Glendale begins housing Burbank inmates

GLENDALE — In the past week, Burbank police officers have booked roughly 40 inmates into the Glendale Police Department jail as construction crews work to repair water damage to their own lockup facilities, officials said.

Burbank police began transporting inmates to the Glendale jail on March 31, where they have been housed with inmates arrested by Glendale officers.

“Glendale has been extremely cooperative and accommodating to our needs,” Burbank Sgt. Carlos Gomez said.

The Burbank Police and Fire headquarters sustained water damage to the jail’s floors and walls after officials said a construction contractor neglected to properly insulate the facilities.

Repairs could take at least six months, officials said.

Meanwhile, Glendale jail officials say they are prepared take on the increased inmate volume from Burbank.

“We are built to handle the volume,” Glendale Jail Administrator Juan Lopez said.

This isn’t the first time the two cities have had to share a jail. Glendale housed Burbank’s inmates for four weeks in 2002, when Kajima Construction Services had to repair defective flooring in the Police Department’s jail.

Up to 600 inmates are booked monthly into Glendale’s 96-bed facility, while the volume at the Burbank city jail averages between 230 and 350, Lopez added.

“We expect there not to be a change in those numbers,” he said.

Inmates who are booked into the Glendale jail will also have to pay a $135-booking fee — a revenue generator approved by the City Council in 2009.

“They should really pay their way,” Lopez said, adding that taxpayers shouldn’t endure the financial burden of paying for inmates.

Burbank has assigned seven jailers to help Glendale with the additional load, Gomez said.

All Burbank bookings are completely separate from Glendale.

It takes about 40 minutes to transport inmates from Burbank, process them into the Glendale jail and return to the city, Gomez said.

So far, the new booking process has been running smoothly, he said.