William- that is for another Article...I absolutely agree though that for certain crimes instead of locking them up, put them to work. It is the people involved in gangs, drugs, burglaries, sex crimes, and murder; these are some of the ones we don't want released into our community
In Banning, at midnight they were taking the men to one end of town and the women to the other and releasing them. Some of them have no way out of town so what do you think they do?
Kathy: I am sure I'd feel the same way if I lived there. IF only we never needed jails. OR, IF the prisoners were not given such good treatment when they go to jail, maybe there would be less repeaters...I don't know. Our system bugs me to no end; pampered inmates with computers, their meals have to be "just" right so they get all the right nutrients and vitamins (my sister works in a county jail in central CA and sees it all!), conjugal visits, etc... argh!
Kathy,
Sounds like they should make use of the one they currently have.
Ann
Kat- Yes, for it being a jail they do have many privileges. I think it's Japan that has the lowest repeat rate in the world. Wouldn't it be great if we didn'[t need all these jails? Riverside County was mandated to add close to the 7,000 beds that this project is purported to build. The Larry D. Smith Jail is trying to expand, but they ran into issues with local homeowners that own large parcels and don't want to sell. The County has/had stated they wouldn't do an eminent domain and they are giving the City money to help pay for an extra Police Officer. Whether that helps mitigate the effects or not is another story. Just the other day a "Transient" was arrested for Commercial Burglary (broke into one of the business's and stole stuff). Dumping people off in our town has been going on for a very long time....and we're tired of it. Whitewater is afraid the same thing will happen.
Ann-What a novel concept to use what we already have :) The jail in Banning can only be expanded so much for lgistic reasons.....and the County does have a point on Whitewater being one of the better locations for them. Part of the problem is the lack of transparency on the County's part- and them saying the'll give us a park. We don't want a Park.....we want streets paved, lights that work, lights and benches for the kids that go to school in the dark (winter months).
If the County is set on putting the jail here then at least mitigate some of the concerns of residents, and give us some added value for having this in our backyard.
Kathy, Don't you just love it that they don't have to notify residents who live nearby and pay taxes. I would be upset as well and why aren't they addressing the concerns (that are perfectly valid) that so many people have? Btw, don't the people have to be released to someone---can they just release them like that?
Kathy - Hope you get the results you are looking for. You certainly have done a great job of explaining the situation.
Oh Kathy, what a terrible place for a jail...maybe they should just STOP the crime and that will be then end of it!
Carole- Honestly I thought this jail was going on the other side of the freeway, a few miles west. I was shocked to learn about this, and even more shocked that even if it's the letter of the law, it wasn't in the spirit to not notify residents.
Your question about people having to be released to someone- the answer is no.
Bill- thank you....I hope the County listens and at minimum helps mitigate some things and actually puts a few dollars into the community. Whitewater has been neglected for many many years. Only recently they have had code enforcement, and Sheriffs patrolling. Before that it was a neglected community.
Kathy: Maybe they should open Alcatraz again for the HARDENED Criminals and 3 Strikers. From all I've heard about that place when it was ran, those creeps did NOT get pampered. They were NOT even allowed to whistle or sing. Oh, God, get me off my soap box.
Kathy about 20 years ago they proposed a new prison here in the town that I live in. Residence came out against it for many reasons, with the main one being that we were already the home for most of the states needs in other areas and did not need another or want another state facility in our town, especially a prison. I was Vice President of the group that lead the charge against it, and the only reason that we were able to stop it is that we discovered that the location that they were going to build it was on top of our aquifer protection zone. Apparently the state in all their studies had ignored that, but once we made it known it was the end of the prison.
Kat- I visited Alcatraz....that was some Prison. Someone that wrote one of the letters wanted to know why they didn't do a tent city. I have heard of these, and if they did that then they could go further East and set up in an area that isn't developing. There are plenty of places out here in the desert....like further over by Chirico Summit...no development there :)
George- So, you were successful, that should give the residents some hope. I don't know if that would be the case on this land, but it's worth checking. I'm going to mail you.
Kathy, Seems that many towns have not much respect for their residents anymore and I'm so sorry to believe that. To me it's also unbelievable that they just set them free.......
Interesting. We voted against our city building another jail here as well. They wanted to build a jail with an ungodly amount of amenities, also in the middle of the city. I just don't get it. First of all, isn't jail supposed to be a bad place to go? Why then would the inmates receive free cable and basketball courts the size of an NBA stadium? And chefs from some of the finest hotels around? One of our jails here as a "recreation room" for every 6 cells. The rec room has games, a big screen TV, lounges, etc. And this isn't a minimum security jail either. Second, why would you place a jail right in the center of your communities? Again, I don't get it. Maybe it's just me though.
~Renae
Renae- I loved your question "Isn't jail supposed to be a bad place to go?" Wow, jail must have really changed if they have good chefs, Rec. rooms for every 6 cells, etc. To be fair this Jail isn't in the middle of a Residential area at this point, but it is right in the middle of Whitewater...Tamarack is an E/W St. that connects 2 residential to the other areas of Whitewater.All the Residents including school children will have to pass this jail-there are no other options at all.
Did your jail get built, and if not why not.....the Whitewater Jail proponents need all the help they can get with info. And you guessed it....I wrote this so they could get more ideas, and exposure to help mitigate some of the concerns whether they're in an Official Presentation or not.
Kathy,
All I can say is, keep fighting for what you want. Eventually maybe they will listen.
Ann
Ann- thanks...there are several people that are trying to gather info, and see what they can do. I am just doing my part in getting the info out.
Kathy -- what types of offenders do they plan to have housed at this jail? I think you have summarized the concerns in a concise, easy to understand fashion. Keep us posted on what is happening. It doesn't appear all of the concerns have been addressed at this point.
Joan- This jail would have all types of offenders. People that end up in Prison start off in Jail, this is the first stop. I know the Larry D. Smith Jail has people that got arrested while Drunk Driving while traveling through the area, as well as everything else. One concern is that the County has not been forthright in this process....and their reply was they hadn't done their "presentation"yet. And you're right, there are a lot of concerns that haven't been addressed.
Unfortunately, our jail was built, right on the outskirts of downtown. I don't know why it was built in spite of vigorous protestations.
I think with the uprising of "legal rights," the bad guys are treated better than we do. They've got so many rights that their rights put them in a higher tax bracket than the rest of us. It affords them luxuries that many hard-working, law-abiding citizens can't afford. And to me, that's just sad.
~Renae
Kathy,
I wish you good luck in getting the word out. I also hope it does not fall on deaf ears...
Ann
I can certainly understand their concern with having the jail right in the middle of town. I've never understood why they don't build these things out in desert where there are no homes for miles. Area 51, looks like a nice area to build a lot of prisons!
Renae- I think you said it well, with the litigation over "rights" many people have it better in jail and prison than in the community. Don't get me wrong I think having someone tell you when you can do anything and just being locked behing a gate is enough for me.......that keeps me following the rules. And that was what jail was a long time ago.....somewhere you didn't want to go to. Now, heck it stilll takes some of your rights away, but not all.
So how has your jail affected property values.....that's what all of out here want to know. We've been hit pretty hard these past 2 years.
Ann-Oh thank you Ann.....just getting the word out helps. And it is very helpful that several people including George have already fought this battle. This will be good for others to see.
Todd-I think that's what the County thought they were doing putting the jail out in the Desert....problem is Development and Affordable Housing came to Whitewater while they were planning this jail location. Seems like updating their info might have been a good idea, if they didn't do it that is.
Area is near a major earthquake fault? Such an event would possibly expose residents to escaped inmates, as well as tax the local rescue resources with such a large number that would possibly need aid. Other areas in the county would not have the earthquake issue to this degree.
Concerned- Yes the jail is by a najor fault. This is a good point to look in the EIR for, and ask the county at the meeting on the 8th.
If all we hear is how many people there are in riverside county that need to be locked up and crime is always at an all time high. Put someone else in charge that can do something positive. You spend one fourth the money your puttin' into the prison into the schools instead, you'll have less need for prisons. this place is quiet we don't need any of your complications, dangers and problems it will bring. I've heard very little about this matter and only in the last 9 to 12 months.
Hi Kathy, A very interesting post about what is going on in your neighborhood. How unfortunate that with one in 300 incarcerated today somewhere in the state , we need more jails increase that number.
For people that do white collar crimes, there should be better remedies. A newly designed community service that replaces a certain number local and state government employees with community service volunteers.
Then we could save tax payer dollars at both ends of the spectrum. City county state budgets for employment would be less and the cost to house and feed those that would be replacing employees ( for the minimum wage while serving) .For the more minor offense that does not involve any sort of physical crimes, this might be the way out so debt in our entire state.