Weary of all talk and no progress toward building a new Monroe County jail, Sheriff Ruben Marte´ and his staff challenged county officials in charge of the project to stand in their shoes.
Here, Marte´ said. See if you can figure out how to safely house 230 prisoners in an unsafe, falling-apart facility with no extra space.
The afternoon of July 11, the sheriff, chief deputy, jail commander and members of his staff presented the three commissioners and seven council members with real-life scenarios from a typical day at the jail earlier this year.
They reviewed a graph projected onto a screen that showed the classifications for all 230 people housed at the jail that day.
Inmates are evaluated as minimum, medium or maximum security. Men and women must be segregated. Sex offenders must be separated from others. People with serious mental and physical health issues — who make up 40% of prisoners locally — have to be away from others. People who are violent or cause disruptions can’t be in regular cellblocks. Juveniles can’t be within sight or hearing distance of other prisoners.
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