Instead of a new $400 mil jail..

Here's an idea, and you all can tell me if I'm crazy or not.

Instead of asking tax payers to pony up $400 million for a jail we really don't need to spend $400 million on, and instead of lining the pockets of Sheriff Whetsel and his "public safety" cronies--why don't we just use Crossroads Mall instead?

I mean, it's practically the best location I've ever seen for a jail. Isolated from the rest of the city and cut off by a highway interchange, with a landfill towering over it, and the city's best collection of strip joints just a jailbreak away--it's the world's most perfect site for a new county jail. It's also conveniently located near a very high-crime part of the southside and has limited ingress/egress that could easily be watched--and of course, you would encircle it with a great wall.

That kills three birds with one stone. That way people can stop talking about how to revive Crossroads, we don't have to spend public resources to bulldoze it, and we have a new solution for the county jail.

What's the asking price anyway? Probably under $5 million, just a guess. So 1/80th of the cost to build Sheriff Whetsel's dream prison.

Jailgate

BREAKING NEWS: County officials favor the county getting more money so that the jail can stay under their jurisdiction.

The appropriate reaction: shock and awe.

No money for schools or tax credits, but plenty for jails

This Norman Transcript article is sickening. Apparently the state has zilch for schools and has to roll back tax credits for historic preservation (which by the way, thank the lord we got a deferral instead of a moratorium) but apparently there is tons of money for new jails. Especially as we continue to put more and more Oklahomans behind bars for petty and minor offenses. Corrections truly must be a recession-proof industry and it's above criticism as well, because nobody besides me will attack the law enforcement establishment that has this state under their thumb.

The facts, according to the article:

-11 jails currently under construction or in planning, not including the $400 million (or more) jail that Oklahoma County wants to build
-State jail inspector calls the construction incredible, most he's ever seen at one time (he's been on the job since 1977)

MAPS for Convics (a hastily-written post)

Oklahoma County politicians have begun lobbying for more than $390 million to build a new jail, or $436 million to renovate the existing jail. This, at a time when the City of OKC is anticipating a campaign to make the next step toward becoming a World-class City. The $390 million would build a new 3,376-unit jail on a 50-acre site that would require the additional hire of 400 employees. The reason for a new jail is that the current one, built as recently as 1991, is inherently flawed, which has led to numerous escapes, suicides, and so on.

Fuzzy math: 3,376 units would make the Oklahoma County Jail three times the size of "Big Mac", the State Pen in McAlister. Just to clarify, there are 706,617 residents in Oklahoma County, and 3,617,316 residents in all of Oklahoma, in case anyone was suddenly confused about which was bigger. Just up the turnpike, the Tulsa County Jail is a much less bloated facility, with 1,440, built in 2000 at a cost of $70 million. It also has a maximum capacity of 3,000--how'd they do that (Tulsa County has 591,982 residents..100,000 less than Oklahoma County). You know what, why the $#@% does Oklahoma County need a jail facility that is three times the size of Big Mac? This is insane.

"But the push for major upgrades grew after the U.S. Justice Department issued a scathing report on the facility last year. The report, which cited lax supervision, inmate violence and excessive force by guards, threatened a federal lawsuit if a resolution wasn’t reached."

I'm not denying that what's going on at the OK County Jail is bad, which it is. The only problem is what does a major expansion and $390 million do to correct inmate violence? What does it do to change lax supervision? Can a $390 million building supervise 2,000 inmates that desperately want out? Here's an idea...hiring better guards? More guards?

Here's an idea..why don't we hire ten more "Gladiators"? You know, someone instructed to snap fingers, break arms, smash faces, and crush skulls! Or not..

What's more outraging: Oklahoma County politicans want this to be the next MAPS. Nevermind streetcar, a convention center, a central park, the Oklahoma River, or research improvements, or anything that actually improves Oklahoma. A streetcar system would revolutionize development in downtown by creating a huge development impetus, a central park would create a landmark space that Oklahomans can treasure for as long as it's there in the heart of our city, a convention center would bring in business from around the world, Oklahoma River projects would make an even bigger splash on the river, and investing in research incentives would help OKC become a bigger part of the new economy. What would a $390 million county jail do for us? When we don't even want to spend near that much on a new convention center, why should we even consider throwing more than $100 million into a jail, AT THE MOST? This is why the crooks at Oklahoma County need to be just gotten rid of and merged with the city government of OKC. County home rule, check it out..