One lodging facility that’s really on a roll is the Orleans Parish Jail.
The jail reached its highest occupancy rate in September since the start of the pandemic.
This comes at a time when the facility’s top jailer is having trouble staffing the jail and the Sheriff’s Department.
So far 1031 guests of the Parish hit the peak number on September 20th.
The Jail has seen an average of 1003 for the month.
That average has languished around 876 for nearly the past three years.
The Jail’s record head count from October 15, 2015 still stands at 1881, hit during the first month of the new jail’s opening.
The concern is over short staffing at the Jail.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office is still struggling to maintain control at the facility.
"When there are more people in jail, there are more people facing these serious threats to their health and safety," Emily Washington, an attorney for the MacArthur Justice Center in New Orleans, told the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate.
Sheriff Susan Hutson says 148 deputies staff the jail Monday through Friday with 140 on weekends. Hutson says ideally, 200 deputies are needed to staff the facility on a daily basis.
As the numbers continue to tick upward, many are confused as to why?
It’s not due to an increase in arrests for violent crime.
"People are being booked into the jail at a higher rate than they are being released from the jail," said Will Snowden, executive director of the Vera Institute of Justice in New Orleans, an advocacy organization that works to advance criminal-justice reform across the state, told the paper.
The Chief Deputy Public Defender points to an increase in bail amounts amid demands from the public.
