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The holding area will be on the first floor of Ramsey County’s Emergency Communications Center, where police vehicles are usually stored. Sheriff Bob Fletcher wouldn’t say whether holding cells were being set up inside. The center is near the jail and part of a law enforcement complex.
“Clearly, under state jail regulations, we have an obligation to keep people separated. Certainly by gender and also by behavior,” he said. “How that separation is done really is part of the security plan that we haven’t revealed.”
But Fletcher said the area — in a building that is just two years old — is clean and the floors are painted. Arrestees will have access to restrooms, and will get a bag lunch that includes a sandwich, fruit and juice or water. Medics will be on hand as well.
Fletcher said people arrested on misdemeanor charges could be processed in two to six hours and sent on their way. But those arrested on more serious felony or gross misdemeanor charges would be booked directly into jail, where they’ll be held until their first court hearing.
At the Democratic National Convention in Denver this week, police set up 18 temporary holding cells in a warehouse a couple of miles from the Pepsi Center. The 20-square-foot cells are made of chain link fencing on the sides and top — after authorities received complaints about plans to top the cells with razor wire. The Denver warehouse can hold up to 400 people.
In St. Paul, a 9-foot-tall security barrier, including a 3-foot concrete base and 6 feet of fencing, was being installed Tuesday around the perimeter of the law enforcement complex — which includes the jail, the communications center and some courtrooms. By Tuesday afternoon, the barrier was in place along the back of the complex and encompassed the sidewalk.
Orange and white barriers were being placed along the sidewalks leading to the front doors of the complex, but those barriers were mainly to direct pedestrian traffic flow in and out of the buildings, said Holli Drinkwine, a sheriff’s office spokeswoman.
Fletcher said that based on prior conventions, he expects between 600 to 1,800 arrests — and he expects 80 percent of them will be misdemeanors.
Fletcher said the goal of the holding area is to create a safe and efficient environment for arrestees. But he said he also wants minimize the county’s liability for federal lawsuits like those stemming from the 2004 Republican Convention in New York, where over 1,800 people were arrested in four days — with some held for more than 40 hours at a converted bus depot.
“We hope that they have learned from the lessons of the RNC in 2004 and that people being held will have safe, sanitary conditions,” said Teresa Nelson, attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
Fletcher said his staff looked at a New York Civil Liberties Union report analyzing the 2004 detainments, and made sure to address some of the issues raised — such as the length of time that arrestees were kept in plastic handcuffs.
Under Ramsey County’s plan, special mobile booking teams will be ready to go wherever summoned by law enforcement making arrests.
The booking teams will take photographs of the arresting officer and the arrestee — to avoid confusion later on — and take down arrest and case numbers.
Arrestees will then be taken to the law enforcement center, and they’ll enter the jail through the normal secure garage. There, experienced officers will begin more formal processing. People accused of more serious charges will go to the jail — which has a capacity of 500 — and people accused of misdemeanors will be taken to the temporary holding area.
Handcuffs or plastic hand ties will be removed, arrestees will be allowed to use the restrooms, and they’ll be given food, Fletcher said.
Fletcher said some current prisoners were being moved to clear space, but he wouldn’t say how many.
In neighboring Hennepin County, which encompasses Minneapolis and Bloomington, Sheriff Rich Stanek said he expects most convention-related arrests to come through the jail. The county has 850 beds.
“We’re used to high volume and quick turnaround,” he said.
Courts in both counties will be open on Labor Day, ready to handle arraignments in the event of mass arrests. Ramsey County Chief Judge Kathleen Gearin said her court will hold a 9 a.m. session on Monday — mostly to clear the system from any arrests expected over the usual three-day, holiday weekend.
Gearin said her court is also ready for 9 p.m. — or even midnight sessions — to deal with arrests as the convention goes on. The hearings will take place in two courtrooms at the law enforcement center.
“There may be the unpredictable no matter how prepared you are, but we’ve tried,” Gearin said. “We want to do a good job.”
