The long-delayed transfer of inmates from the dilapidated Parker Center jail to the new Metropolitan Detention Center begins at midnight tonight amid continuing concern about the use of LAPD officers as guards.
Assistant Police Chief Michel Moore told city officials on Monday that 88 sworn officers - 83 jailers and five supervisors - have been trained to supplement the 331 civilian officers needed to staff the $84 million detention center.
"Parker Center jail will close and we will transition to the new Metropolitan Detention Facility that was completed 18 months ago," Moore told a joint meeting of the City Council's Public Safety and Budget and Finance committees. "We are doing this out of concern for the health and safety of the people in custody and the people who work there."
Moore said the jail at the 55-year-old Parker Center has been cited by CalOSHA and other agencies for health and safety violations, such as plumbing problems and the lack of a fire sprinkler system.
In addition to the cost of using LAPD officers rather than civilians as jailers, the shift to a larger facility will cost an estimated $700,000 for additional custodians, medical personnel and other staff.
The committees said the LAPD will have to find money within its budget to pay these additional costs. Facing a financial crisis of its own, the city is struggling to close a $30 million deficit by June 30.
Councilman Bernard Parks, who was police chief when the $84 million bond issue to fund the center was approved by voters in 2002, said he is concerned about the ongoing costs of operating the facility.
"We have covered so much of the move to the new building," Parks said. "We had to put money up for people who were displaced, $1 million a year to keep Parker Center open and all the other costs. This was supposed to be a clean move and it's amazing to me all these other costs weren't considered."
Even with the transfer of inmates from Parker Center - they'll walk the half-block from their old quarters to the new 512-bed facility on Los Angeles Street - there will continue to be expenses for lab technicians still working in the former LAPD headquarters.
Moore said those workers are scheduled to be transferred in 12 to 18 months to facilities being developed at the Piper Technical Center.
The union for civilian detention workers has objected to the use of police officers as jailers, noting that civilians have a lower wage scale. The group also said that the need to supplement staffing could be averted by exempting the civilians from citywide furloughs.
"We are now being furloughed 16 hours a month," Detention Supervisor Dave Yuan said. "If you would end our furloughs, you would not need as many officers working in the jail. You would be able to have them out on patrol."
The debate prompted the revival of a number of concerns over the city budget, including deployment of the Los Angeles Police Department's 9,963 officers
Parks said he wanted reports comparing the current deployment of officers on a flexible three-day, 12-hour shift and traditional five-day, 40-hour shifts.
"I want to look at actual numbers of officers working," said Parks, who has long maintained that the three-day, 12-hour shifts result in a reduction in the patrol force.
The city contract with the Los Angeles Police Protective League requires the flexible work schedules be available to the officers.
Parks and Councilman Tony Cardenas said they also wanted to look at hiring through the rest of this fiscal year. The City Council previously agreed to delay the next traininig class and spread those hires out over the last four months of the fiscal year.
"We are not addressing the third rail in the room - the 9,963 number," Cardenas said. "That is what is driving this. We could use the money from not hiring to cover the costs of civilians doing these jobs."
However, the two panels deadlocked on cutting back on future police classes.
Moore said the department's civilian ranks have seen dramatic reductions, down by 600 people in the last two years due to attrition, early retirement and the hiring freeze. Officers have been reassigned to some of those critical functions.
The plan for the jail is to have the newest officers assigned for six months to the jail division and then returned to patrol duties.
The Parker Center jail was opened in 1955 with an capacity of about 110 arrestees. Moore said it has taken in as many as 440 arrestees.
The new MDC meets all health and safety conditions and uses a modular concept to house those arrested in pods. It has a capacity of 512 prisoners.
