Tucson: Think before you drink from the for-profit prison industry.

City of Tucson considering jail privatization?

Tucson Citizen (October 21, 2010)

by cell-out-arizona on Oct. 21, 2010, under AFSC, City of Tucson, Jail, Privatization, private prison

Nick Oza/The Arizona Republic

At the City Council meeting Tuesday (10/19/10), Council Member Steve Kozachik initiated a very thoughtful discussion about the high cost of jail incarceration and what the City might do to bring jail costs down while promoting better public safety outcomes.

High points included an excellent presentation from Adult Probation on the use of Evidence-Based Practices in sentencing, Council Member Ulich’s suggestion to bring together a collaborative planning body that could iron out differences between the City and County, and Council Member Romero’s heartfelt plea that the discussion not overlook the importance of alternative courts, such as the Veteran’s Court.

Unfortunately, one of the options placed on the table by TPD’s Assistant Chief John Leavitt was a “Private Prison RFQ.”

Apparently, this had been under serious discussion in the past, in this case, the management of a DUI facility (a favorite gateway drug for the for-profits). The fly in the ointment at the time was the fact that the private operator wanted a gender-segregated facility for men only. Women are simply too expensive to incarcerate, and for-profit prisons rarely take them.

While Leavitt acknowledged the for-profit’s propensity to cherry pick, he still touted the projected cost savings such a facility could generate.

We would suggest that our friends at the City Council talk with their counterparts in Brooksville, Florida. They recently took the Hernando County Jail back from Corrections Corporation of America, because they discovered that the county could run it more cheaply. The case is a fascinating cautionary tale for local officials who believe that privatization is a cheap alternative.

Consider the following:

•The annual 4% increase to the per diem that CCA built into their 5-year contract ended up crippling the county budget

•Nearly $7 out of every $100 property owners paid in taxes in 2008 went to pay for the jail

•CCA withheld $422,000 it owed to the county from income on additional beds in the jail

•In 2009, the Sheriff announced that he could run the jail more cheaply: “The difference between us doing it and CCA doing it is, we don’t have to carry the corporate load…We don’t have to support all the staff (at company headquarters) in Nashville. We don’t have to show a profit margin for shareholders.” (March 5, 2010 St Petersburg Times)

•Then the county discovered major structural and maintenance problems in the jail, including “roof leaks, rusted doors, safety problems, cracks and separations on the concrete floor, walls and ceiling.” (April 13, 2010 Hernando Today). County taxpayers were on the hook for millions of dollars in repair cost due to years of neglect.

•Finally, in April of 2010, CCA announced that it was walking away from its contract to run the jail, giving the county just 120 days notice. CCA also announced that they would remove beds, mattresses, cameras and other safety equipment that the company believed it owns.

•When the County finally took over the facility, guards’ pay increased. The Sheriff announced that all sworn deputies will receive the same base salary of $39,401. For those CCA employees who qualify for the new deputy position and are already state-certified corrections officers, their salaries will be bumped up more than $7,000, from their current $32,169 to $39,401.

•As a parting shot, CCA is suing the County over money held back from the firm and equipment the county claims to own.

For the whole sordid history, see Private Corrections Working Groups’ “Florida Hall of Shame”: http://www.privateci.org/florida.htm#Hernando County Jail

We would be curious to know if any of the private prison corporations have come sniffing around recently. Between SB1070 and the 5,000 bed RFP issued by the Department of Corrections, the for-profit prison industry has been having a feeding frenzy in Arizona over the past year or so.

CCA is looking to build yet another prison down on Wilmot Road, south of the freeway. It’s only logical that their highly-paid consultants might want to chat up the folks at the City about a new jail while they’re here getting the land re-zoned for the proposed state prison.

All we can say is, buyer beware.

5 Valley cities weigh private regional jail

Got a little behind again - this in from Ken listserve at the Private Corrections Working Group. Just what we need - more jails. Private ones, at that.

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E. Valley municipalities say using county facilities saps money, resources

by Gary Nelson - Apr. 25, 2010 12:00 AM

The Arizona Republic .

Five East Valley cities are considering hiring a private jail company in hopes of saving millions of dollars they now pay to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

The idea has been kicking around among East Valley police departments since Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, citing his tight budget, closed three satellite jails in Mesa and the West Valley in late 2007. It surfaced last week in a meeting of a Mesa City Council committee, which was told the five cities will soon seek proposals from private jail companies.

Arpaio called the idea "ridiculous" and said it is likely to anger taxpayers who already pay a special county sales tax for the jail system.

"I'm against privatization," Arpaio said. "Jails should be a function of government, run by government. All the private companies want to do is make it nice so more people will check into their facilities."

Last year, Mesa, Chandler, Tempe, Gilbert and Scottsdale paid the Sheriff's Office a total of almost $15.5 million to book and house inmates accused or convicted of misdemeanors. The county covers those expenses for felony cases.

Besides the fees, the cities also say their resources are sapped when police officers are tied up taking prisoners to the Fourth Avenue Jail in downtown Phoenix. The Mesa Police Department said those trips average three hours, even when traffic is light and there are no complications, such as prisoners' medical conditions.

But Jerry Sheridan, director of detention for the Sheriff's Office, said the department tracks how long it takes to book prisoners. "The average booking time is 19 minutes from the time the officer is at our front door until the time they leave," he said.

Bill Peters, a Mesa police commander, said that city budget cuts have forced it to eliminate four detention employees who used to be responsible for transport. Their replacements, he said, are sworn officers who could be more productively employed fighting crime.

Arpaio said he would be happy to provide transport services to the five cities - for a fee. "They're going to have to pay us a little, but it's cheaper than having a privatized jail," Arpaio said.

The most likely scenario, Peters said, would involve converting a large existing building into a jail within a 5-mile radius of Country Club Drive and U.S. 60 - the area agreed upon by the cities as the most convenient. It would have about 500 beds and ideally be in an industrial, not residential, area.

A private company would then operate the facility, charge the cities and still make a profit.

Peters said the idea must be penciled out before it goes further. "If we don't see significant savings, we're not going to have interest," he said. Peters said he and other police officials visited several California cities that say private jails have made police operations more efficient.

"The proposal has merit," said Mesa Councilman Dennis Kavanaugh, who chairs the public-safety committee. "A private regional facility does offer the possibility of significantly reduced officer time involvement as well as reduced charges."

But many questions remain, he said. He wants to know how the idea has worked elsewhere and the track record of companies that might apply, including whether they've faced litigation over their operations.

And, Kavanaugh said, "I want to make sure that their facility will comply with required standards, including health care for those in custody."

Sgt. Mark Clark, a Scottsdale police spokesman, said the concept is very preliminary.

"We're certainly open to the idea," Clark said. "But our biggest concern would be if it was a viable alternative for saving our taxpayers money and at the same time providing the level of security for our prisoners that is currently being provided at the county jail."

Sheridan of the Sheriff's Office said the county offers a range of services no private facility is likely to match, from laundry to sophisticated medical and psychiatric care. "The costs are astronomical when you begin to outsource all these functions," Sheridan said.

Phoenix and Peoria considered private jails in 2008 but abandoned the idea.

"Every time they take a serious look at it - the level of service, the quality of the service and the value that they get with the Maricopa County jail system - the idea goes away," Sheridan said. "I'm confident that will happen again."

Sheridan said the county isn't making money on the deal.

"We're a non-profit organization," he said. "We're a government agency. That is exactly what it costs the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office to house an inmate for 24 hours. We're not in the business of making a profit."

Maricopa County residents pay a one-fifth-cent jail sales tax that voters approved in 1998 and extended in 2002. It is set to expire in 2022.