Officials say Oklahoma County has no choice but to fix its jail
CHANGES AT LOCKUP MAY COST MORE THAN $60 MILLION
Comments
15
BY BRYAN DEAN
Published: January 6, 2009
The question is no longer whether taxpayers will pay to fix problems at the Oklahoma County jail.
County officials and the leader of a committee formed to deal with the jail’s problems say the county will either fix the problems on its own or be forced by federal authorities to fix them. District 3 County Commissioner Ray Vaughan formed the committee a month after the U.S. Justice Department ripped the county jail on allegations of mismanagement, rampant inmate-on-inmate violence and medical neglect. The committee’s initial report, released Monday, recommends a litany of changes. Most will carry a price tag that hasn’t been determined but likely will exceed $60 million, the report said. Attorney Kieran Maye, who led the committee, said the county has no choice but to pay one way or another. "I’m afraid some of the problems in the jail reflect a societal choice that we want to lock a lot of people up but we don’t want to pay the cost of doing it properly,” Maye said. "The county can do this voluntarily or it can do it when it is forced to do it by the federal court, and the latter will be more expensive.” The report’s conclusion quoted Winston Churchill, who said, "Society can be measured by the way its prisoners are treated.” "If that is true, Oklahoma County is failing,” the report stated. It goes on to say that the county must take action. Previous committees have recommended some changes mentioned in the latest report, but nothing has been done with those recommendations. "What the county does in response to this committee’s recommendations is a question of political will,” the report states. "However, we demand that the county take some action.” Sheriff John Whetsel said he hasn’t finished reading the report. He has some concerns about the recommendation that a trust similar to one in Tulsa County be formed to oversee the jail’s finances. But he said he agrees wholeheartedly with much of what he has seen in the report. "The citizens I talk to want this issue solved once and for all,” Whetsel said. "This report better be a start. It has to be the beginning of the ending of the issues that have plagued this jail for years.”More people needed
The most glaring problem identified in both the committee’s report and the Justice Department report is understaffing.
Fixing the problem isn’t simply a question of hiring more jailers. The county pays starting jailers $25,000 a year, and retaining qualified employees has been a problem.
Whetsel said he has funding to hire 30 more jailers, and an academy begins this month to fill those spots.
Still, he expects he’ll have fewer jailers on staff at the end of February than he does now.
"We will lose more people in the first two months of the year than what we pick up in the academy,” Whetsel said.
Currently, jailers monitor many areas with cameras because there aren’t enough staff members to directly supervise each wing in each floor of the county jail.
"We believe many, many issues such as inmate-on-inmate violence will be resolved with a philosophical change that direct supervision will require,” Maye said.
The committee is expected to continue meeting to come up with a specific cost for the changes and how to pay for them.
"The reality is the suggestions we are making are not free, and there aren’t sufficient funds in general revenue to pay for it,” Maye said.

Prev

Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).
It really looks like all of them want to be in charge of the incident & fight each other for jurisdiction, except when a situation is low profile. When that happens it seems they want to suffle the problem from department to department & it doesn't matter if the citizen gets help or not.
From what I have heard (all around town) the reason for the shortage
of jailers isn't necessarily the compensation but more the administration. The fish starts to stink from the head down!
Simply hiring more consultants to review the need will be another waistful expenditure so I think it is time to act on the suggestions that the committee has put forward.
People arrested should at least have a jail cell free from physical abuse and should have working plumbing!
The County needs a new jail - and it needs to relocate the new jail outside of the OKC downtown area with the new buildings built no taller than 4 stories each and more campus like!
Inmates should have a right to fresh air and open spaces it will do alot to reduce tension!
______________________________________________________________________________________
The year-old report was delivered to Oklahoma County officials last week, and Sheriff John Whetsel quickly responded Monday that most of the problems the agency found have already been corrected.
______________________________________________________________________________________
“I am confident that our work to resolve these issues will satisfy the concern expressed by the Department of Justice,” Whetsel said. “I have no problem in telling family members that their loved ones are safe.”
______________________________________________________________________________________
He added, “I can tell you this report is one year old. We have made the corrections.”