The Metropolitan Detention Center opened on Feb. 3. The jail has a 512-inmate capacity.
At about noon on Wednesday, Feb. 3, some 15 inmates stuck inside Parker Center made history: They were transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center, becoming the first detainees to inhabit the $80 million city jail. Here are 10 things to know about the building on Los Angeles Street, just south of Temple Street.
Size Matters: The 160,000-square-foot MDC is about 58,000 square feet larger than the Parker Center jail. Whereas Parker Center held about 440/ people, the MDC can accommodate 512 inmates.
Delayed Reaction: The MDC was mostly complete in June 2009, but its opening was delayed until yesterday due to LAPD staffing constraints. The jail's larger size and layout requires a higher ratio of jail staff to inmates than the old building. Problem was, and remains, the department is handcuffed by a hiring freeze. The LAPD resolved the issue by pulling 88 officers out of the field to staff the jail. "It's not an ideal scenario," said Commander Scott Kroeber, who oversaw the transition.
The First 15: City jails are short-term detention facilities, a place where offenders are booked and detained until they're released on bail or on their own recognizance (often the case with nonviolent misdemeanor offenders), or transferred to the custody of Sheriff's Department. Those not transferred stay in jail for less than 72 hours, and often less than 24 hours.
Pod Principle: The three-floor MDC has the jail facility on the top level. It is separated into four "pods," at the north, south, east and west sections of the building. Centered in each pod is an elevated control room from which jail staff can view every cell in the section. This isolated pods are intended to separate certain inmates, like rival gangs or large numbers of members of the same gang, Kroeber said.
Not Coed Yet: The pod design is also intended to allow the department to house both male and female inmates. Historically, women arrested in Downtown are taken to the 77th Street Regional Jail in South Los Angeles or the Valley Jail in Van Nuys. Two years ago, Central Area officers were anticipating a shorter trip to the MDC, but at the time of opening, there simply isn't the need to house female inmates at the new jail, Kroeber said.
Inmates by Number: The LAPD has 10 jail facilities, but four are currently closed due to staff shortages. The six now operating, including the MDC, contain 1,200 beds. On Feb. 2, there were 330 inmates in the entire city system. The low number reflects a lull in arrests, which comes as Los Angeles continues to experience crime drops. During high-crime periods, like Fourth of July weekend, "It's not uncommon to get up to about 1,000 inmates system-wide," Kroeber said.
Not Your Typical Jail: At first glance the Civic Center edifice looks like any new office building. The exterior features blue-tinted glass and sand-colored stone. "We didn't want the building to look like a jail because this is metropolitan Los Angeles," said Vince Jones, who oversaw construction of the project for the city Department of Public Works. "With a jail obviously, you have to have security. But this facility was designed so that it would fit in with the area and not stick out like a sore thumb."
Art Is Blowing in the Wind: Visitors to the jail, and inmates being released, pass some words of wisdom jangling in the air. Outside the main entrance, an art installation is meant to have a calming and inspirational effect: Suspended in the middle of four posts, 108 tiny bells dangle from a wire grid. Hanging from the bells, small metal rectangles, each inscribed with one-word virtues such as "harmony," "mindfulness" and "service," jostle the bells to create a light din of wind chimes. The concrete squares that make up a mini-plaza are combed with undulating and circular patterns that mimic sand art.
Brand Confusion?: Just a short walk from the Metropolitan Detention Center, at the corner of Temple and Alameda streets, the U.S. Department of Justice has a 1,050-inmate jail for federal detainees that is also called the Metropolitan Detention Center. For now, there's no talk of renaming the city MDC.
Evidence: While the inmates only moved in yesterday, the building's basement has housed the LAPD's Central Property Division since November. It functions as storage for collected evidence and seized contraband like weapons or drugs. A refrigeration unit will store evidence such as blood samples and DNA rape kits.
