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| Fairfax Puts Few Inmates In the Jail's New Wing |
| By Washington Post |
| Published: 12/10/2001 |
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Every couple of weeks, deputies walk through the empty, echoing halls of the new Fairfax County jail. They turn on water spigots, unlock cell doors and fire up the electronic tools that were to make Fairfax's new jail state-of-the-art. Nearly a year after its grand opening, the $65 million wing of the jail is still mostly empty and liable to begin deteriorating because of lack of use. Two of its three main housing floors are vacant because the sheriff's department doesn't have enough deputies to guard its inmates. Most of Fairfax's 1,100 inmates remain double-bunked in the old county jail, designed to hold 589, as they have been for more than a decade. Fairfax Sheriff Stan G. Barry (D) originally asked for funding for 25 new deputies, enough to staff one of the vacant floors. But since the events of Sept. 11, and with the county's downturn in revenues, he has rescinded that request. 'It comes down to priorities,' the sheriff said. 'I think it would be a little shortsighted of me to say we need to have a perfect world in the detention center, rather than focus on public safety and transportation needs.' Although some trustee and segregated inmates have been moved into the new 750-bed wing, and the new kitchen, laundry and warehouse facilities are in use, the third and fifth floors are empty, Barry said. That creates another problem: 'It has the real possibility of deteriorating from lack of use, just like a car,' he said. For county deputies, who both maintain the new jail and guard the old one, 'there's a frustration factor,' Barry said. 'They've got a brand-new car sitting in the parking lot, and they're still driving the jalopy.' County officials said they were unaware that the jail wing was nearly empty, and Barry said there was no urgency because the jail population has remained steady. |
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