Over 770 inmates were escorted by Maricopa County detention staff and posse on Thursday in what was a large scale inmate movement between jails, made necessary due to a recent and dramatic increase in jail population.
In a few short months, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office inmate population grew from an average daily population of 7200 to now 8200. Housing units were becoming too full.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio ordered an inmate housing reorganization to make better use of existing jail space by using the different classification levels of jail inmates more efficiently. Proper classification of inmates, while challenging, is critical for keeping both staff and inmates safe in the jail environment.
Towers Jail Commander Captain Irene Baron-Irby says, “Because our jail population is always changing, we often must reassess how and where we house inmates to ensure their safety. Sheriff Arpaio demands that we do what is necessary to safely create more room without the possibility of releasing criminals early. Today’s massive inmate shift meets his objective.”
Inmates walked the over 300 yards from the Lower Buckeye Jail to the Towers Jail while handcuffed, chained and under the close supervision of Office personnel and volunteer posse members. The operation was expected to take over eight hours to complete.
During a similar inmate housing shift several years ago, Sheriff Arpaio was sharply criticized for transporting inmates in only their pink boxer shorts, a decision made necessary at that time because of their status as maximum security inmates.
This time, the inmates being transported were of a lower security level so they were allowed to remain in their full black and white striped jail uniforms during the transport operation. Each inmate, however, was thoroughly patted-down search both leaving and arriving at the jail facilities.
While the inmate shift is expected to relieve overcrowding, Sheriff’s officials expect the inmates population to continue to rise, due in some measure to a new program recently initiated by Sheriff Arpaio. His jail transport pilot program began several weeks ago with the goal of keeping more deputy sheriff’s on the street rather than driving those they arrest to jail and waiting there to process the arrestees into jail.
Arpaio claims that the new program has proved to be a success and has essentially doubled the amount of bookings the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office completed over the last two months.