WHO'D STEP IN, RESTORE ORDER IF RIOT ENGULFED OLD COUNTY JAIL?

Miffed Sheriff's Officials Agree To After SDPD Says That Isn't Its Job

County officials thought they could stop worrying about their old downtown
jail when they leased it to a private corrections company two years ago.
But now there are questions about who would respond to riots or other
disturbances at the jail.

The city of San Diego has refused to commit its police force to handle
crimes or disturbances at the jail, even though it is in the city and about
a mile from police headquarters. That has forced sheriff's officials to
assume that responsibility, and they are not happy about it.

The Sheriff's Department does not have a station in downtown San Diego and
would have to pull deputies from Imperial Beach, Lemon Grove and elsewhere
to respond.

"That's going to take a while," said Undersheriff Jack Drown, the
second-in-command at the department. "That is not an ideal situation. ...
It has not presented a problem for us at the present time. Could it present
a problem? It certainly could."

The dispute centers on emergency response plans for the old jail, in the
block bounded by Union, Front, B and C streets.

In 1998, the county opened a central jail near the downtown courthouse to
replace its 40-year-old predecessor. The county then awarded a 15-year
lease on the old building to Wackenhut Corrections Corp. The company, based
in Florida, operates 55 jails in the United States and around the world.

The deal brought the county a $1 million upfront payment and calls for $1.7
million annually in rent.

Wackenhut spent $27 million to renovate the old jail and signed an
agreement with the U.S. Marshals Service to house up to 750 federal
prisoners there. The Marshals Service is paying Wackenhut $140 million over
five years.

The service, which is responsible for prisoners awaiting trial, needed more
room. The downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center, which is operated by
the federal Bureau of Prisons, currently houses nearly 800 prisoners, some
serving their sentences and some awaiting trial. It is staffed by Bureau of
Prisons correctional officers.

The old county jail housing prisoners for the Marshals Service is staffed
by Wackenhut guards.

Questions about a response plan surfaced in March as Wackenhut officials
prepared for the jail's reopening in July.

Under its deal with the Marshals Service, Wackenhut must have an agreement
with the local law enforcement agency to respond to crimes or disturbances
at the jail. Such agreements, which can include compensation for costs
incurred by the local agencies, are obtained routinely in other areas,
Wackenhut officials said.

Wackenhut has been unable to reach arrangement with San Diego police, said
Mike McDade, a San Diego attorney representing the company.

In letters to the county and Wackenhut, city officials contend they do not
have jurisdiction at the old jail because it is a private facility and is
housing federal inmates.

They cite a 1999 opinion by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer in
response to questions from Fresno County. It says sheriff's departments are
responsible for responding to incidents at privately run jails housing
federal inmates.

McDade has called the city's policy discriminatory because it denies
Wackenhut equal protection under the law and endangers the health and
safety of San Diegans.

Drown said that if a major disturbance occurs and deputies have to be
called in, outlying communities could suffer.

"We'd be stripping resources from those areas to deal with problems in the
city of San Diego," he said.

Drown said the department could not call on deputies staffing the new
county jail or the nearby courthouse to handle disturbances at the old jail
because it would leave those facilities vulnerable.

So far, there has been no need to ask for police help at the Wackenhut
jail, McDade said. But if something does happen, he added, Wackenhut guards
are instructed to call 911.

McDade said Wackenhut officials want to continue talks with the city. But
in an interview, San Diego Police Chief David Bejarano said the city's
position is not going to change.

Bejarano said police would respond to a 911 call from the jail if it
involved a life-or-death matter. But the department would expect sheriff's
deputies to arrive and take over.

Drown and Bejarano said the disagreement is not straining relations between
the city and the county.

"It's just simply a difference of opinion," Bejarano said.