Fix the jail problems that are embarrassing Jackson County
Jackson County is running a second-rate jail that can be fixed with effective leadership from County Executive Mike Sanders and the Legislature — and with an infusion of public dollars.
A new report by the Department of Corrections Task Force properly concludes that the county should find the resources needed to provide higher pay and improved training for guards plus better treatment for prisoners at the downtown jail.
The report pressed hard for the county to get the detention facility accredited again by the American Correctional Association. At a minimum, the largest county in the Kansas City metropolitan area should take the positive steps required to meet national standards, especially after that accreditation has lapsed for almost 20 years.
Sanders appointed the task force in late August after disturbing reports emerged of a few prisoners being abused by guards. The county acted correctly to make sure the guards reportedly caught on tape are no longer employed at the jail.
Subsequent stories revealed low pay and recent high turnover for guards, as well as the troubling lack of reasonable medical assessment of prisoners when they are brought to the center.
A separate FBI investigation into the reports of excessive force used against prisoners is ongoing.
The problems at the jail must not be taken lightly. The people behind bars aren’t hardened prisoners. As the county’s website points out: “On average, more than 90 percent of those in custody in the detention center are awaiting trial. They have been arrested and accused but continue to have a presumption of innocence.”
No prisoner should be abused while in custody. But that should be doubly true for people who ultimately may be found not guilty of any crime.
The task force said the county must improve the jail’s health care system for prisoners, press other governments for more money and upgrade an aging detention center.
The new report concluded that the county’s guards are the lowest paid in the region, starting at $11.45 an hour. The logical recommendation is to pay them more, to get close to what’s offered elsewhere in the area.
In addition, as a recent Star story noted, Jackson County fails to perform a sensible screening that’s done in Johnson and Wyandotte counties’ jails, where a nurse reviews the physical and mental health of prisoners as they are put in custody. The reasonable goal is to evaluate whether the prisoners might be a threat to themselves or others.
The task force said Jackson County should put this kind of health screening in place, again an obvious and necessary improvement.
All of this — the national accreditation, the higher pay and better training for guards, more nurses — will require money to accomplish.
Sanders and the Legislature should make it a priority to ensure that the 2016 budget sets aside enough funds to carry out the task force’s recommendations.
The result should be a first-rate jail that no longer embarrasses the people of Jackson County.
This story was originally published November 4, 2015 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Fix the jail problems that are embarrassing Jackson County."