LAGUNA BEACH : Newport to House Laguna Prisoners

In what police say is an unusual arrangement that will allow Laguna Beach officers to stay closer to home while their station at City Hall is being remodeled, people arrested in Laguna Beach during the next year will be housed in Newport Beach Jail.

The agreement, which was unanimously approved by the Newport Beach City Council, means Laguna police will not be pulled off their beats to drive prisoners to Orange County Jail in Santa Ana.

The arrangement, which will cost Laguna Beach $65 a day for each prisoner, will likely add two inmates a day to Newport Beach Jail, Laguna Beach Police Chief Neil Purcell said.

To keep the transportation of prisoners to a minimum, Purcell said, Laguna Beach will begin a “very vigorous cite and release program” which will involve releasing prisoners when possible rather than jailing them. For example, a drunk driver would probably be released to a friend who could safely drive him or her home instead of being jailed, he said.

Juveniles will be released to parents or guardians when possible or be taken to Juvenile Hall in the event of a serious crime, Purcell said.

“We just do not have any choice right now,” Purcell said. “The ones we send to Newport are the ones where we have no other choice than to incarcerate them.”

Lt. Tim Newman, spokesman for the Newport Beach Police Department, said the new procedure will not pose a hardship for Newport, which has 29 bunks for male prisoners who are held until bail is posted or until their arraignment date. Newport shares resources such as dogs and helicopters with other cities, he said, and sharing jail cells is just another way for cities to work together.

“That’s just kind of the spirit of cooperation, the right thing to do,” Newman said.

Laguna Beach Jail, which has a detox cell and eight bunks, is considered a 24-hour temporary holding facility, he said. Two other cells with four bunks each were abandoned to make room for property and evidence because of crowded conditions in the department, Purcell said. The remodeling will not provide more jail cells but will improve conditions, he said.