By Dan McKay
The Albuquerque Journal
Jail officers find themselves outnumbered 86-to-1 in some pods at the jam-packed Metropolitan Detention Center, the county acknowledged Wednesday.
Deputy County Manager Tom Swisstack said he hopes to bring the ratio down to 50 inmates per guard. That could involve hiring more corrections officers or simply finding a way to redeploy those who already work within the massive West Side lockup.
“We need to put some additional (corrections officers) on the floor,” Swisstack told reporters Wednesday.
His comments came as part of a media breakfast in which County Manager Thaddeus Lucero and his deputies made themselves available for questions.
Much of the talk centered on the 2,243-bed jail, which now houses some 2,600 inmates. It’s the subject of a federal lawsuit over whether inmates are kept in humane conditions.
Just last week, three inmates were charged with attempted murder for allegedly attacking another inmate. Two of the inmates were accused of “bootstomping” the victim’s head.
And in a beating last year, another inmate ended up unconscious and on life-support at University of New Mexico Hospital.
Swisstack became the deputy county manager for public safety during the summer after his predecessor, John Dantis, retired, citing personal and health reasons. Dantis also had been caught up in a nepotism scandal.
Swisstack previously ran the county’s Juvenile Detention Center. He said he has a 34-point plan for improving the adult jail and related programs.
“We’re trying to change the way we do business,” Swisstack said.
He wants better collaboration with the courts and changes to how the county supervises inmates on house arrest. Swisstack said those on house arrest should have their time more closely managed by jail supervisors if they aren’t going to work.
There will be a new jail director, too, with applicants undergoing interviews next week. The hiring of three new pro-tem judges should help process inmates more quickly, officials said, bringing down the jail population.
Swisstack said he hopes to reduce the number of inmates to close to the 2,243-bed capacity by the end of the year.
More officers on the floor and fewer inmates in the pods, he said, will make it easier to engage in “direct supervision” and reduce contraband.
Copyright 2010 Albuquerque Journal