The West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga is one of the nation’s largest jails, housing, on average, about 3,000 inmates every day. Managing editor Tami Roleff was given a tour of the jail facility where many Morongo Basin criminal suspects are booked and housed, and files this report, the first in a multi-part series on the jail…
When you enter the West Valley Detention Center, you have to wait to be buzzed in. Deputies trigger automatic door openers to open and close the doors to the different areas in the jail. The entire jail facility is made out of cinder blocks painted yellow, with shiny concrete floors. Doors are made of heavy steel; some have thick safety glass embedded with wire mesh. Fluorescent lights buzz high above. The halls and rooms are noisy and loud, echoing from the voices of visitors and inmates. There are no windows to the outside in any of the areas I saw. Common areas have billboard-sized bright and scenic photos tacked up high on the walls. After processing, all inmates are given a medical and mental health screening. The next report will focus on mental health services provided to the inmates.
