The Herald-Sun, Durham, N.C.
DURHAM, N.C. — We’re all for new projects to revitalize downtown. But we’re not so sure expanding the Durham County Jail falls into that category.
It was good to see Durham County Commissioners expressing skepticism about a jail expansion projection in the county’s preliminary capital improvement plan for 2010 to 2019 -- $155 million to nearly double the facility’s size and capacity.
For starters, the increase in the project’s estimated cost has been astronomical, from $60 million in 2007 to two-and-a-half times that in the latest estimate.
There’s also the fact that, when the jail was planned and built in the early 1990s, there wasn’t much else going on downtown. Now the jail is next door to the new Durham Performing Arts Center, the revitalized American Tobacco complex, the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and the new Diamond View office buildings.
It turns out the jail occupies a prime piece of downtown real estate. We question whether an expansion there makes sense.
At a meeting this week, County Manager Mike Ruffin and commissioners were thinking the same thing.
“I believe we should first explore something off-site,” Ruffin said. “I fully support that,” said Commissioner Ellen Reckhow.
The other question is whether an expansion is needed at all. The increase in inmate population is driving the supposed need.
In 1994, when the new jail was under construction, the total number of inmates in Durham was 300. In May of last year, it was 631, or about 100 inmates below the current jail’s capacity. As of Wednesday, the number of inmates was 568, according to a Sheriff’s Office official.
Durham isn’t alone. Across the nation, jails and prisons are overcrowded. The U.S. imprisons more of its citizens than any other country, even China, which has four times our population. And the prison population is disproportionately composed of young African-American males.
Before expanding the jail, we need to think not only about what would be the best location, but also about ways to reduce the prison population so that an expansion becomes unnecessary.
Copyright 2009 The Herald-Sun