IS THERE A BED IN THE HOUSE?
Overcrowding at the Dallas County Jail
On my first day at the Dallas County Jail, I was taken to the "holdover" cell where at least 225 other men were awaiting their first appearance in court.
The "hold over" cell is where everyone is taken upon their arrival to await their first appearance in court. It is meant to be a temporary status, after which time the jail's classification staff assigns a bed, IF they have one available at either of the 5 jail facilities.
It was so overcrowded at the jail during this time that people were being kept in "holdover" for from 10 up to 14 days, and in some instances longer, waiting to be assigned a bed.
Bear in mind that the "hold over" is only designed to house 65 people, yet it is common practice for there to be four or five times that many people packed inside the tiny area like fish in a can of sardines. It was so crowded when I arrived, back in February 2005, that you couldn't even lay on the filthy floors at night. Because of the crowd, you were forced to sit upright in a crouched position and try to sleep.
While at the Leu Sterrett section of the jail, I was housed in an eight-man cell block. On several occasions they brought in others who were forced to sleep on the floor.I was subsequently transferred to the Government Center in the George Allen Building. The 7th floor of that jail facility was being used to relieve the overcrowding at the main jail -- Leu Sterrett. It was not unusual for someone to stay in the 7th floor "hold over" 3-4 days before being assigned a bed. I was housed on the 11th floor (11N-5), which is a 16 man cell block and there were occasions when even that was overcrowded and again men were forced to sleep on the floor.
Dallas jail is guilty of being grossly understaffed [which amounts to over-incarcerating], this is not a new problem, and the jail administrators and county commissioners have known for years. The Dallas jail is currently in violation of the State Law. In March the jail failed an inspection by the Texas Commission on jail standards, impart because it did not maintain a required ratio of one jail guard for every 48 detainees/prisoners.
According to the Dallas Morning News article from August 3, 2005, the Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez is purposing a budget that would increase her staff by at least 289 positions, a 17 percent jump from existing levels. It is claimed that most of those positions would be created to address the overcrowded conditions at the jail.Of course, as can be expected, overcrowding is a major issue: It creates harmful problems for both the incarcerated and their keepers. The tension is a powerful force heightening the risk of violence, including fights, assaults and rapes between prisoners or jail staff and prisoners. Violence is common in overcrowded facilities resulting from the stress that comes from warehousing a mass of different personalities within a closed environment.
is almost always blamed on understaffing by those who run the system, but once you become aware of the demographics - how many non-violent people are stuffed in the jails and prisons across the nation, you begin to wonder if we have more bad laws than bad people.
The real solution - one that no one wants to acknowledge in their many efforts to keep building more prisons and hiring more staff, is to quit incarcerating so damn many people.
Sharif
