Comment on Why don't county jails open up their free bed space in times of severe cold and severe heat to the homeless and others and just give them their own cell? And can leave whenever.

• velma@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  The police and jails aren’t there for the greater good.

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• slazer2au@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  You think cleaning beds, lighting the rooms, processing people, and general upkeep is free?

  Why saddle inmates with more debt when they can saddle more people with debt.

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  • Patnou@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Then have other inmates do the cleaning of cells/dorms and general upkeep around here we call them 301’s. We have a county jail that can fit 500 people but has only ever had about 110 max in there. Seems like a waste of space.

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  • teyrnon@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

    Those are sunk costs. Inmates don’t get forced to pay their jail boarding fees, it gets sent to collections, next to no one pays those. Other court ordered costs you go to jail for not paying but not room and board costs for jail, not in my state or others I’m familiar with.

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• teyrnon@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

  Police and jails do not pay for themselves. They are often one of the biggest line items on county and city budgets, if not the biggest. The fines and fees aren’t paying for the cost as such, bagholding taxpayers are. It’s a business, and they will be privatizing it if things keep on the way they are.

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