Kettering’s facility closed last August as part of a $8.96 million upgrade to the police department, but is expected to reopen by early April, according to police.
“We are still able to book prisoners currently, then they can post bond here or we take them to the county depending on circumstances,” KPD Lt. Lee Sanders said in an email. “When the jail reopens in the next few weeks we will be able to house prisoners here instead of immediately taking them to the county.”
From Aug. 1, 2020 through Thursday afternoon, 284 prisoners were taken from Kettering’s jail to the county facility, Sanders said.
The additional transfers have “not caused any overcrowding issues” with the facility in Dayton, according to Christine Ton of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
Sanders said “most inmates we transport to the county jail immediately after arrest now would have been transported there the next morning anyway,” so there hasn’t been a significant change in the number of prisoners taken to the county jail.
“In normal circumstances we book the prisoners in and keep them overnight until their court appearance,” he added. “If they are not released by the court, we take them to the county with few exceptions. The only difference now is we don’t hold them overnight like we used to, so the number of prisoners transported there is going to be nearly the same as it would be if our jail was 100% open.”
Female inmates have always been taken to the county after booking, Sanders said.
The Kettering jail has seven cells and the city has had agreements for several years with area jurisdictions which lack long-term holding facilities, officials said.
The Centerville Police Department recently renewed an agreement it has had with Kettering for at least 40 years, according to John Davis, CPD community relations officer.
Centerville has a temporary holding facility designed to house up to five adults and two juveniles for no more than five hours, Davis said in an email.
“Currently, our facility is only used to process a prisoner prior to being transported” to Kettering or the county, he added.
Kettering’s police department renovation will add a floor for office space for the chief, captains and administrative staff, city officials have said. It will also modernize that facility with new HVAC and mechanical equipment.
The entire project is estimated to be completed by July 1, officials have said.
LOBBY CLOSING
The Kettering Police Department renovation has recently prompted the closing of the downstairs lobby, but it is expected to reopen “very soon,” officials said. Those seeking assistance are directed by signs to the upstairs lobby, where they can speak with dispatch by phone, police said.
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