Even 'Prisons' Feel The Recession ?..

The head of the nation's largest sheriff's department is warning that nearly 4,000 jail inmates might be released early & about 600 deputy & professional positions could be eliminated to meet budget cuts. Owing to the economic crisis (aka the recession), the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department faces a $71 million cut to its $2.5 billion budget in the coming fiscal year. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca told The Associated Press on Monday it looks as if he'll have to close two jails & eliminate the positions of the staff at those facilities. "There's no way around me cutting $71 million out of the budget that won't affect having to close a jail or two," Baca said. "I have to start cutting." Baca hasn't finalized plans, but said he was looking at closing two of the county's 10 jail facilities: the old central jail, which houses about 2,300 inmates; & part of another facility in Castaic in the north of the county that houses about 1,500 inmates. Violent offenders from the closed jails would be housed in other facilities.
Closing those facilities would eliminate positions for about 400 of the department's 10,000 deputies & another 200 or so civilian jobs would be lost too. The job cuts would come primarily through a hiring freeze.