Jail Numbers Up And Down

On a typical night this week, you’re likely to find more than 160 people

sheltered from the bitter cold inside one La Crosse facility…the county jail. That figure is just under the targeted maximum of 175 inmates, about 80 per cent of capacity.  Captain Steve Anderson of the jail staff tells a county committee that the inmate number has been down lately, and they’ve been able to avoid requiring some prisoners to sleep on the floor:

(Click for Audio)

Anderson says many years, the jail population would drop before Christmas, only to spike sharply upward after the holidays…but that hasn’t happened in several years.