Board hears plan to reduce jail bed days, with goal of permanently closing County Jail Nos. 3 and 4

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on June 13 convened as a committee of the whole to receive recommendations from a year-long Jail Replacement Project work group aimed at permanently closing County Jail Nos. 3 and 4 by substantially reducing jail bed days.

The hearing was called by Board President London Breed, who said the board's goal was to "reduce jail bed days and instead increase investments in mental health, homelessness services, diversion, and education." The work group, chaired by Sheriff Vicki Hennessy, Department of Public Health Director Barbara Garcia, and Roma Guy of Taxpayers for Public Safety, recommended a goal equivalent to removing 228 people per day from custody (83,220 bed days per year) to create capacity in the remaining county facilities.

Why it matters: Work group members and supervisors said a focus on reducing bed days — especially for a relatively small number of people with long stays in custody — could avoid rebuilding or expanding jails, shift spending into treatment and housing, and address racial disparities in the county jail population.

The work group's key findings and recommended steps - Concentration of bed days: Relatively few people serving long custody stays account for the bulk of annual bed days. The group recommended targeting those long-stay cases for diversion or…