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| Grand jury finds issues with jail |
| By The Argus |
| Published: 07/07/2006 |
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REDWOOD CITY, CA - The county Women's Correctional Center is a "crowded disgrace" with a number of deficiencies and must be replaced, accord-ing to a report released Thurs-day by the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury. Required by law to inquire into the condition and management of the county's jails annually, the Grand Jury found that the jail, on Maple Street in Redwood City, does not provide the same standard of service as the nearby Maguire Correctional Facility, the men's jail. The Grand Jury recommended that the Board of Supervisors move "as quickly as possible" to build a new Women's Correctional Center and relieve overcrowding at both jail facilities. "The women's jail, as we say, it needs replacement," Grand Jury foreman Ted Glasgow said. "It's not the fault of the sheriff or the people who run it. It's just an old facility, and times do change." According to Glasgow, the worst offense at the jail, built in 1980, is the inadequate visiting facility. "One of the main things lacking would be that mothers and children visiting have no space to get together," Glasgow said. "That is the most prominent thing that jumps out at you. There's been all kinds of surveys that show that that's important." The Grand Jury found one public visiting room for 24 inmates in the men's facility and one for 65 inmates in the women's facility, and no accommodations for mother-child contact visits. Overcrowding was also a significant issue. The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation rated the women's jail capacity at 84 inmates, but the inmate population from July 2004 through March ranged from 90 to 149, according to the report. Maguire holds men incarcerated for less than a year, in trial, or awaiting transportation to state prison, and also was found to be a victim of overcrowding. The Department of Corrections rated its capacity at 688 inmates, and its population from August 2005 though April ranged from 883 to 950. Sleeping accommodations in the women's jail were also below par, with open bay-type dorms that force inmates of similar classification, such as sentenced or unsentenced, to be housed together. Inmates cannot be selectively separated to keep hostile parties apart or to conduct specific rehabilitation programs. |
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