Privatizing Jails, Parks Raises Questions

* It was interesting to read about the privately operated jail in Seal Beach (“Seal Beach Locks In a Net Profit With Private Jail,” Aug. 20). Without getting involved in an argument about whether punishment of people who violate the law should or should not be delegated to a private company which makes profit on it, there are some other points in the article that should be clarified.

According to the report, the jail generates profits for the city by saving booking fees that would be paid to the county jail, from fees paid by the Federal Bureau of Prisons to house parole violators and from prisoners who pay $65 a day to stay in the Seal Beach jail rather than being transferred to the county jail. It is not clear from the report how the privatization generates profit. Any police department that can keep arrestees in the city jail rather than booking them into the county jail can save the booking fees that are paid to the county; similarly, housing federal parole violators can be contracted by jails operated by public agencies. The report does not provide the details of the contract between the city and the private company, how much is being paid to the company and on what basis. The usual fiscal arrangement with private companies is to pay per inmate per day. The company makes its profit by paying lower wages, usually without fringe benefits, than the police or other government agencies do and by keeping the facility full. There is a built-in incentive for the private company to keep the facility occupied to its full capacity and consequently it is against its interests to decrease the number of violations and violators, because this will reduce its profits.

There is also the question of whether the cost analysis includes monitoring expenses. Since the Police Department remains legally responsible for the inmates and for their handling, there is a need to monitor the private provider. While it may be an easy task to monitor such a small jail adjacent to the police department, it does take a certain amount of time during which the monitor does not do the regular job and thus has to be calculated as an expense.

Finally, paying for a stay in the city jail rather than being transferred to the county jail raises the question of equal justice. The public confidence in being equal before the law is shattered already by the Simpson trial, which demonstrates how much difference money can make in a legal defense. The practice of paying for the “privilege” of remaining in the Seal Beach jail resembles the situation that prevailed for hundreds of years in England and in some jails in the American colonies as well, when private jailers were collecting fees from inmates who could pay for food, sleeping arrangements, alcohol, visits, and anything else, while those who could not pay had to work for the jailer. It seems that the Bible is right, there is nothing new under the sun.

DAVID SHICHOR

Fullerton

The writer is a professor, Department of Criminal Justice, Cal State San Bernardino.

* Privatization is regarded as the answer to Orange County’s financial problems, and here is a good example. The Salt Creek Beach Park is under a private contract for maintenance. There is an iron fence overlooking the park, which is located on Ritz-Carlton Drive. Overgrown shrubbery has grown through the fence onto the sidewalk, forcing pedestrians onto the street. Also, a large tree with branches grown over the sidewalk forces people onto the street--which could produce an accident.

The above situation has existed for a number of months. Repeated calls to the parks agency have not resolved this problem. Can you imagine what is going to happen to our local parks when the Board of Supervisors raid the Harbor and Parks fund?

Welcome to the Third World of Orange County.

JEAN WOJTAS

Dana Point