Experts weigh in: How the Sacramento Main Jail could be reformed or closed

The Sacramento County Main Jail is a blight for downtown Sacramento. But what to do about it?

A variety of experts have different ideas, but one thing is clear: This is a conversation Sacramento must have now. We need a paradigm shift from what we have — a virtual prison in an urban setting where inmates are mistreated, where neighbors of the jail are terrorized by mentally ill inmates once they are released, and where the county is stuck paying millions for a facility that might never be in compliance with court-mandated orders to improve conditions inside.

Katie Valenzuela, the Sacramento City Council member whose district includes the jail and the unfortunate people working around it, has an idea whose time has come.

“I want the jail to go away,” Valenzuela said. “More than 50% of the male bookings at the main jail are addicted to methamphetamines. I would like to turn that building into a place that addresses the root causes of why people are (incarcerated) in the first place.

“The system isn’t working on so many levels,” Valenzuela continued. “There is a 400-person wait list for methamphetamine treatment. We really have to talk about what outcomes the system is designed to achieve. A system that treats people so they don’t commit crimes in the first place is hard for people to imagine, especially when they are scared. But we have to open up that part of peoples’ imaginations.”

Ann Edwards, the CEO of Sacramento County, agrees with Valenzuela — in a way. She said the goal for the county is to reduce the population “safely” at the jail as much as possible. Edwards has commissioned a study that early next year is expected to deliver the next steps for the county to follow to achieve the goal of reducing the jail population as safely as possible.

But the county has studied these issues before and recently. A 2020 report commissioned by the county said that 60% of the prisoners in the jail are being held pre-trial.

According to a 2019 county report, the average length of stay at the jail shot was up to 35 days by 2018.

The 2020 county report, written by the Carey Group, a national consulting firm, found that the county had significantly higher incarceration rates than other counties its size. The Carey Group report called for something similar to what Valenzuela was talking about: expanding services so more inmates can be managed and supervised while living in the community, as opposed to being incarcerated.

“With more people being supervised in the community, one or more county jails (the second is in Elk Grove) could close,” the Carey Report said.

Rick Braziel, a former Sacramento police chief, said he’s always believed Sacramento County could create a joint powers authority with other neighboring counties to fund a jail facility that treated prisoners with mental illness. The facility wouldn’t have to be in downtown Sacramento, Braziel said.

“Just change the model,” said Braziel.

He added that some county agencies already share communications systems funded by a JPA.

Sacramento County Supervisor Phil Serna said we need to challenge the assumptions that all prisoners should be released downtown because that is where the services they need are. Or that the jail should be downtown because it’s convenient for law enforcement and the courts.

“It’s not convenient for downtown, for the residents of downtown,” Serna said. “It’s not convenient for the businesses. Not for Golden 1 Center. Not for people who want to come from other parts of the region to enjoy downtown. ... Is there a rationale to rethink release practices so that most of the inmates aren’t being released in downtown Sacramento on the suppositions that it’s the only place for them to receive services?”

Serna said he will meet soon with downtown business owners and sheriff’s department officials to discuss this issue. It needs to be one of many conversations between city and county leaders about the nightmare that is the jail.

Marcos Bretón

Opinion Contributor,

The Sacramento Bee

916-321-1096

Marcos Bretón oversees The Sacramento Bee’s Editorial Board. He’s been a California newspaperman for more than 30 years. He’s a graduate of San Jose State University, a voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame and the proud son of Mexican immigrants.