.

“I don’t like it but it’s not illegal and it is productive,” Baca said. “You don’t earn overtime by sleeping.”

After the meeting, Baca said he agreed to keep the jail open with the understanding that county leaders
will allow him to use up to $6 million in surplus money from this year’s budget to cover jail costs for the next three months.

He said he was willing to work with county staff to identify savings, but that it was unlikely they would find ways to make further cuts without layoffs.

“We bought more time,” he said. “But I can’t go any deeper. All of my funding is services to the public: courts, jails, policing. What am I going to do—start turning off the lights? Stop buying gas?”

William T Fujioka, the county’s chief executive, said the sheriff may be able to access the county’s utility user tax revenue funds, about $190.7 million, although much of that money is for one-time expenses. But many other departments that have made deep cuts in recent weeks would also benefit from the money,

Fujioka said county leaders will have to weigh their interests against the sheriff’s.

“We’re cutting library staff and hours for pools—no one has a lock on that money,” Fujioka said.

Baca has made good on previous threats to close jails. In mid-2002, forced to cut his budget during a crisis in county finances, Baca began wide-scale early releases, saying that he was unwilling to cut on-the-street deputies. Over the next four years, nearly 200,000 inmates were released early, the vast majority walking out after serving no more than 10% of their sentences.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske reporting from the County Hall of Administration