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Crowding shoves inmates out

The county jail sets 25 free. Others may follow if numbers don't dip.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published April 27, 2007

Meet your new neighbors, recently released from the Pinellas County Jail under a judge's order intended to ease the facility's crowding problem:

Daniel Hawkins, 37, a homeless man in Clearwater who police say got drunk and loud and refused officers' commands. He spent nearly three days behind bars.

Cynthia Howard, 41, a food service worker from Largo who police say violated her probation related to an earlier arrest for writing bad checks. She spent nine days in custody.

Alton Flanning, 57, a troubled St. Petersburg man who police say called 911 more than 20 times in a day, saying someone was playing with his TV remote. He spent almost 10 days in jail, unable to pay the $250 bail.

The three were among the first 25 inmates set free after a court order last week empowered Sheriff Jim Coats to release inmates accused of misdemeanors and local ordinance violations, like having an open container of alcohol in public.

All 25 were accused of relatively minor offenses and, in Coats' view, had no business being housed in an overcrowded jail, costing taxpayers more than $90 a day. On the whole, they were poor and, like Flanning, remained in custody because they couldn't afford to post even the smallest amounts of bail.

Their charges included driving under the influence, battery, criminal mischief, prostitution and drug possession - all misdemeanors. They were not released as one group, but individually after jail staff verified they met certain criteria.

"The jail shouldn't be a dumping ground for all our social issues," Coats said. "Jails weren't designed to treat alcoholics and drug addicts. ... The risk these inmates pose is greater in the jail, adding to the crowding, than the risk they pose out in society."

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Chief Judge David Demers issued the authorization last week to free some inmates, responding to a jail population hovering around 3,600 - 1,100 more than it was originally designed to house. Two thirds of the inmates are awaiting trial and have not been convicted.

Demers formulated the recent order after a yearlong series of meetings between the sheriff, prosecutors, public defenders and other judges.

Under the policy, the inmates eligible first for release are those accused of misdemeanors or ordinance violations. Then, if that doesn't provide enough relief, Coats can ask the court to consider freeing people accused of nonviolent felonies, like retail theft and drug possession. Jail staff already has compiled a list of 30 such inmates.

And if the jail population is still above 3,300, the facility's modified capacity, the sheriff could set free inmates sentenced to the county jail who only have a short time left to serve.

Both prosecutors and public defenders have raised concerns about how much, or how little, the order will actually do.

"But our backs are up against the wall, so we're in a position that we have to do something," said Bruce Bartlett, the chief assistant in State Attorney Bernie McCabe's office.

Bartlett hadn't seen a list of the freed inmates, but told of their charges, he said they appeared to pose the least risk to the public.

"There's a certain degree of liability there when you start doing this type of stuff," Bartlett said. "The more you release the greater the odds" that some of the inmates will end up committing other crimes.

Also set free:

- Doreen Herman, 47, of St. Petersburg. Police say she dined with a friend at Fresco's Waterfront Bistro in downtown St. Petersburg, ran up a tab of $220 and then tried to dash. She spent eight days in jail.

- Ronald Paul, 31, of Largo. Police say he dropped his pants several times, exposing his buttocks to people on Clearwater Beach. He spent four days in jail.

- Willie B. Jones, 47, of St. Petersburg. Police say he hit a convenience store owner when the man refused to give him a cigarette. Jones spent 30 days behind bars.

Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender Bob Dillinger said Demers' order offers relief to at least some of the poor people in jail.

"If you don't have any money, it doesn't matter how low your bond is," he said. "The only way this is going to change is when it gets so expensive, like now. You can put these people on electronic monitors and save 75 bucks a day."

The population at the Pinellas jail began to spike in 2004, driven in large part by a zero-tolerance policy by the state's probation officers that increased the number of inmates. The policy change came after 11-year-old Carlie Brucia of Sarasota was killed by a man on probation.

Judges have worked to process these cases faster. But the recently passed state Anti-Murder Act, which requires violent felons who violate probation be jailed until they see a judge, is expected to generate another surge of inmates.

Two jail expansion projects due to open in coming months are expected to provide some relief. An abandoned PSTA bus garage near the jail is being renovated to house 288 inmates while a new medical building with 400 beds is also nearing completion.

In the meantime, hundreds of inmates must sleep on the floor in portable beds. The crowding has fueled violence and disease. Last year, attacks on jail staff jumped 82 percent.

Times researcher Angie Drobnic Holan contributed to this report.

[Last modified April 27, 2007, 01:29:57]