WEBVTT 00:02.500 --> 00:04.800 align:left position:10%,start line:71% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Last week, our Brief But Spectacular segment focused on mental health from the 00:04.800 --> 00:09.800 align:left position:20%,start line:71% size:70% perspective of a parent whose son was failed by legal and mental health systems in Washington 00:10.533 --> 00:12.566 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% state. 00:12.566 --> 00:16.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Tonight, we hear from the warden of Metro County Jail in Mobile, Alabama, to get his 00:16.333 --> 00:19.200 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% take on how the mental health crisis affects his operation. 00:19.200 --> 00:23.266 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% TREY OLIVER, Warden, Metro County Jail: With our tongue in our cheek, we look at inmates 00:23.266 --> 00:27.700 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% sometimes and say, listen, life here is not great. 00:27.700 --> 00:32.700 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% This is not a resort, it's not a hotel, it's not a retreat, it's not Burger King. 00:34.166 --> 00:36.366 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% You don't get it your way, and we do not want you to come back. 00:36.366 --> 00:41.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% So, we preface everything by saying, this is less-than-ideal situations. 00:47.033 --> 00:52.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% The difference between a prison and a jail is, essentially, in a prison, you are serving 00:53.200 --> 00:55.866 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% out your sentence that a judge has handed down. 00:55.866 --> 00:59.866 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% For the most part, our population is here awaiting to go to trial. 00:59.866 --> 01:04.433 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% The average stay for an inmate here at Metro Jail would be about 17 days. 01:04.433 --> 01:09.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Now, that is misleading when you first consider it, because we have inmates that literally 01:09.333 --> 01:13.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% have been here for four-and-a-half years awaiting to go to trials. 01:13.233 --> 01:17.233 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% And, typically, that would be facing a murder trial. 01:17.233 --> 01:22.233 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Working in any jail this size is a very hostile work environment, sometimes worse than a prison, 01:23.466 --> 01:26.500 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% because, in a prison, the inmates are settled. 01:26.500 --> 01:30.233 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% We have court appearances, visitation, church services. 01:30.233 --> 01:32.733 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% So there's a lot of activity. 01:32.733 --> 01:37.433 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% This facility was originally designed for less than 1,200 inmates. 01:37.433 --> 01:41.133 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% However, on a daily basis, we will have way over 1,500. 01:41.133 --> 01:46.100 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Sometimes, we will have four or five, six and seven inmates in a cell designed for two 01:46.600 --> 01:47.933 align:left position:40%,start line:89% size:50% people. 01:47.933 --> 01:51.966 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% We see inmates return on a very regular basis. 01:51.966 --> 01:56.466 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% Recidivism is probably around 50 to 60 percent. 01:56.466 --> 02:00.900 align:left position:20%,start line:77% size:70% I try to, at least on a weekly basis, just walk through the jail. 02:00.900 --> 02:05.466 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% They want my time, they want my attention, and they will flag me down and ask me questions. 02:05.466 --> 02:06.466 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% MAN: We're fighting five men to a cell around here. 02:06.466 --> 02:07.900 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Toilet is messed up. 02:07.900 --> 02:09.233 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% TREY OLIVER: Well, some places got seven men to a cell. 02:09.233 --> 02:11.166 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% MAN: Yes, sir. 02:11.166 --> 02:12.333 align:left position:30%,start line:89% size:60% Absolutely. 02:12.333 --> 02:15.033 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% TREY OLIVER: Consider yourself lucky. 02:15.033 --> 02:19.333 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Obviously, in a hostile work environment like this, we don't have people knocking down our 02:19.333 --> 02:20.666 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% door to work for us. 02:20.666 --> 02:22.766 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% So we always are short-staffed. 02:22.766 --> 02:26.766 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% And, sometimes, you're looking at one floor officer will be responsible for anywhere from 02:26.766 --> 02:30.066 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% 150 to 300 individuals. 02:30.066 --> 02:34.166 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% The mentally ill poses a number of problems for us. 02:34.166 --> 02:39.133 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% We feel very strongly that anyone suffering from a serious mental illness shouldn't be 02:39.133 --> 02:40.366 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% in a county jail. 02:40.366 --> 02:42.666 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% However, that happens on a regular basis. 02:42.666 --> 02:47.666 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Because the state hospital is so backed up, there's no place for these people to go. 02:49.633 --> 02:53.033 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% When Alabama closed our only regional hospital, we saw an immediate doubling of our mental 02:54.100 --> 02:56.200 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% health population. 02:56.200 --> 03:00.133 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% We will see the same mentally ill person arrested for the same charge in the same location by 03:01.533 --> 03:05.233 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% the same police officer three, four and five times. 03:05.233 --> 03:08.066 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% This is not a problem that we can arrest ourselves out of. 03:08.066 --> 03:11.933 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% They need to be in a facility to where they can receive around-the-clock care. 03:11.933 --> 03:16.133 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Whoever was behind the closing of the mental health hospitals, if they thought that was 03:16.133 --> 03:18.566 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% a good idea, I challenge them on that. 03:18.566 --> 03:23.566 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% They were concerned at the time that the mentally ill were being warehoused in these hospitals. 03:24.433 --> 03:26.533 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% Well, I got news for everybody. 03:26.533 --> 03:31.000 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% The mentally ill are now being warehoused in county jails across this country. 03:32.900 --> 03:36.800 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% My name is Trey Oliver, and this is my Brief But Spectacular take on life here at Metro 03:37.800 --> 03:39.733 align:left position:20%,start line:89% size:70% Jail in Mobile, Alabama. 03:39.733 --> 03:42.400 align:left position:10%,start line:83% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And we thank you for that perspective. 03:42.400 --> 03:47.400 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% Tonight's Brief But Spectacular was produced in collaboration with Jason Johnson. 03:48.266 --> 03:49.500 align:left position:10%,start line:89% size:80% He's a reporter for Lagniappe. 03:49.500 --> 03:52.166 align:left position:20%,start line:83% size:70% That's a weekly paper in Mobile, Alabama. 03:52.166 --> 03:57.166 align:left position:10%,start line:77% size:80% You can find a special episode with Johnson on our Web site at PBS.org/NewsHour/Brief.