The Sheriff’s Department was given approval Tuesday to use a $150,000 grant from a nonprofit foundation to explore ways to safely reduce the number of county jail inmates.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation — which provided the funding — is perhaps best known for its support of fellowships dubbed “genius grants,” but gives about $220 million to “defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places and understand how technology is changing children and society,” according to its website.
Los Angeles County jails currently house 3,000 more inmates than recommended by state capacity guidelines and will soon cost more than $1 billion to run, according to Sheriff Jim McDonnell.
Nearly half of jail inmates, on average, are being held prior to trial, according to McDonnell. Some will lose their jobs or even their housing, putting them in a less stable situation, because they can’t afford to post bail.
Releasing low-risk offenders awaiting trial and supervising them in the community could reduce overcrowding, cut down on violence by high-risk inmates against unsophisticated newcomers and make it easier to provide health care and rehabilitation services to the remaining population, according to the Sheriff’s Department.
Supervisor Michael Antonovich raised public safety concerns, holding up newspapers to highlight recent reports on the surge in crime in Los Angeles over the first six months of 2015, after years of decline.
Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck has attributed the 12.7 percent rise to a jump in homeless, gang activity and domestic violence.
The Sheriff’s Department will consider different strategies to reduce incarceration while maintaining public safety.
The Board of Supervisors, which signed off on the sheriff’s grant, also today approved additional funding for an annex to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood to provide medical, mental health and substance abuse treatment for inmates.
The estimated $56 million project — roughly 90 percent of which is expected to be state funded — is also intended to include space for educational and job training as well as visiting rooms for families.
— City News Service