Bernard Parks and Mark Ridley-Thomas offer their solutions for overcrowded jails, gang violence and homelessness
Local elections: Los Angeles County supervisor
The Times is asking the two major candidates competing to succeed Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke about some key issues in the 2nd District, which stretches from Mar Vista through South Los Angeles and into Compton and Carson.
Today, Los Angeles City Councilman Bernard C. Parks and state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) offer their ideas for addressing jail overcrowding, gangs and the homeless.
Between now and the June 3 election, the candidates will discuss other issues in this series of occasional articles.
What are your ideas for alleviating the overcrowding at county jail facilities that has contributed to violence there and prompted the early release of inmates?
Parks: In order to evaluate jail overcrowding properly you must look at four populations within the county jail system:
* State prisoners being held awaiting transfer to state institutions as witnesses or suspects in pending trials or hearings;
* County jail inmates awaiting immigration hearings;
* County jail inmates awaiting trial as suspects in a crime;
* County jail inmates serving a court-imposed sentence for misdemeanor crime violations that occurred in Los Angeles County.
State prisoner transfers and immigration hearings should be expedited so that space can be freed up as rapidly as possible, but at minimum the county should be paid for the cell space provided to both state or federal jurisdictions for sentenced prisoners or detainees awaiting immigration hearings. This freed up space would then allow the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to concentrate on its primary mission of providing a secure, humane and safe environment for inmates awaiting trial and those serving time for misdemeanor sentences. There is little doubt that the inmate-on-inmate and inmate-on-staff violence in the seven county jail facilities are functions of many factors and overcrowding of the inmate population is certainly one of them. Over the last 15 years, the growth in the average annual number of inmates has outpaced the number of beds available for them, forcing the sheriff to institute an early release program to comply with court mandated decrees.
