Lake Tahoe jail upgraded

unedited oct. mt. news article:

Jail controls upgraded; juvis left town during fire

By Kathryn Reed

With an emergency cash infusion of more than $100,000 from the Board of Supervisors, the El Dorado County Jail in South Lake Tahoe has replaced its five control panels.
The project was completed in September. Staff worked with the vendor to design the layout of the system. One panel is in each of the housing units. They control cell doors, locks, pass through doors, lighting, televisions, telephones – pretty much everything.
While the crews were putting in the system they also re-did all the wiring so in the future new cameras and a recording system can be installed. Lt. Randy Peshon had requested that hardware in the current budget, but was denied.
He’s hoping the new system will save money on maintenance costs. Control panels have a lifespan of about seven years. The ones headed for the dump were from 1991.
It was a busy summer for Peshon. During the Angora Fire, as commander of the jail, he had the authority to decide if the 130 or so inmates would stay put or be transferred elsewhere.
“We would have moved them to another agency east of here,” Peshon said. Details of such evacuations are confidential.
Two plans were created by jail staff – one to shelter the inmates in place, the other to move them. But moving them isn’t that easy. It requires chaining them, not mixing different populations (just like when they are in the facility), finding someplace to take them and not adding more chaos to evacuees who might be alarmed to see a bus full of prisoners next to them.
Even though Peshon admits he was a bit nervous on that fateful Tuesday when the fire jumped Highway 89, he was confident his employees would handle the situation fine.
It turned out that the adult prison population never left town. However, the juvenile detention center was emptied of its 20 kids. They were taken to Placerville.