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Show I REVIEW. 4 December 9. 1965 Editorials fr ?ho Says No? Give Teeth To Purine December Review staff members are calling on These Rights heads of each department of Salt Lake County government and asking, in effect. What do you guys do around here, unvwav ' Weil admit the answers, when piled together are a little overbearing While they might not make the town's Protection of the rights of the accused will increase as we become more civilized, said Archibald Cox when he visited Salt Lake City two years ago as U. S. Solicitor General. most exciting reading we include them in our December issues because most people aren't aware of many basic functions tarried on by these departments. f' To what extent is ours a civilized community? How do we rate when judged by these legal standards of one point: These are the declarations by the of their own functions, and problems. heads department W e do not intend to pass them off as detailed objective analysis. But these department heads, for the most part, g, conscientious prople, are closest to the problem and deserve an opportunity to explain what they on December 20. do before the budget hearing.... probat We stress civilization? Well have a response to these questions when the people of Salt Lke City and Salt Lake County are given an opportunity to approve expenditures to support the Salt Lake hard-workin- Legal Defender Assn, in the 1966 budgets. The primary reason we publish these departmental rundowns is that people may decide if thev want the services performed. To take an obvious case: If you wanted to pay for it the sanitation department could collect your garbage twice a week, if you wanted your taxes reduced they could pick it up every other week. Most citizens will probably want to stick with once a week. But the question remains... Ford Foundation and National Legal Aid and Defender Assn, funds have financed all but a meager percentage of costs of the Salt Lake pilot prgram for defense of the indigent accused in its first year. Hesitancy to support a new and untried (locally) function was to be expected. But now we know that the organization is worth its salt plus a generous contribution from each of our local what services do you want, and how much do you want to pay for them? A prerequisite to answering the question is to know what services are being performed. governmpns. Salt Lake City and County governments have indicated that they will look with favor on inclusion of requested expenditures in the 1966 budget to help match, dollar for dollar, the Ford Foundation... NLA DA contribution for the second year of SLLDA operation. In some cases you have no choice. The state legislature has already provided certain necessities. In other cases you do have a choice. We hope that these choices will be expressed aftnfe budget hearing. Even at this early stage in our investigations reached a few conclusions: It would not be amiss for other incorporated areas in Salt Lake County.... including Murray, South Salt Lake and Midvale.... whose portion of indigent have benefited from legal defender services, to make at least a token contribution to the needs of the agency. The Ford Foundation, through NLADA, has committed $190,000 to establish the local defender agency on solid footing over a three year period. we've 1. Under the present structure of county government there is probably little chance of substantially reducing the budget without cutting out services. Certain areas, such as automobile allowances, discussed on this page But there two weeks ago, bear thorough investigation. is little opportunity for streamlining as things stand. 2. Things aren't (Continued from page The distinguished George W. Latimer, SLLDA board president, has stated that needs of the indigent defendant in the complicated legal arena requires that lawyers be paid to fend the poor. Studies have shown, Mr. Latimer told the Salt Lake County Commission, that the legal defender type program arid paid appointed counsel are 3. Salt Lake County suffers terribly from a lack of the only practical procedures for a society to adopt to central management and sensible lines of responsibility. accomodate the legal needs of the indigent defendant, the. two, the. legal defender agency, is by far the more Of, 4. There is no real fiscal control. The auditor 4 economical. Tv- - . , function 'includes some budgeting recommendations, but 4 "i d .nU J with no real control. The only real monetary control lies Some communities no larger than Salt Lake City and the commissioners, who are not trained, and have not been its metropolitan environs find it practical to provide legal trained in years gone by, in fiscal control procedures. for the indigent client, not only in defense The budgets being presented to the commission this month representation but as counsel for the criminal are in many cases meaningless documents. Many contain against as either proceedings, in civil actions. defendant or plaintiff slush funds., padded accounts which are usually not used indigent we can the loaf. half Surely provide but which nevertheless exist. The slush funds are not dishonest. They Just stand in the way of intelligent cost The Review fully supports, and urges that the public control. llso support, the overworked and ambitious staff of the '.alt Lake Legal Defender Assn, in its petition for matching 5. The organization provides another serious statutory mds. drawback. Policy and administration are combined in one We urge the governing bodies to meet the economic of Such an the commissioners. individuals.... group organin a ization might be okay for small county rural condiligations that being civilised has imposed upon us. itions.... but Salt Lake County is bigbusiness today, operating with required methods of a peanut stand. good. There are several reasons for a lack of efof them are staSome ficiency in county government. tutory... and derive from legislative requirements designed for a time long forgotten by most. built-i- n v v , This drawback is of much more serious significance than the current bickering of county commissioners, and is an issue deserving the immediate concern of all taxpayers. 6. Salt Lake County badly needs an independent, ob jective investigation of its entire operation. Residents should get excited about this, and make their feelings known to the commission. The county commission must pass on every salary increase within each department, and every addition of a new person on the payroll. During almost two years of covering county commission meetings we have yet to hear a county commissioner question.. .even once. ...a salary inciease or an addition of a person to the payroll of the staff of any elected official. Isnt that interesting? Drip , Drip , Drip We turn on the tap .... the water comes out. Z . side in el6se proximity. Commissioner Creer said that he will write a letter to Mr. Beecher emphasising the importance of having the positioning of the bunks in the women1 s section moliteJ On recommendation of Mr. Bergin, Commissioner Creer said, he also will insist that cell block windows overlooking the recreation area be painted opaque. The experts spent considerable time in the area of maximum security and the jail exercise yard. There is the possibility that passersby walking along 4th South could toss a pistol or some similar contraband through the electrically charged overhead tars to exercising inmates in the compound below. Chief Deputy Sheriff George Q. Nielsen. Jr. emphasised that the exercise yard would not be used by inmates apt to want to escape (or to help someone else escape?) and necessary precautions will be taken when the time arrives. Mr. Bergin, nevertheless, emphasized that he would use the area only for a light weU. He also looked askance at a cluttered utility corridor. Otherwise, said Mr. Bergin, the Jail facility, generally, is about as satisfectory as are about a dozen similar facilities of similar size in his inspection area. He said that from 60 to 70 percent of the changes he proposed on his last tour have been made and that the remainder are in process of being made or are under order. The visitors on the tour, Including the Grand Jury, were told that it could be as late as March before the move is made into the jail, but it is hoped that the closer to move can be made sooner police department occupancy expected in January. The major remaining concern of the authorities and Commissioner prison Creer is the method by which the jail facility will be manned and administered. Mr. Bergin made it clear that for such an installation, the most favorable would be a jail manned by personnel trained and restricted to assignment as jail officers under the command of a professional jail administrator. He Indicated clearly that he does not favor having deputies, also elelgible for field service, assigned to jail administration or staff. Mr. Maylett observed that too frequently officer the combination deputy sheriff-ja- il system leads to the tendency to "use the jail as a whipping post. resulting in a deteriorated jail administration. Mr. Bergin also responded to questions on jail feeding fees with the observation that be would eliminate all fee payment procedures in the jail administration. The question was raised by Arthur Anderson, Grand Jury spokesman, who pointed out that the sheriff pockets the profits from feeding Salt Lake County prisoners at 23 cents per meal and from feeding city prisoners the same meals at 33 cents each. Mr. Bergin observed that he worked under a system that ted prisoners all thev want to eat, not a minimum standard (Jiql of from J,5QQJq,3,200 calories per day, depending upon sex and age of the' t Salt:' prisoner, as was dlscnssed. for Lake jail. He urged a professional Jail administration with every cent collected for administration of the Jail to be spent on administration of the Jail. In opposition to fee payment programs, be urged that every nickel take in ought to buy something. It's more efficient and its cheaper. Chief Deputy Nielsen and Police Chief Ralph C. Knudsoc, at the outset of the tour, agreed that the county sheriff will administer the jail and the city will pay for the service. Mr. Nielsen said that he has prepared a 76 page jail procedures manual to be followed by a jail staff to be trained by Federal Bureau of Prisons personnel. Commissioner Creer observed that Commissioner Creer observed that costs per inmate for prisoners is expected to jump to about $2.50 per day per man f 1 ) to cover all maintai nance costs of the improved installation. Public Safety Commissioner Louis E. Holley then raised the citys usual plaint about the 51 percent of costs of building the jail that came out of city coffers. He insisted that whatever the assessed cost of maintaining prisoners, some adjustment will have to be made to compensate the city for its Investment in the jail which the county will operate. It was observed that the probable $2.50 per day prisoner cost would be reasonable, indeed, when compared with the $17 per day cost per inmate at the County Youth Detention Center, where services are far more extensive and far more professionalized. It was generally agreed that what happens from here onnout will depend upon the quality of administration and operating procedure. The Federal Bureau of Prisons personnel urged that the county adopt a professional jail staff system, operating under a separate merit classification, emphasizing that such a system would function more effectively and more efficiently than a system under which peace officers would be eligible for transfer into our out of the jail assignment. The administration program, Mr. Creer should be carefully explored warned, before we get locked into one system and ; lose the benefits of the other. Most other matters discussed during the evaluation were trivial such as be grand Jury observation that the jail interior walls were blue, the ceilings yellow and the floors rust colored....all hard colors, rather than a coxy, restful green. It was pointed out that all green could get monotonous. Mr. Beecher observed, he Besides, picked the colors "because 1 like them Sheriff (Continued from page 1) department catch up to and keep pace with a 47.1 percent commercial growth over the past five years. The development of mall-ty- pe facilities, and the expansive character of the area serviced, he noted, requires increased personnel to patrol. He cited the demands of the Cottonwood Mall and its 76 Independent business establishments. Recent statistics, he said, indicate that more people walk through the Mall during an average day than walk on Main Street in , Salt Lake City. Adding to the sheriffs law enforcement problems are the transportation over county roads and highways of persons from throughout the county, Salt Lake City and other counties to shop at the main county shopping centers. Chief Deputy Nielsen cited the sharp Increase in the number of dwellings in the county, each of which adds to the number of complaints received and which must be serviced by the county law enforcement agency. the number of complaints -received, he declared, clearly Mes tod hrffierthCBeedlfor hf reased persohnel. The case load in the last six months alone, be said, has increased by 23 and a projected increase of Eer cent,cent by 1967 is expected. per Mr. Nielsen cited a direct correlation between the number of police In a given area and the quantity of major crimes. Additional personnel are required to stem increases in crime and juvenile delinquency in the County. The proposed budget, Mr. Nielsen ed out was based upon present needs projected into the next year along with the need to meet the commercial and population growth. It refects the departments needs to occupy the Metropolitan Jail on a schedule recommended by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The increased cost of the jail facility, he reiterated, reflects an increased service at a new level of county penology, Including rehabilitation, classification, social services, segregation,' recreation and education. The budget also reflects the estimated cost of occupation of the space in the new Metropolitan Hall of Justice, said Mr. Nielsen. Much of the budget Increase - the estimated $600,000 cost of occupancy cf jail and Hall of Justice, he continued, will not appear In the 1964 budget. Chief Deptity Nielsen cited a need to Increase riot control functions, including proper equipment and training to bring forces to minimum satisfactory standards. He cited the need for a sheriffs department geared to the problems of juvenile delinquency, to prevent as well as Investigate crimes. He cited problem increases in areas Including commercial business, taverns, recreation facilities, schools, automobile traffic problems; the growth of subdivisions and the Increased length of streets to reach those subdivisions. WWI Published every Thursday by Great Western News, me Offices al 2245 South West Temple. Salt take City. Utah 84115 Phone; 487-74- 01 Its natural to take that steady flow for granted. But water is the key resource to the growth and development of Utah. Next Tuesday the Central Utah Water Conservancy District will ask your permission to enter into a contract with the Bureau of Reclamation. The contract will allow them to go ahead on the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah Project. When completed the Bonneville Unit will provide water for irrigation, industrial development, residential use, and recreation. Revenues will pay for most of it. We must jealously guard our precious water rights in the future. Lets convince policy makers on water that we mean business concerning this resource. resounding vote Tuesday will be Utahs biggest bargaintool. ing A Rosenblatt and Managing Editor Norman Rosenblatt Editorial Staff: Joyce Stout Gene Townsend Jim Baldwin Gee Advertising Manager-Wilfr-- ed Circulation Advertising Manager-Ma- e Production-Ltig- h Degn Stark Entered as second class matter st the Post Office at Salt Lake City , Utah under the act of March 9, 1878 Carrier subscription $3 00 per year Mail Subscription $5 20 per year Member. Utah State Press Association American Newspaper |