A growing number of people are detained in San Francisco’s overcrowded, under-staffed and “neglected” county jails, according to a yearlong investigation by San Francisco’s civil grand jury.
“The system is left at a breaking point with no end in sight,” wrote the team of 19 jurors in a 50-page report released earlier this month.
The report’s finding of overcrowding “highlights a challenge we have been raising for years,” wrote Tara Moriarty, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department. “Our jail facilities are aging, our technology is outdated, and the population in our care has increasingly complex medical and mental health needs.”
More people in custody, fewer beds
The number of people booked into San Francisco county jail and the number of people waiting to be processed each day has risen every year since 2021, according to sheriff and state data…