They call it Central Lockup, officially it's the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) and Marlin Gusman is the Criminal Sheriff for Orleans Parish. He runs the jails and delivers the accused to the courts. He was reelected in April 2006 after a nasty election in which allegations of malfeasance and neglect were hurled at Gusman by challenger deSalvo. Gusman won with nearly 70% of the vote losing only in Lakeview and parts of Algiers. The jail held 6,500 prisoners pre-K.  I can see $30 million in the city's budget for the sheriff? One recent newspaper report said that it costs $20 per day to hold a prisoner in Central Lockup. That would correspond to $7,300 per year for each prisoner or about $47 million dollars for 6,500.

(Compare to federal prisons at $20,000 per year and California near $30,000 per year. Central Lockup must be a pretty basic dungeon.)

The Orleans Parish Prison is not technically part of the police nor is it under the mayor's control. But its another source of police tension: before (did they turn them loose or just let ‘em drown?) and after (Camp Amtrak), a couple of escapes, and some incomprehensible releases by Judge Elloie suggest there's still trouble brewing. Criminal Sheriff Gusman claims the jailers acted heroically. The DA’s office and the courts were shut down at first so a guilty plea was the only way to get out of jail. Now there are too few public defenders so indigents are just sitting. Some law students have asked if the Constitution even applies in post-K New Orleans.

In May the newspaper reported on mistreatment of juveniles held in Central Lockup at the time of the storm.

Controversy continues to swirl around Gusman in August 2006. The ACLU is on his case and has requested the DOJ/FBI get on with their investigation. Allegations from past employees (disgruntled), inmates (liars), and others accuse Gusman of exaggeration, malfeasance, cruelty and incompetence. ACLU published a comprehensive review of OPP and its performance before during and after Katrina in a 145 page report "Abandoned and Abused"  Gusman replied in a written statement "The lies of inmates and disgruntled former employees have been addressed and discredited many times over...."