The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette
As the COVID-19 crisis arose, there was particular fear about how quickly the novel coronavirus that causes it could spread in such high-density living areas as academic dorms and nursing homes — and jails and prisons.
“Given how quickly it spreads within facilities … jails and prisons are petri dishes,” said Jasmine Heiss, a staff member at the Vera Institute of Justice, which advocates for jail and prison reform in Indiana and nationally.
Allen County Sheriff David Gladieux said this week he shares that concern and that his jail administrators are taking elaborate new procedures to protect inmates and staff from infection.
So the safeguards appear to be working. As of Monday, no jail staffers or inmates had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The jail’s relatively low population has made it easier to put the extra health safeguards in place, Gladieux and jail commander Capt. David Butler said in an interview.
In the past, the jail has sometimes held more than 900 inmates — far more than it was designed to handle. The facility’s official bed count, which had been 741 for several years, is presently at 734 because some beds have been damaged.
But Monday, Gladieux said, that the number was 655.
“Our numbers are very, very low with intakes,” he said. “We have space at the lockup now to do our own 14-day quarantine on all new people coming into the jail.”
Before prisoners are even brought into the lockup area, Gladieux said, they are checked for fever and interviewed about where they’ve been and whether they’ve had possible contact with people infected with COVID-19.
Short-term inmates — those likely to be released or bonded out within a few hours — are kept in the lockup area. Inmates who are likely to be jailed for awhile are housed in areas separate from the general jail population for two weeks, Butler said.
“We keep them in groups: One cell will have people on Day 12, (for instance) and one cell has people on Day 14.
“When they’ve been isolated for 14 days and have no symptoms, then they can go into the general populations,” Butler said. “I’m hoping that will keep us to zero.”
Those who show symptoms of the virus are tested and may either be hospitalized or cared for in a private cell. So far, Gladieux said, two inmates and three sheriff’s department staffers who showed a fever have been tested.
The department is still awaiting results of the test on one employee — who is not a jail staffer — but the other tests were negative, the officers said. “Our last one, on one of our employees, took 11 days,” Gladieux said. “Hopefully that changes soon.”
To help ensure the jail doesn’t become overcrowded, the prosecutor’s office and Allen Superior Court Judge Fran Gull ordered the release of 20 inmates March 25.
“We’re not going to let anybody go who is a danger to the community,” McAlexander said. “We’re making sure those who prey on others are being kept in jail.” McAlexander told Duffy he did not rule out further early releases.
Gladieux said arrests are down dramatically in the county; the Fort Wayne Police Department said its calls for service are down 35% year over year. “I think (people are) taking it seriously, as well they should,” Gladieux said.
The jail has been relying on information from the Indiana Sheriffs Association about best practices, Butler said. “A lot of it, we’re just kind of figuring it out as we go.”
That dovetails with what the Vera Institute of Justice, which advocates for jail and prison reform nationally, is seeing. Heiss said Indiana is one of several places where counties are having to formulate COVID-19 prevention policies without much guidance from the state.
There is the hope, though, that some of the crisis thinking can prompt reforms. If communities such as ours find ways to keep fewer people from having to be jailed, such innovations may stick.
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