Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Contact: opinion@seatimes.com
Website: http://www.seattletimes.com/
Pubdate: Wednesday, 03 June 1998
Author: Kery Murakami, Seattle Times staff reporter
Note: Kery Murakami's phone message number is 206-464-2775. His e-mail
address is: kmur@seatimes.com

SIMS WANTS TO HIRE MORE GUARDS AS JAILS FILL UP

Even as crime is going down, the number of prisoners in King County's jails
is going up, and it's proving to be an expensive paradox.

Yesterday, King County Executive Ron Sims proposed reshuffling $1.3 million
in this year's budget, mostly to hire 11 more jail guards.

Sims said the county's two jails have been filling rapidly since the
beginning of the year. Together, King County's downtown jail and the
Regional Justice Center in Kent have been holding an average of 2,850
prisoners a day this year - about 300 more than the county anticipated.

There are a couple of reasons why more people are landing in jail at a time
when fewer people are committing crimes, Sims said.

Police apparently are being more aggressive catching those who are
committing crimes. During the first four months of this year, bookings for
felonies were up 12 percent over the same period last year, fueled by a
rise in drug arrests.

The increase doesn't appear to be happening for any special reason, other
than police and communities might be emphasizing drug enforcement more,
said Steve Thompson, assistant jails director.

To put the figure in context, drug arrests have risen by about 120 a month
so far this year, Thompson said. That works out to just four more drug
arrests a day, divided among unincorporated King County and the 35 cities
that use the jail.

"Something that might seem really minimal, really builds up by the time it
gets to us downstream," Thompson said.

At the same time, both Seattle Police and the King County Sheriff's Office
have adopted a "no tolerance" policy on misdemeanor warrants, like failing
to appear in court. In the past, county police gave people with minor
warrants a warning, said county police spokeswoman Joanne Elledge.

Since the beginning of the year, police have arrested everybody they
encounter with outstanding warrants.

"It doesn't matter if it's a $50 warrant or a $500 warrant," Elledge said.
"You're going to jail."

The impact is visible in the 13th Unit of the Regional Justice Center,
where yesterday 64 prisoners bided their time. The wing was not supposed to
open this year, but the unexpected number of prisoners forced jail
officials to open it in April.

Jail guards have been working overtime to watch the prisoners, and most of
the $1.3 million would go toward hiring extra guards and jail psychiatric
and health-care workers.

King County jails Director Art Wallenstein cautioned that crowding is
nowhere near a crisis stage. Prisoners are locked up one to a cell, so the
county can make room for another 400 prisoners by doubling some of them up.

And the county expected the jails to get more crowded as the the area
grows. But they're crowding much faster than expected. And at the current
pace, the jails could fill up long before 2010, when a third jail was
thought to be needed.

The question of what to do beyond this year is fueling some sniping at Sims
from Metropolitan King County Councilman Chris Vance, R-Kent.

Vance has begun prodding Sims to begin building the new jail on land the
county has set aside in Bellevue.

He said building a new jail is inevitable, and added that Sims' liberal
tendencies are showing.

"I think deep down, he doesn't like the idea of locking up criminals,"
Vance said.

But Sims said his is purely a business decision. A new jail would cost $100
million to build and $20 million a year to operate at a time when the
county is expecting hefty bills for a new sewage-treatment plant and
salmon-restoration efforts.

Instead, Sims has asked King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng, Superior Court
Presiding Judge Bobbe Bridge and others to look for options in the next
year besides a new jail, while pledging no early release of prisoners or
restrictions on bookings.

A backlog of prisoners is sitting in the jails waiting for a trial date, so
making the judicial system faster could alleviate some of the overcrowding,
said Larry Gossett, D-Seattle, the council's Law and Justice Committee
chairman. Night court is a possibility, he said.

Checked-by: "R. Lake"