How big an impact did COVID restrictions have on bookings into Whatcom’s jail last year?
The number of people booked into Whatcom County Jail dropped nearly 18% in 2021, in part due to the first full year of COVID-19 booking restrictions, but the jail’s average daily population actually increased slightly.
There were 3,285 bookings into the jail by law enforcement agencies in 2021, or an average of nine bookings per day, according to preliminary data reported Monday, Jan. 3, by Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Chief of Corrections Wendy Jones.
There also were 2,816 releases from the jail, meaning the average daily population of the jail was 231 people, Jones reported.
That average was slightly higher than 2020, when the jail averaged 222 people per day, Jones reported. But there were 3,993 bookings into the jail in 2020, or approximately 10.9 per day.
Both years were substantially lower than 2019, when the jail had 7,208 bookings and had an average daily population of 304.
Due to COVID-19, booking restrictions were instituted on March 19, 2020, to reduce the likelihood inmates and jail staff would be exposed to the virus at the downtown jail or the Whatcom County Jail Work Center.
The jail also has protocols in place that include testing of all new people booked, testing all jail staff as they start their workweeks, and immediate testing of anyone reporting symptoms and isolating the person until they are cleared by medical staff.
Jail policy also requires that all staff wear face masks, that people incarcerated in the jail wear face masks when they are out of their housing units and that all professionals or visitors entering the jail or work center also wear face masks, Jones said.
The jail does not have any internal policies or mandates requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for staff working there, but vaccination is encouraged, Jones said.
Despite those efforts, the jail has reported two COVID outbreaks, most recently in late November/early December, and the work center had one.
The operational capacity of the downtown jail is for 212 people, according to Monday’s email, while the work center has 150 beds, of which 70 are reserved for full-custody, lower security inmates.
