By IAN DEMSKY
The Tacoma News Tribune
TACOMA, Wash. — Space issues at the Pierce County Jail are as complicated as a Gordian knot.
The cords and tendrils extend to court backlogs, Sheriff’s Department staffing, early releases, ex-offenders being “dumped” in Tacoma, spending on mental health services, the school dropout rate and beyond.
Municipal Court Judge David Ladenburg cut through it at a community meeting Thursday evening.
“What we’re talking about here is a budget issue,” he said to a crowd of more than 100 who attended a forum on jail space and several associated problems. “If we increase the funding, we increase the capacity.”
Residents of Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood and across the county have expressed increasing concerns as the number of inmates released early or after being merely fingerprinted and photographed rose from 1,360 in 2006 to nearly 4,000 last year.
No matter where in the county they’re arrested, those inmates are released in downtown Tacoma.
“If they’re looking for drugs, that’s where they’re going to look,” said Jeanie Peterson of the Hilltop Action Coalition. “I want people to understand how serious this problem is.”
The issue was serious enough to warrant an A-list panel Thursday that included Sheriff Paul Pastor, Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell, county prosecutor Gerry Horne and Superior Court Judge Tom Larkin. Several City Council and County Council members also attended the event at The Evergreen State College’s Tacoma branch. It was sponsored by nearly 30 neighborhood councils, business districts and civic groups.
The numbers the panelists rattled off were sometimes grim.
Eighty percent of crimes have drugs and alcohol as a factor, Ladenburg said.
Tacoma has the same number of police detectives as it did in 1975 while the number of cases has tripled or quadrupled, Ramsdell said.
Pastor said there were three keys to making things better: reducing the felon percentage in the jail population, looking ahead to the needs of the growing county, and examining incarceration alternatives.
“I’m not saying that because I’m a nice, touchy-feely guy,” he said. “I don’t know the words to ‘Kumbaya,’ and I’m not going to learn them.”
Resident Pat McGregor asked whether the panelists had any plans to lobby elected officials or voters for more money.
Larkin replied that he wasn’t going to ask for anything until he could demonstrate that the current system was working as efficiently and effectively as possible. He’s helped the court system start to cut into its backlog of 2,500 cases.
“So they’ll be hearing from me,” Larkin said.
Panelists said that the more residents who voiced concerns, the more it showed how complicated the issue is - from reducing crime through early intervention to helping former inmates find jobs and housing and fight substance abuse.
Copyright 2008 The News Tribune