![]() Many people cannot afford to pay bail, which means if bail is set on their case, they will stay in a jail like Santa Rita.Īt the beginning of shelter-in-place the court made changes to the bail system. That's when a judge decides whether to hold someone in jail, set bail, or let them wait for their next court date at home. The first stop? Criminal court for an arraignment. It’s important to know a little bit about what happens when someone is arrested. So, if the flow of people going into jail hasn’t changed much, is the reason for Santa Rita’s rising numbers just that it’s harder for people to get out? But, according to data from the DA’s office, there aren’t a lot more people being charged with violent crimes. Last year, there were 102 murderswhich is the first time in almost a decade that that number reached triple digits. It’s no secret that the number of shootings and homicides in Oakland has risen. He says, “There's no doubt, I don't care what side of the political spectrum you're on, that there is an increase in crime in every city, every community in the Bay Area.” According to Kelly, rising crime is also contributing to the rising population. ![]() Sergeant Kelly says that Santa Rita currently has about “170 individuals who need to go to state prison” in its custody.īut 170 people, is only about one fifth of the total population rise at Santa Rita since May. But during the pandemic, state prisons aren’t accepting any new people. According to Sergeant Kelly, the first reason that the population is going back up is pretty easy to understand: Jails like Santa Rita usually hold some people who’ve been found guilty, and are headed to state prison. ![]() The county's Sheriff’s Office oversees Santa Rita Jail. But now, the public information officer for the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, Sergeant Raymond Kelly says, “You can definitely feel that the jail’s filling up again, and you can see it.” Judges, DAs and public defenders collaborated to release people and encourage law enforcement to arrest fewer people. Criminal courts can be pretty adversarial places, but, for a brief time, COVID-19 united members of the Alameda County court system around a common goal: lowering the number of people in Santa Rita Jail.
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