Why did Whatcom jail tighten booking restrictions? Sheriff Elfo says the reasons are many
Deciding to further limit who will be admitted to the Whatcom County Jail after more than two years of COVID-related restrictions didn’t come easily.
But in a June 7 letter from Sheriff Bill Elfo to Whatcom County leaders and obtained by The Bellingham Herald explained the decision to stop booking people suspected of misdemeanor offenses and most suspected of gross misdemeanors and detailed the reasons why the move became necessary.
Chief among them, Elfo wrote, was an increase in the population seen in the jail.
But housing more people in the jail was far from the only reason, Elfo reported.
“Since the beginning of 2022, populations at both the Downtown Jail and Work Center have steadily climbed despite increased booking restrictions that were put into place in October of 2021,” Elfo wrote.
As of Monday, June 13, the weekly jail snapshot reported 181 people at the jail and 109 more at the Work Center.
Those 290 people represent a 28% percent larger jail population than the 226 people housed at the two facilities three months earlier (March 14 report) and 44% more than the 201 people housed six months earlier (Dec. 13, 2021, report).
It’s not only more than the jail saw during corresponding snapshots the previous two years during the pandemic (159 reported June 15, 2021, and 182 reported June 12, 2020), it’s at or above the levels seen the two summers before the pandemic (272 reported June 10, 2019, and 290 reported June 11, 2018).
“In addition to the number of offenders, the characteristics of the offender population has also changed,” Elfo wrote, stating that approximately 83% of the jail population is now being held on suspicion of a felony offense, with the majority having pre-conviction status.
Additionally, Elfo reported that approximately 42% of the people housed in the jail have been diagnosed with a serious mental illness and 80% have an existing substance use disorder.
That has led to an increase in the level of assaultive or self-harming behavior, Elfo wrote, meaning fewer people in the jail can be housed with others because of behavior issues, further limiting bed space already limited by efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Other agency backlogs have forced the jail to house 14 convicted sex offenders awaiting completion of pre-sentence investigations by the Department of Corrections and 12 people awaiting competency restoration at Western State Hospital, according to Elfo’s letter.
In addition to a growing jail population, Elfo reported that workloads for corrections staff have been “stretched past all reasonable limits” due to COVID protocols, increasing need for care of vulnerable people housed in the jail, growth of the Medication for Opioid Use Disorder program, more fights and assaults among the jail population and of staff and problems created by an aging and sometimes failing facility.
Whatcom County is currently looking to fill 11 correction deputy vacancies, or approximately 16% of the full-time staff that it is budgeted for, which Elfo said has created the need for mandated “unvolunteered” overtime and mandatory callbacks to work at “unheard of levels.”
“Despite all this, the commitment and teamwork of our Corrections Deputies have kept the existing system functioning,” Elfo wrote, though he added that current workloads, a perceived sense of apathy to correct facility deficiencies and new demands have “taken a substantial toll on the health and morale of the people we rely upon to keep the jail operating.”
Earlier this year, the jail had to relocate inmates and halt visitation when an elevator at the jail stopped functioning.
To help mitigate some of the challenges Elfo mentioned in the letter, he reported that Whatcom County is negotiating to contract for 45 beds in Snohomish County. Elfo wrote that he anticipated an agreement soon and would submit an interlocal agreement and supplemental budget request to the Whatcom County Executive and county council in June.
Even with that move, Ferndale Prosecutor David Nelson told The Herald that “alternatives will be the theme for the next few years,” to help reduce the stress the jail is currently experiencing.
“This is some pretty serious stuff,” Nelson said. “It’s COVID. It’s the infrastructure issues at the jail. It’s the low staffing. It’s the increase in crime.
“There’s no blaming the jail. They’ve had to make some pretty difficult decisions because of some pretty tough circumstances. But this is where we are now.”
