There won’t be razor wire, but anyone arrested during the Democratic National Convention will be held in locked chain-link cells in an old warehouse.
The Denver County Sheriff’s Office unveiled the facility Wednesday, saying it was designed to mimic the functions of a real jail.
The good news: There will be air conditioning.
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The bad news: 20 people to an 18-by-18-foot holding cell.
“When people come into our custody, we have an obligation to protect the people that do come in from each other, to protect the community from escape, so that’s why the security is important,” Undersheriff Bill Lovingier said. “This has to run just like a bricks- and-mortar jail might.”
The Temporary Arrestee Processing Center will open Sunday and remain operational until Aug. 31.
Initially, officials had planned to top the cells with razor wire. But that was changed to chain-link in response to community concerns, Lovingier said during a media tour of the facility northeast of downtown in the Clayton neighborhood.
