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New Guilford County jail 'sorely needed'

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

(Updated 8:06 am)

By Ryan Seals
Staff Writer

GREENSBORO — With several tosses of dirt on a gravel parking lot, county leaders began what they hope to be a new, safer era in criminal justice throughout Guilford County on Monday.

It was the start of the $114.6 million jail project, which includes a new Guilford County Detention Center at 201 S. Edgeworth St. and renovation of the existing jail next door.

The project is being paid for by money from a $115 million bond referendum, which voters approved in 2008.

The project is a construction manager at-risk project — meaning the total cost can go down, but can’t go up, Sheriff BJ Barnes said.

“It’s something we sorely needed in this county ... for a long while,” said Barnes, noting that the current jail is on average 200 people over capacity each day.

“(The problem has been) lack of bed space.

“This jail is going to meet the needs that we have, but it’s not going to be excessive,” the sheriff said.

The new eight-story jail will contain 396,946 square feet and will house 1,032 inmates.

The jail is anticipated to keep up with current inmate growth through 2025, barring unforeseen law changes that could increase incarceration rates.

The new jail is expected to open in late 2011 and be less than 80 percent capacity upon completion, said Maj. Deb Montgomery, who oversees jail facilities.

Work will then start on renovations to the current jail — bringing total inmate capacity in downtown Greensboro to about 1,400 inmates by mid-2013. With the capacity of the High Point jail, the county could hold almost 1,700 inmates.

But that’s a number that county officials hope they never see — citing the need for increased attention to inmate rehabilitation for drug abuse and mental health problems, as well as for financial and educational woes that lead to crime and jail.

“Our hope is that we will be able to dedicate space for drug addiction and alcohol addiction ... because that is 75 percent of the people (in the existing jail),” said Melvin “Skip” Alston, chairman of the Guilford County commissioners.

He opposed construction of the new jail.

“Most of them are suffering not from the will to steal ... but most have a personal problem or sickness of addiction and we have to ... address those problems.”

The new jail will dedicate 45 beds each to handle mentally ill inmates and those undergoing treatment for substance abuse.

The jail also will continue programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, and other assistance programs.

“We can build the finest brick-and-mortar facility in this country, but if we don’t start today to develop programs to keep people
from coming to this facility and keep people who do find themselves (in jail) from ever coming back, we haven’t done our jobs,” Commissioner Paul Gibson said.

In all, the construction of the jail is expected to create 2,000 jobs. The sheriff’s office anticipates needing 313 detention officers for the jail, up from 144 at the current jail.

Unlike the old jail, the new jail will be direct supervision. Officers will have a better view of inmates in the housing units and common areas, allowing officers to be more proactive in preventing problems.

Once the shell of the building is complete, the floors will be finished from the top down — which will allow detention officers to begin training on the building’s schematics and floor plan well before the building is opened.

The jail will have an underground tunnel that links to the existing tunnel at the old jail and courthouse, to easily move inmates between court appearances.

The project is being handled by Balfour Beatty, D.H. Griffin and other local, regional and national subcontractors.

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com

Accompanying Photos

Photo Caption: An artist’s rendering of the new Greensboro Detention Center, which is expected to open in late 2011 at less than 80 percent capacity.

Additional Photos

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MiMi

November 9, 2009 - 8:30 am EST

Spending this kind of money on a building which holds prisoners is not a good thing.....I am sure the old building is just that old....but these people do not need a nice building to live in.....a lot of these people will want to commit crimes just so they can stay there.....this is like giving them a invitation to crime.....this will be a place better than a lot of them have anyway.....a place to stay and 3 meals a day....and no work....some people will look at it this way.....in a few years it will also be just another old building again......full of criminals living there.....

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Panacea

November 9, 2009 - 12:15 pm EST

What an incredibly ignorant comment.

Societies are judged by how they treat the least member of their society.

Not all of the inmates in jail are guilty of the crimes they are accused of; remember innocent until proven guilty?

While I am sure there may be a few who view jail as a refuge from society, most of the inmates do not want to be there. The county is not building them a five star hotel. Jails are cramped, uncomfortable environments. They are dangerous places to be. Getting locked up is NOT a vacation. All your personal possessions are taken from you. The food is barely edible. Everything inmates "have": yard, library, visitation, commissary, is controlled and regulated by the staff. You go when they say you go.

There are people who need to be in jail. But there are also many people in jail who would be better off in a mental hospital or rehab.

I pray you never have to find out these facts first hand.

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gsosteve

November 10, 2009 - 10:34 am EST

While that theory sounds good, it simply doesn't work. Study after study after study have proven that for those prone to commit criminal acts, prison (or jail) is no deterrent. These same studies have proven that the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime either. If you'd like, I can provide specific references, but that would require going back through the years of research I compiled while I was in school. To top it all off, many people have pointed out the difference between a jail and prison, which many do not understand. Jails generally house those who are awaiting trial, thus they are innocent until proven guilty. Jails also house those convicted of crimes and sentenced to 1 year or less. All others go to the state prison system. I work in the criminal justice system, and have been in that jail many times. You might ask whether people who have been in jail for years are actually acquitted of the alleged crimes, they do, all they time. On top of that, the building is extremely dangerous. I personally don't care if its dangerous for inmates, but its extremely dangerous for detention officers. The jail was poorly designed and is full of blind spots and corners where officers can, and frequently are, blindsided by attackers. I assure you, that jail (and its counterpart in High Point) are not pleasant places. Yes, they can play cards and such. At neither jail, however, are they able to watch TV. They have no radios, there are no weights to lift. Neither jail has an area for outside recreation. It is easy for us as outsiders to say that inmates have an easy life. But then we are able to do what we want when we want. Yes, they should be deprived of these liberties. But then we cannot say that jail, or prison, is easy.

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slg1023

November 9, 2009 - 8:43 am EST

They are criminals. The have a roof over their heads and three meals a day, which is more than many people in the city. Why not buy them new suits and ties ? What ever happened to keeping up our buildings and maintaining them? All we think about is build a new one and forget about the cost.

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Gerald Witt

November 9, 2009 - 9:24 am EST

Not all people held in the Guilford County jail are criminals. Many are awaiting trial. In general, prisons and work farms hold convicts, while jails hold the accused.

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Alberto

November 9, 2009 - 9:47 am EST

everyone acts like they want to be "tough on crime," but then they get upset when you have to build a new jail to house the additional inmates. go figure

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timflowers

November 9, 2009 - 1:56 pm EST

The jail is used to house people who have been arrested and are awaiting trial. They are innocent until the court rules otherwise. Therefore, they deserve a safe place to be until the date of the trial. No citizen should be locked up in a crowded facility and subjected to attacks by other inmates. Remember that any of us, including you, can be arrested at any time for any number of reasons. You don't have to be guilty to be processed by the system, but you do have the right to clean, safe accomodations while awaiting your day in court.

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tahoeman1971

November 10, 2009 - 8:51 am EST

"Remember that any of us, including you, can be arrested at any time for any number of reasons."

That is interesting. I was under the impression that if you followed the law you would not be arrested. According to your theory the cops can just show up and arrest you. Good to know.

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Voice of Reason

November 9, 2009 - 2:22 pm EST

I am of the opinion that prison should be a terrible place- make it so bad criminals won't want to go back. That being said, the jail is home to many who have not been convicted yet, that is certainly true. It is also full to way past capacity. In addition, it is inadequate for the law enforcement community and guards. Parking is particularly bad when officers and deputies need to bring in individuals they've arrested. Like everyone, inmates have benefited from technology, and over time even well-maintained structures begin to fail. The old jail was adequate when built, but as Greensboro has grown and crime has increased the number of inmates has risen so high that it cannot hold everyone who is arrested. Remember how much we hear complaining about persons released on low bonds, or due to overcrowding? Providing room for more criminals is a way to curb that. For the city of Greensboro, building a new, larger, more advanced jail from the ground-up is a necessity.

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Panacea

November 9, 2009 - 2:56 pm EST

Making prison so "terrible they don't wan't to go back" is good in theory. In practice, doesn't work. I know; I've worked in corrections. Oh, sure they don't want to go back. So they just get more desperate when trying to evade the cops, or murder their victim so they can't be identified.

Even if those things happens, prison environments do not deter crime.

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Voice of Reason

November 10, 2009 - 4:21 am EST

I bet if you made prison like work or a job you'd be able to deter crime. Letting them lift weights, play sports, and play cards is pretty much what most criminals sit around and do all day anyways, and many of them never go more than a couple of blocks from their house. So knowing that's what they have to look forward to in jail can't seem too bad. Most probably have a few friends there already. I'd be interested in hearing your solution, especially since something like 60% of released inmates return to crime after being released, and that's only the ones who got caught. So what is the magic solution you propose?

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stafford5465

November 9, 2009 - 3:12 pm EST

Who prepares the food? Prisoners. The new building has little or nothing to do with the quality of food served.

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KimberlyGSO

November 9, 2009 - 5:33 pm EST

I know it's not that timely for this article, but I'm really interested in the tunnel. Maybe assign a N&R reporter to write an article about "secret tunnels of Greensboro" in a year or two.

Ok - now back to the important stuff about jails, overcrowding, $$$, etc.

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tahoeman1971

November 10, 2009 - 8:47 am EST

This is ridiculous. Advertise on television that if you commit a crime in Guilford County you are going to have 4 roommates in a 8 x 4 cell and if that sounds bad don't commit a crime. Send the drug addicts to a treatment facility (you could treat many drug addicts with 108 mil) and let the other criminals suffer. Wasted money plain and simple. Why in the world do we do anything to make a criminals stay more comfortable. Total BS! As far as that goes, if you run out of room, put them inside a razor wire fence in the middle of no where with a sleeping bag.

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DivineMindPower

November 10, 2009 - 8:55 am EST

This might explain GBPD slackness. Whats the use of trying arrest people there is no where to put them. The thing that kills me is that we house inmates feed them 3 times a day but some kids go hungry at school because their parents may not have lunch money for them everyday. Why cant public school lunch be free to everybody. Some will argue that their is no such thing as free lunch but we are feeding inmates with tax payers dollars why not feed the kids help them get a education which will keep them out of the new jail..