Noise Protest Held at Santa Rita Jail Thursday

DUBLIN, CA — Opponents of the proposed expansion of the Santa Rita Jail's mental health facility held a noise demonstration in front of the jail in Dublin Thursday night. Representatives of the Alameda County Jail Fight Coalition said the demonstration was meant to pay homage to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and was held during visiting hours at 6 p.m.

“The program will include drumming, singing, noise-making, and testimony from youth directly impacted by incarceration,” organizers said in a statement.

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors recently voted unanimously to approve spending $650,000 to hire an architectural firm to provide architectural and engineering services for a new mental health facility for inmates at the county's jail in Dublin.

Alameda County Sheriff’s Sergeant Ray Kelly says the sheriff's office supports the right to demonstrate outside the jail in a peaceful and respectful manner.

According to Kelly, the new mental health facility will allow behavioral health professionals to come together to treat inmates who suffer from mental health issues.

“When people do end up in jail, we have a responsibility to provide them with mental health care and the new facility will be better suited to provide them the services they need,” Kelly told Patch.

Tash Nguyen of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland said previously that she opposes the funding because she thinks jail officials are doing a poor of treating inmates with mental health problems because a high percentage of those inmates wind up back in jail after they're released.

"Mental health care is far more effective and best delivered outside of a jail setting." Nguyen said, "While much-needed resources are continuing to be cut for community services, the sheriff is pushing the county toward wasting funding toward bigger jails."

During last week's Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Wilma Chan said, "Everyone agrees that people with mental health issues get better treatment outside prison" but she said those who are in custody should get the best treatment possible. Supervisor Nate Miley said, "The people who are in jail should have the dignity of getting the best services they can get."

Kelly says that better mental health care in the jail could potentially reduce the jail population in the long run by helping bridge that treatment gap between custody and returning to society.

Related:

• Board of Supes Vote to Continue Urban Shield, Move Forward on Mental Health Facility In Dublin Jail
• Groups Oppose Improved Mental Health Services at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin

Bay City News contributed to this report
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