State report: Jail understaffed, crowded

By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Trumbull County received an oral report from the Ohio Department of Adult Detention stating that its jail is understaffed and overpopulated.
That comes as no surprise -- it's the same thing the last three grand jury reports have said, said Ernie Cook, the sheriff's chief deputy.
"I agree with the report," he said.
"Everything the sheriff's office can control is in compliance, and everything the sheriff's office cannot control is not in compliance," Cook said of the recommendation given by an inspector during last week's annual inspection.
Today, Sheriff Thomas L. Altiere and Commissioners Daniel E. Polivka, Paul E. Heltzel and James G. Tsagaris will hold a news conference to discuss jail staffing.
Last week commissioners gave the sheriff permission to bring back 11 jailers from layoff. The staffing allowed the department to reopen the minimum security jail on the second floor, which was closed because of layoffs. This jail section actually no longer houses just minimum-security prisoners.
Previously, inmates had been crowded onto cots on the floor of other sections, a condition criticized by grand juries, the union representing the jailers and now the state inspector.
Quotable
Cook likened the jail to a bathtub. "We control the tub but not the spigot or the drain," he said. In other words, he and Altiere cannot control how many jailers are available or the number of inmates being supervised.
"They're not out to close jails," Cook said of the state inspectors. "Their function is to work with us, make some recommendations and reach minimum compliance."
The sheriff's office, like some others in Trumbull County this year, laid off staff before passage of two additional county sales taxes. Those revenues, including the tax specifically for criminal justice services, are now being collected and placed into county coffers.
Cook noted that because some staffing requirements cannot be ignored, officials "Band-Aided ourselves" this year by working deputies overtime to make sure all posts in the jail were manned that needed to be.
The sheriff's department still has about a dozen more people on layoff.
runyan@vindy.com