SPANISH FORK — The Utah County Jail has a new, 2-inch thick way to keep inmates safe.
Finishing touches are being put on a "rubber" or "safety room" in the booking area of the jail located in Spanish Fork. The room will be used to house inmates who officials think pose a threat to themselves and others, said Utah County Jail Capt. John Carlson.
"When inmates come in and they're self-destructive (and) want to hurt themselves, we have a duty to protect them," Carlson said. "This is just another way."
The booking area is the first place men and women enter when they're brought to the county jail. While there, officers take their picture and fingerprints for recording purposes.
From the booking area, they're assigned another area of the jail to live for their assigned sentence.
There's a second "rubber room" in the solitary area of the jail — where inmates are isolated — and there are plans for two more when a nearly $22 million still-in-progress jail expansion is complete, hopefully by November.
It cost about $13,000 to add the Neoprene rubber padding to the booking room, covering all floors and walls in large pieces.
"There's no place where you can actually hurt yourself," Carlson said.
The room — about 10 feet by 7 feet with an 8-foot ceiling — is bare except for a drain in the floor, a small bullet-proof window with rubberized padding and a small food slot in the main door.
The room still needs two vents and a light cover before it's officially finished, Carlson said.
The cell in the solitary area was remodeled and the cell in the booking area was created with an additional cinder block wall in an existing cell to create two holding areas.
The Salt Lake County Jail has two padded cells in its processing or booking area and two others in its mental health unit, said Salt Lake County Sheriff's Lt. Paul Jaroscak.
"They are used to house prisoners that pose a threat to themselves," Jaroscak said. "The benefits are ... increased safety for prisoners and mitigation of liability for the jail."
In Salt Lake County, a physician must approve a decision to place an inmate in the a padded cell.
Nothing fancy, the beige cells are "just another tool to help us keep (inmates safe)," Carlson said.
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