Politics & Government

Regional Middlesex Jail Moving Forward Despite Governor's Veto

Police chiefs in all cities and towns in Middlesex County, including Wayland, wrote in favor of the $1.5 million in state funding for the regional facility, which Gov. Deval Patrick vetoed.

Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian is continuing to pursue the creation of a regional lockup facility for cities and towns within the county despite Gov. Deval Patrick vetoing $1.5 million in state funding for the facility's construction.

Koutoujian originally requested that his office carry over the $1.5 million remaining in supplemental funding it received last year into the new fiscal year, the Sentinel and Enterprise reported. That funding was included in a $40 million supplemental budget bill that Patrick vetoed.

In a press release Tuesday, the Middlesex Sheriff's office announced that it had reached an agreement with legislators in the Executive Office of Administration and Finance to use capital expenditures to fund the $1.5 million project that would create a regional lockup facility through the renovation of a wing of the Billerica House of Corrections.

Find out what's happening in Waylandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Securing funding for the regional holding facility was a team effort that included every police chief in Middlesex County," said Koutoujian in the press release. "A regional lockup will help save local departments money and allow them to take officers off prisoner watch and put them on community watch.”

The Sentinel and Enterprise reported that police chiefs from all 54 cities and towns in Middlesex County wrote a letter to legislators in support of Koutoujian's request.

Find out what's happening in Waylandwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Wayland Police Lt. Pat Swanick said the regional facility will help Wayland -- and other departments -- better handle arrests that take place over the weekend or during a holiday.

“We’re not trained in detaining prisoners and keeping them here for a long time,” Swanick said, explaining that prisoners arrested on a non-business day must remain in detention until they can make bail on a business day.

Wayland has minimal detention facilities at the Public Safety Building, but it isn't designed for long-term detention. In addition, prisoners must be monitored and cared for while in the facility, which places a hardship on the department.

“It can either pull officers off the street, or we hire officers to come in," Swanick said. "We’re mandated to care for the prisoner.”

Swanick went on to explain that prisoners sometimes arrive needing specialized medical care or restraint due to substance abuse or mental health issues.

“More and more it seems like lately the people that we do detain end up acting out," he said. Within the past year, Swanick said, Wayland has had a few incidents, including , in which a prisoner tried to hurt themselves or required restraining.

"[A regional facility] would be safer for our officers, would reduce liability for the town and would send [prisoners] to a facility where people are equipped to handle it,” Swanick said.


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