SPEND MONEY ON HUMAN SERVICES, NOT NEW JAILS

Build it and they will come! I am talking about inmates to fill the planned
eight-story, $25 million jail.

It comes on top of a $37 million jail expansion just six years ago that
included $21 million for a core facility off Ortiz Avenue and $9 million
for eight Sprung Instant Structures next to the existing Ortiz stockade. At
that time, the expansion was projected to double the existing capacity to a
total of 1,700 beds, yet, with the current jail population at 1,500, we are
out of beds. Why?

The core facility, which also houses staff offices, was built to hold 448
inmates. Yet the second floor of the facility has never been completed and
the building now houses less than half that number.

Even more disappointing is the under-use of the Sprung insulated structures
that are anchored to concrete floors. Each tent has a 64-bed capacity with
one serving as a combination mess hall and meeting place for classes or
counseling. High barbed-wired fences surround the tents and recreational area.

The tents were championed by former Sheriff John McDougall as a cost-
effective means of housing nonviolent prisoners, but their usefulness is
downplayed by Chief Mark Levens, who is in charge of the county's jails.
Levens' concerns include insufficient toilets or showers and a claim that
the open environment puts security officers at risk. As a result, the
structures are used at only half of their 448-bed capacity.

McDougall, who now works as a consultant for the Sprung company, makes a
convincing argument that the structures should be filled to capacity: "No
one has ever escaped from this facility, nor have many inmates ever acted
up, because if they do they will end up in a less desirable locked-down cell."

"We are talking about check bouncers, forgers, drug users or low-level
dealers, DUI and other traffic offenders, child support violators,
small-time thieves, first offenders -- people who want to do their 60 or
120 days, or whatever, and get out," McDougall said. "These are the people
you see picking up papers on the highway or county parks while others work
as trustees in the jail laundry or kitchen. You can't tell me out of a
1,500 jail population there are not at least 400 inmates to fill this
facility at a staffing rate that is half what is needed in our locked-down
facilities."

What most of the public does not realize is that convicted felons, those
serving at least a year and a day, are transferred to state prisons and do
not remain in county jails. Those awaiting trial for serious crimes are
held in the downtown, maximum-security jail. The good news is that violent
crime was down 15 percent in our county last year.

But the real debate isn't about being short several hundred beds, it's
about the wisdom of building a new jail -- that officials contend will be
needed as our county's population grows -- to house up to another 1,000
inmates .

Alternatives for nonviolent offenders include fines, probation, house
arrest and community service. It is important to know that 75 percent of
our county jail inmates suffer from drug or alcohol abuse, one in five has
serious mental problems and the median age is 22.

"It takes money to save money," claims County Commissioner Bob Janes, who
advocates spending more county money to expand human service programs.
Janes' timing could not be better because property values will give the
county up to $25 million in surplus tax revenues this coming year.

With sharp cutbacks in federal and state funding for important human
services programs, the county needs to increase its funding for needed
programs that, as an additional benefit, can go a long way toward holding
down our jail population.

High on the list are added funding for our teen and adult drug courts,
expanded drug and Alcoholics Anonymous programs for addicts, education and
job training classes for inmates to reduce recidivism, grants that will
enable our mental health agencies to treat more patients, and, lastly,
working with the state attorney to bolster the Department of Juvenile Justice.

Last year, Karen Hawes, the county's human services director, helped to
create the Human Services Council to assist in measuring the effectiveness
of the $2.5 million in grants that the county allocated in this year's
budget to nonprofit agencies. By upping this figure to $5 million, and
using the expertise of council members to assist in its allocation, the
county can ensure that it will be getting the best bang for its bucks.

To those who say "do the crime, do the time," the response is that an ounce
of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

- -- Rick Diamond is a retired newspaper publisher and community activist who
lives in Fort Myers.