Jail-Needs, Comparisons and Statistics



On 09/06/2011 the Mustang Times Newspaper reported on progress regarding addressing our inadequate jail facility.  According to the Mustang Times article, we are now considering a 120 bed dormitory built onto the 72 bed jail facility as part of building a jail “one step at a time”.  The immediate plan also calls for a new laundry and kitchen area with a price tag “around 4.7 million dollars”.  As previously noted, I highly question whether a dormitory facility can address our current needs for a variety of reasons including: safety of the inmates and staff as well as the state jail standards requirement that we could only house minimum security inmates in the dormitory facility. 

On 09/21/2011 the Mustang Times Newspaper reported that it was announced in a county commissioners meeting that our current capacity was 99 people in a 72 bed jail as well as 70 inmates housed out of the county.  The newspaper somewhat cited the national average, that four jail beds are needed for every one thousand people of population.  Considering the results of our last census, Canadian County  should need approximately 462 beds at the time of the census. 

I have also long questioned how much we can afford  to pay out to other counties to house our inmates.  Currently with 70 inmates housed out of our county the cost just for incarceration is $511,000.00 per year.  This cost does not include the frequent transportation between facilities and the other incidental expenses.  Based on the most current plan coupled with spending nearly five million dollars, we would end up with 22 additional beds.  This however is a best case scenario assuming that we could find 120 minimum security inmates to house in the dormitory. 

The attached photos show research that I have conducted regarding the 77 county jails within the State of Oklahoma.  The photos show an alphabetical listing of the counties as well as the 2010 census population along with the amount of growth from 2000 to 2010.  I have also shown the population density and the crime rate per 1,000 people based on 2009 Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) information from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (state average crime rate per 1,000 people is 40.51).  Finally, I have shown each counties jail capacity as well as the amount of jail beds per 1,000 people per county. 

The numbers found on the right side of the table is Canadian County’s crime rate per 1,000 people in 2007 as well as 2008.  Also found in the right side of the table is project populations for three county jails under construction and the number of beds per 1,000 people.

Looking at the data, Canadian County is the fifth most populous county in the State and also ranks fifth in terms of population density per square mile.  The Canadian County Jail currently with 72 beds has .67 beds per 1,000 people while the State average (includes the three facilities under construction) is 4.32 beds per 1,000 inhabitants.  We will rank 44^th out 77 counties in terms of capacity holding the same position with Garvin County which only has a population of 27,576 people (2.61 beds per 1,000 people) (our census population was 115,541 people).  When comparing beds per 1,000 people, we currently rank LAST (#77) in the State of Oklahoma with this ratio.  If the dormitory plan is successful, we would have a capacity of 192 beds with 1.66 beds per 1,000 people (this would move us to 74th in the state when looking at beds per 1,000).  As far as the crime rate per 1,000 people, we rank twenty-fifth out of the 77 counties in the State of Oklahoma based on the 2009 UCR statistics. 

While I applaud our current elected leaders for attempting to be frugal in their spending, I hardly believe this current dormitory plan is the answer to our continued problems.  I do think the pay as you go has merits but our long term plan should be one in which we can expand a facility instead of addressing the needs of a nearly thirty year old inadequate facility. Throwing good money after bad does nothing to address problems with a facility which has nearly reached the end of usefulness and is ultimately landlocked for any future expansion.  I do believe there are solutions to this jail issue and it involves an adequate facility with the ability to expand as our population continues to dramatically increase. 

Considering the census data showing an approximate 32% increase in population in the past decade, I have no doubt we are continuing on this track when looking at the continued development and construction in this county.  Having this rapid continued growth in mind, we are considering numbers that are nearly two years old for this county when reviewing this data.

While talking to members of the public on occasion it has been brought up that El Reno, Mustang and Yukon Police Departments all have their own jails.  While this is true, these agencies do not house inmates long term especially for more serious crimes.  These agencies as well as others in the county all bring their prisoners to the county jail where people either bond from jail or await their day in court. 

For some of these people (especially the Murder cases) this can be quite a significant amount of time.  One particular individual, I arrested prior to the current Sheriff’s term in office, on June 19^th, 2008 regarding a charge on a Murder case, has remained in jail since his arrest.  Another individual (Durcho) was arrested in mid-January of 2009 and is still awaiting trial. I do not believe these types of cases will go away and with populations increasing crime usually increases as well which will do nothing but necessitate an adequate facility. 

Finally, although I have not seen anything publicly on this, I wonder how the dormitory and the current facility will be connected. I have previously mentioned that if new construction occurs, the current facility will have to meet current fire codes and not those that were in effect thirty years ago. If we are required to be compliant with the current fire code requirements then you can only imagine the increase in construction cost. At one point, they were going to have separate buildings, which would not necessitate the compliance with current building/fire codes but this would then impact the ability to quickly get into the dormitory building in the event of an emergency. Also under current Jail Standards, two personnel would be required to be in the facility which again increases the cost to the taxpayer.   Again, this does not look the most effective use of our taxdollars when we expect sound fiscal responsibility from our elected officials.

I have additional information regarding the status of the jail in the issues section of my webpage: www.beaty4sheriff.com if you would like to read more.   I do have an excel version of this data available, if needed, in the event you would like to do your own comparisons. 

The map listed below gives a somewhat graphical idea of the capacity throughout the State although some of the numbers are not current.  However, it is a pretty decent representation as to what the statewide situation is.

Update to International Drivers License Driver Performance

Well yet another report has surfaced that our current Sheriff's unlicensed licensed, non-resident resident alien is back making acquaintances with local law enforcement personnel. The latest event was a traffic stop for following too closely (tailgating) while having unrestrained children in the vehicle. Our alien was able to provide his "International Driver's License" and the business card "Sheriff's Driving Permit" supplied by our current Sheriff, which has previously been posted. Our aliens vehicle was impounded because he had no insurance for the vehicle and our driver was released.

This is the front side of the drivers permit (with some alterations to protect the privacy of the involved, I will never pass for a police sketch artist but never the less).

The above pictures are a sample "International Drivers License" that a person can buy over the internet (http://www.iadc-club.com/pr2/index.html) for forty dollars plus six dollars shipping, which looks curiously similar, both front and back.

Whether this is a valid International Drivers Permit or not, on the back side (as shown above) is the statement; "this card is a translation of the specified's original license and must be accompanied at all times by a foreign drivers license".  (I did alter the telephone number listed so that people will not be calling for their own licenses). I have no idea why a public official of any degree would prepare such a silly request and ask that the law be ignored. If this is ignorance on the part of the public official, I would seem to believe the small sentence on the back of the permit would be sufficient notice of the requirements of the permit.

After further investigation into this situation, we have learned this was purchased on the southside of Oklahoma City for one hundred fifty dollars (pretty good mark up from the $40.00 plus shipping and handling).  If there are any other doubts you may wish to look at a website by Americans for Legal Immigration which discusses the permits further (http://www.alipac.us/article4387.html). I am considering going over and getting my private pilots license and official President of the United States identification card next week if anyone is interested.

When this issue continues to come to mind, I can not help but think about Barney Fife giving Otis Campbell a driving test at the Mayberry Courthouse in the episode: Otis Sunday Driver.  I am half a mind to provide our Sheriff with the plastic cars and chalk because with the frequency of contacts this non-resident, resident alien is having with law enforcement, this guy needs a refresher on traffic laws at the least. I do believe it is time we get Barney Fife out as Sheriff and put in a person with the knowledge and demeanor of Andy.

Discouragement of Job Seekers

This past week saw a posting within the office for the position of Canine Handler for the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office (as shown above, will have better photo later). This opening was necessitated by the handler applying for a Police Officer position with a metro area municipal police department. The situation is the second such incident to occur within the past six months with a canine handler working for the Sheriff’s Office.  

Regarding both incidents, the current Sheriff became aware that a canine handler had applied to another law enforcement agency. On both occasions, the Deputy was called into his office and relieved of their canine responsibilities. During the two incidents, each Deputy had only applied and had not been hired by the perspective municipal law enforcement agencies.  Both Deputies were immediately removed from the duties, as punishment, for strictly applying with another law enforcement agency which is unacceptable to me.   

Reasons cited for the applications have always been better pay as well as a twenty year retirement. Nearly all municipal law enforcement agencies of any significant size offer much better pay especially in terms of long term employment. In regards to retirement, for a county employee (Deputy) to retire their age plus years of service must equal 90. Therefore in general, a person starting employment at age 30 would have to have 30 years of service and be 60 years old to be eligible for retirement. While if the person was employed by municipal or state law enforcement agency, the person could retire at 50 years of age.  Not only have we had this incident, but this week the Sheriff’s Office lost a dispatcher with several years of experience due to better working conditions and opportunities for advancement. 

I would challenge the current administration to not penalize personnel who are attempting to better themselves or their families. I would however encourage the current administration to look at the reasons for the high level of employee dissatisfaction and resulting resignations. I believe an honest exit interview process could be implemented, but no matter the answer, the continual loss of key personnel is a telling statement. 

I recommend you look at my platform listed on our www.beaty4sheriff.com website. I believe the employees are one of the key components of the Sheriff’s Office and they are a factor in my seeking election as Sheriff of Canadian County.  The current administration has continued to hire personnel but experience with the people of the county and relationships that are forged are not something that is created overnight.  I will strive to attract quality personnel and work to retain them based on a positive work environment in which they will have pride in being a part of.

Although we may not be able to match the pay and retirement, personnel that know they have the backing of their administration will be much less inclined to seek employment elsewhere.  The continued revolving door of hiring personnel and losing them cost us money, by focused retention of qualified personnel we will be practicing Fiscal Responsibility which is needed with our tax dollars. This issue is another example of the Common Sense Leadership that I would like to implement if given the opportunity to be your Sheriff of Canadian County.