2A
NEWS / The Charlotte Post
Thursday, November 13, 1997
Crime brings new construction
Continued from page 1A
magazine last month.
Emerge noted that the war on
drugs has swept thousands of
young black people off the street
and into crowded detention facih-
ties, though young blacks use
fewer illegal drugs than whites
and Hispanics.
In Mecklenburg, the jail popula
tion has increased from an aver
age of 500 in 1989 to about 1,400
today, with peaks as high as
1,600.
Nearly 3 in 4 of Mecklenburg’s
detainees are black.
The Jail Central expansion is
needed because of a jail popula
tion projection of 2,600 by the
year 2005. Ironically, the popula
tion increase is not due to a sub
stantial increase in the number of
new admissions - about 105 per
day — or the number of people
sentenced to serve jail time. Most
of those beds - 1,939 — will be
needed to house people awaiting
trial.
The new beds are solely for pre
trial detainees, said Mecklenburg
County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph.
“The second phase wasn’t
expected to be needed so soon,” he
said.
Many people who wind up in jail
are never convicted, or even tried.
Because of a lack of judges, prose
cutors and courtrooms, charges
are dropped against as many as
50 percent of pretrial detainees.
That bothers Pendergraph.
“That’s the highest percentage
of dismissals in the state,” said
Pendergraph. “It’s horrible.”
Pretrial dismissals and other
court problems also concern
Mecklenburg County commis
sioners.
“It is more a problem of the
court system than jails,” said com
missioner Hoyle Martin. “There
are not enough district attorneys,
judges, etc. A lot of people are just
waiting to be tried. 'The bottleneck
in the court system is one of the
reasons why we have so many.
'The increase in the pretrial pop
ulation is due more to procedural
changes rather than an increase
in new arrests.
A jail study consultant found
that fact unusual and predicted
added pressure on the pretrial jail
population when arrests rise to
more accurately reflect the
increase in law enforcement
efforts and the growing county
population.
More of those arrested are stay
ing in jail longer - up to 43 days -
before they are tried or their
chmges dismissed. The longer
stays are due to restrictions on
pretrial release, higher bonds and
increasing reluctance of judges to
release detainees. This has
occurred because of several highly
publicized crimes - such as the
murder of an east Charlotte fast
food restaurant manager - com
mitted while suspects were out on
bond awaiting trial.
For now, the added 900jail beds,
available by the year 2000, will
handle needs through 2005,
according to Mecklenburg’s con
sultants, Kimme and Associates
Inc. of Champaign, Ill. That’s
assuming the projections that are
much higher them those made in
1990 are correct this time. The
numbers could go higher based on
Mecklenburg’s 3 percent annual
population growth rate.
And that means it’s less likely
the coimty will be able to close the
Specter Drive jail, where convicts
are detained.
County officials promised the
facility would be temporary.
“If they continue to have the jail
population that they have, I don’t
see how they can close it,” said
Martin. “ It was supposed to be a
temporary facility, but we keep
getting more inmates.”
Commissioner Darrel Williams
said jails represent society’s inad
equacies.
“When I see jails I see failure,”
he said. “ParlK and Recreation
(Department) did not do a bond
this year. We were going to take
$20 milHon from parks and put in
the pot for scxhools and it ended
up going to jails.
“It is fhistrating...But the reali
ty of it is jail space is needed and
we need to provide money to put
criminals away.
“That’s why schools are so
important, to try to reach kids
and keep them from dropping out
of schools and we won't continue
to build jails at the pace we are
now.”
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Powell not interested in politics - yet
Continued from page 1A
himself out.
“I think that it would only be
hurtful for him to have the sus
pense continue to grow and raise
expectations,” he said. “It does not
play to his warrior image to look
gun-shy.”
Powell spokesman Bill Smullen
said the retired general has ruled
out a presidential race in less for
mal settings. ‘Whenever it comes
up, that’s his standard answer,”
Asked if Powell meant to flatly
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2000, the spokesman said, “You
can take that to the bank.”
Powell, who rocketed to promi
nence during the Gulf War, when
he was chairman of the Joint
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idea of running for president in
1996 but decided against it after
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He raised some eyebrows when
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es opening the presidential nomi
nating season, the state gets
heavy attention from presidential
candidates of both parties. Powell
quickly made his point.
am pot 5. qanidate for politi
cal office,” he said. “I made that
decision in 1995 after a great deal
of deliberation. I plan to devote
my energies to the work I'm doing
in private Hfe, charitable work,
educational work.”
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