A 234-page report released Wednesday from the Office of the D.C. Auditor detailed what officials said is a critical need for a new city jail to replace the existing facility at 1901 D Street SE.
Auditor Kathy Patterson told WTOP conditions at the facility are worsening and her office has been urging officials to begin plans for a replacement soon.
“We desperately need a new D.C. jail and have (been) for probably 20 years or more,” Patterson said. “There are just lots of ways in which the aging of this facility has contributed to these risks.”
Those contributing factors include chronic understaffing and the facility’s original design.
“One of the risks in this central detention facility today is the way it was constructed and the sight lines. So, if you have a shortage of staff, you don’t have correctional officers who can see everything,” she said,
Patterson said she believes there is little chance an inmate could escape the jail, but chronic overcrowding and the relative ease to get contraband to inmates, including drugs, is raising the danger.
“The number of deaths from overdoses is much, much higher,” she said.
The report concluded the overdose rate for inmates at the D.C. jail is 10 times the national average and the death rate is more than three times the national average.
The report also found inmates are spending 93 days on average in the city jail, compared to the 39 days spent at other similar-sized municipal facilities.
The report cited several areas where the jail is deficient:
- Deaths in custody: The audit concluded that in addition to the high rate of deaths, the city’s Department of Corrections is doing a “minimal and inconsistent” job when it comes to providing the public, oversight groups and family members the necessary information regarding an inmate’s death.
- Contraband, violence and staffing issues: The report pointed out that two DOC staff members were convicted of bringing contraband into the jail and there was an average of two incidents a day of violence in the jail during the audit period. The jail also relies too much on overtime to staff the facility, the report found.
- Deteriorating infrastructure: The report said the DOC “failed to maintain consistently clean, hygienic, and safe conditions and did not adequately control parasites, vermin, and mold,” and failed “to maintain consistent healthy temperatures in both jail facilities.” It also said multiple systems in the jail needed repairs and there were numerous reports of broken and malfunctioning cell doors, locks and keys.
- Mental health and substance use issues: The report said approximately 70% of all DOC residents had an identified “mental health issue” when they entered the jail at intake, and “the majority of those individuals resided in general population units where not all specialized services are available.” It also said the staff did not address substance abuse issues and that staff administered Narcan at least 148 times during the audit.
Patterson said a similar report from her office in 2019 also painted a dangerous evolving situation at the jail and, at the time, officials took little action. Now, six years later, the facility is in much worse shape.
“A new jail to replace the aging Correctional Detention Facility has been discussed for more than 20 years and it’s past time to act,” Patterson said in a news release on Wednesday. “The administration’s plan for a new auxiliary building is laudable but does not meet the immediate need. Elected officials need to make hard choices and set priorities, and life and death issues must be at the top of the list.”
In her proposed city budget, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser scrapped plans to have the city build the new jail, instead having a private company build it and have the city lease it back. It’s estimated that building a new jail could well exceed $1 billion.
The mayor’s budget proposal is now before the D.C. Council and it is not expected the members will act on the spending document until sometime in July.
The city’s Department of Corrections is disputing many of the findings and long-term recommendations in the audit.
Corrections Director Thomas Faust said the DOC took exception to many of the findings and recommendations, but said in a news release, “there is no question that the structure of the CDF facility presents real limitations in delivering programming and services.”
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