Truesee's Daily Wonder

Locked down: An in-depth look at the county jail
Originally published August 09, 2009


Gina Gallucci-White, Pam Rigaux and Nicholas C. Stern

News-Post Staff

 

Law officers lock roughly 5,000 people into the Frederick County Adult Detention Center each year.

While some are released the same day on a written promise to appear in court, others may be held for a year or longer. On any given day, the average jail population is 477 inmates.

During their stay, inmates will be watched, clothed, fed, counseled and given medical treatment. In fiscal 2009, the bill to taxpayers came to $16.69 million. That's equivalent to a total of about $75 per person living in Frederick County, home to 225,000 residents.

Costs will increase with planned construction projects to add 112 general population beds and 28 medical beds in fiscal 2010, as well as 224 general population beds in fiscal 2016.

The 2010 project is estimated to cost $16.4 million, and the 2016 project is expected to cost about $29.6 million, said Lt. Col. Steven Rau, corrections bureau chief.

Located on Marcie's Choice Lane, the Frederick County Adult Detention Center opened with 128 beds on Oct. 4, 1984. Today, the complex is a maze of 21 cell blocks and includes a gym and recreation yards ringed with concertina-wire fences.

Correctional officers keep physical and electronic eyes on inmates. Surveillance cameras are abundant. From a command post known as "The Bubble," officers monitor inmates in adjoining cell blocks on video screens.

Eight of every 10 inmates come from Frederick County, but the detention center has an international component, too.

The Frederick County Sheriff's Office, which runs the corrections bureau at the detention center, partnered with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in July 2007 to house federal immigration detainees.

Through a program known as an Intergovernmental Service Agreement, ICE has paid roughly $2.6 million to the jail to house the detainees.

By the end of 2008, the jail had housed 1,853 immigration detainees.

The steady increase in the inmate population has brought its share of problems. For example:

-- One in every five inmates receives treatment for mental health problems, said Rau, who has been warden since March 2006. He said inmates' mental health needs have doubled since the mid-1990s.

-- The number of inmate disciplinary hearings has gone up each of the last three years: 548 in 2006; 571 in 2007; and 600 in 2008, according to annual jail reports. Likewise, the number of times correctional officers had to use force to bring inmates under control climbed to 73 times in 2008, up from 63 times in 2007 and 42 times in 2006.

-- The number of inmates who tested positive for exposure to tuberculosis increased almost fivefold from 2006 to 2008, from 65 to 310, according to annual jail reports.

This is mostly due to the influx of foreign-born inmates that coincided with a 2007 agreement to house immigration detainees. A positive test for TB does not mean an active case.

 

Life inside

 

Inmates are placed in one of 21 housing units known as cell blocks. Their placements depends on gender, behavior and immigration status.

In 2008, inmates stayed an average of 17 days, according to the detention center's annual report.

Nearly half the inmate population at the detention center was white in 2008, with almost 26 percent black and 23 percent Hispanic.

Driving while suspended was the most common offense in 2008, according to the annual report. Second-degree assault, violation of probation, possession of drugs and failing to appear rounded out the top five criminal charges among inmates.

Authorized to have 130 correctional officers, the detention center has 125 uniformed personnel. They are assisted by 38 civil staff members.

From 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., inmates are allowed in the day room of their cell block, where they can play cards or watch color cable television.

Tranquility, however, can be fleeting.

Some inmates have a history of drug or alcohol addiction and violence. Locking them up does not end their quest for drugs and alcohol or curb disorderly conduct.

Inmates try to smuggle in drugs, or distill their own booze from food, said Cpl. Dean Green, a correctional officer.

Gizmo, a 6-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, is a narcotics-sniffing dog used to detect cocaine, methamphetamine, Ecstasy, marijuana, heroin and many oxycodone products that may be harbored by inmates or visitors.

Tensions in the cell blocks can lead to fights, said Dan Wease, a former inmate.

Inmates argue and threaten or push each other over a game of cards or "something stupid," Wease said.--

Officers need to know the difference between yelling because of a fight or cheering over a sporting event on television, Green said.

"You've got to develop an ear with this occupation," Green said.

Officers used force to bring inmates under control 73 times in 2008. Officers used their hands, pepper spray, Tasers, leg irons and a restraint chair to control inmates.

About 63 percent of the inmates who spent time in a restraint chair had mental health issues, according to Use of Force reports. The restraint safety chair has straps that go around the inmate's body.

Correctional officers use the restraint chair to control combative, violent or self-abusing inmates.

In 20 of 32 cases, officers used the restraint chair, the inmate had to be taken to the mental health unit of a hospital, placed on suicide watch or had some other mental health problem, according to the reports.-- --

 

Privileges and programs

 

The detention center offers privileges to inmates who behave themselves in jail.

Inmates may see family and friends for one 30-minute visit a week. An inmate is allowed four visitors at a time. They talk on a telephone and can see the inmate through a pane of glass. Collect calls outside of visitation are allowed.

Inmates may buy items from the jail's store, including shampoo, cookies and cups of soup.

They pay for the items with money put into an account set up by family and friends or the inmates themselves. When they are arrested, their money is placed in the account.

Color cable TV is available in almost every cell block and majority rules on what to watch.

Inmates may go outside for recreation for one hour a day, four days a week, weather permitting. They are kept inside on Thursday for commissary, the name for the jail store.

Weekend recreation takes place indoors.

A private contractor, Conmed Healthcare Management, handles most medical treatment at the jail.

Physicians, psychologists, nurses and social workers give physicals, treat chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes, and handle psychological conditions inmates may have.

The jail's medical services budget for fiscal 2010 is $1.75 million, about 14 percent of the jail's total adopted budget, according to figures provided by Rau and the online version of the adopted fiscal 2010 budget.

Religious services of a variety of faiths are also offered.

Inmates attended more than 420 Bible classes in 2008 with volunteer support and more than 240 individual counseling sessions.

Classes including anger management, parenting, and re-entry into society are offered. Inmates may also participate in Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous groups and take the General Educational Development exam for their high school diploma.

With privileges also come responsibilities. Inmates who break a rule will have privileges taken away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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