Overcrowding at the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office detention facility is again raising concerns. The jail population in 2017 was about 1,100 people. That number last year climbed to nearly 1,400, according to WCSO’s Captain Timothy Moseley.
“This is a concern for me personally,” Mosely told Washoe County commissioners in April. “Our bed space is becoming limited. As we go into warmer months, we can anticipate an increase in our inmate population, which is typical for the summer months.”
The average daily population at the jail in the first part of this year was about 1,200 people staying for an average of about 17 days, he added.
That means some who are incarcerated are staying in cells in the intake part of the jail.
“It’s concerning,” Moseley repeated.
One activist is also concerned and called the situation dangerous and inhumane. Annemarie Grant, whose brother was killed by sheriff’s deputies at the jail, said conditions now are worse. She alleged that as many as four people are in cells meant for no more than two people.
“I have been made aware of … a fire escape and fire hazard regarding the ingress and egress from a known exit door not being able to open to escape in case of a fire,” Grant said. “It was explained to the deputies that it is a fire hazard if the inmates are forced to exit through this hallway and get outside and are unable to exit because the door and lock are defective.”
Similar issues have been noted in fire inspection reports of the facility.
“The lack of oversight is astounding and could be downright deadly,” Grant said. “It seems nobody in Washoe County or Reno knows … where the occupancy certificate is?”
Capacity unknown
Both Reno Fire and the sheriff’s office were unable to find the jail’s official capacity. Fire Marshal Tray Palmer, in an email provided to Grant and provided to This Is Reno, said an inspector was assigned to address the occupancy concern at the jail.
“The Occupant load was set at time of construction through our building department and utilized the code that was adopted at time of construction. We are attempting to pull these records to verify what code the cells were designed to,” he wrote.
Palmer’s email followed an email by WCSO’s Bob Charles, who also noted the capacity concerns in late June. He requested the Reno Fire Department inspect the facility “and make an accurate determination of what our total capacity is for the detention facility as well as individual cells that currently hold more than one detainee.”
“We have obviously grown in inmate numbers exponentially over the years, with really no end in sight,” he added.
Knowing cell and facility capacity limits was needed for “fire prevention standards” and “to maintain prevention and life safety standards,” Charles said.
Earlier this month, a Reno Fire employee notified Charles of the same thing Palmer told Grant: The capacity of the facility needs to be determined from building codes at the time of construction and the facility’s original plans.
The sheriff’s office did not respond to a number of questions for this story but said they would respond when they had more information. This story may be updated.
The ACLU of Nevada suggested non-violent offenders being released could ease capacity concerns.
“I would certainly be interested to see more information about what’s happening in the jail because constitutional issues may develop or already exist if there’s overcrowding or other extreme jail conditions. Some of the bigger questions I have are how many people are being detained there for nonviolent offenses, and why they aren’t being released if overcrowding is this bad?” asked West Juhl of the ACLU of Nevada.
Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill said she has concerns about the overcrowding at the jail.
“I have some concerns and have asked for data from the sheriff’s office,” she said. “I see no breakdown [of the data]. It feels like this should not be happening.
“This is why I’ve been an advocate for behavioral health in the county. There’s an opportunity to shift some of these low-level crimes.”
