Some oppose Lancaster jail expansion

Fearful that their area might be getting more criminals from throughout Los Angeles County, some residents of the Antelope Valley voiced concerns Saturday over a proposal to expand Lancaster’s Mira Loma Detention Center complex.

“We’re tired of being a dumping ground, and that’s what we’re being used for,” Fred Sellas, a 15-year resident of Palmdale, said at a town hall meeting inside Palmdale’s City Council Chambers.

“Just because we got a lot of space, a lot of dirt up here . . . we don’t want more crime,” said Ray Livingston, an Antelope Valley resident since 1949.

The plan to build a new $330-million facility at Mira Loma is part of an ambitious $672-million project to revamp Los Angeles County’s overcrowded jail system and ultimately shut down the Men’s Central Jail near downtown L.A. The overhaul would include construction of a new medium-security facility for women at Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic and refurbishment of the Sybil Brand Institute in Monterey Park to house 1,000 female inmates.

The new Mira Loma facility, scheduled to hold a maximum of 1,152 inmates, would be placed on the same site as a now-defunct male detention facility. The site is next to an existing detention center that houses illegal immigrants and noncitizen detainees.

County Sheriff Lee Baca, who convened the town hall meeting to explain the jail expansion plans, told residents that overcrowding at county facilities had led to the release of hundreds of inmates prior to completion of their sentences. Additional space in the jail system would help ensure that inmates serve their full terms, Baca said.

He said officials intended to use the new Mira Loma jail strictly for criminals from the Antelope Valley region.

“The high desert needs to have its own independence as much as possible, when it comes to [those] committing crimes,” Baca said. “There is no adequate facility in this community for the purposes of rehabilitation.”

But some area residents believe that if the jail were built, it would be flooded with people from “down below,” referring to those from south Los Angeles County, whose families might move to the Antelope Valley to be closer to their incarcerated relatives. “We’re going to have more of these creeps in the community,” Palmdale City Councilman Stephen D. Hofbauer told Baca. “What we need to hear from you is . . . how are the negative impacts going to be mitigated?”

Palmdale mayor James C. Ledford Jr. said he would support a system of mandatory “distance visitation” for relatives of inmates jailed at the new Mira Loma facility. This would allow families to “virtually” connect with inmates via video links over the Internet, rather than traveling or relocating to the Antelope Valley, about 60 miles from Los Angeles.

Sometimes, “the lawlessness permeates beyond the offender,” said Ledford, noting that the area had experienced problems in the past with some inmates’ extended families who had moved there.

Susan Saks, a longtime resident of Littlerock, said the prospect of more criminals coming to the Antelope Valley made her more supportive of legislation that would allow residents to carry a concealed weapon.

Baca said discussion about the proposed jail facility would continue for as long as necessary to allow community members to have their say. He encouraged the formation of a citizens commission to give input during the planning stages of the jail expansion project and to provide oversight if the plan comes to fruition.

The sheriff is scheduled to host a second town hall meeting with residents in Lancaster on April 21.

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ann.simmons@latimes.com