If you witness a vandal spray painting your property, the Sacramento City police won't come to arrest the vandal. Officers are constrained to provide protection against misdemeanors because it takes too long to book suspects into the county jail. If the county jail could intake suspects as efficiently as McDonald's serves lunch, then Sacramento's crime problem would be nipped in the bud.

Unfortunately, Sacramento's main jail has not kept pace with Sacramento's population growth. The jail opened in 1989 with a capacity of 1,250 inmates. Sacramento County's population at that time was 1.1 million. Now, the population is 1.6 million -- a 45% increase. Instead of increasing the jail's exterior space, Sacramento County made the interior more dense.

Each day an average of 75 felony suspects are booked. Omitted are the hundreds of misdemeanor suspects that should be booked. Even if released the next day, misdemeanor suspects need to learn that Sacramento county residents and businesses value protection.

Because the interior is too dense, on January 8, 2020, a federal judge ruled the jail inflicts cruel punishment to those in need of medical health care and mental health care. The jail also violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

A year later, Sacramento County admitted to court-appointed experts there was insufficient space. Therefore, the jail population will be reduced.

To reduce the jail population, on October 25, 2022, Sacramento County agreed to lower the length of stay and lower the number of bookings.

Sacramento County needs to build a bigger jail. The jail will need a block or two of downtown real estate. The jail building needs to be big enough to have 5,000 cells, each 10x8 square-feet. The fixtures and furnishings in each cell will be a:

1. security camera
2. bed
3. toilet
4. basin
5. dresser
6. bookcase
7. desk
8. chair
9. manual typewriter

The jail will have a 24/7/365 pharmacy and quartermaster facility. The staff will issue:

1. prescribed medication
2. prison clothing
3. prison bedding
4. toiletry kit
5. school kit containing a:
   • writing method book
   • arithmetic method book
   • touch typing method book
   • dictionary
   • 3-ring binder
   • notebook paper
   • typing paper
   • ruler
   • pencil
   • eraser

Inmates are expected to be doing homework.