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The man arrested after Wal-Mart employees said he stole toothpaste might seem the victim of an overzealous Albuquerque police officer.

But take a closer look at Kenneth Monk's history - three shoplifting arrests this year alone, more than 50 Metro Court cases - and the officer's decision to arrest on a charge of commercial burglary becomes a bit more understandable.

Still, Monk's arrest Monday landed him in a jail that is packed more fully than ever before - 555 people over its designed capacity as of Tuesday morning.

Monk's story is another example of the jail crowding problem that won't go away.

Bernalillo County is still involved in the 12-year-old McClendon lawsuit prompted by inmate complaints about conditions at the crowded jail.

U.S. District Judge Martha Vazquez continues to monitor the jail, in particular inmates' claims that the county has violated the terms of a 2005 agreement to hold down the West Side jail's population.

The county has attempted to reduce the daily prisoner count through a community-release program and by sending prisoners to jails elsewhere. On Tuesday, the county was paying to house 91 inmates in Cibola County and another 53 in Bailey County, Texas, according to detention center records.

Still, on Tuesday morning Monk, 53, was one of 2,791 inmates in the facility built for 2,236.

And that number isn't looking to shrink any time soon. Historically, jail population declines from summer highs to winter lows.

Monk, facing his charge of stealing toothpaste, is now among a population that has increased during the past three months instead of decreasing in line with past trends, according to jail records.

November has been the jail's busiest month all year with an average 2,738 inmates a day so far.

Last month, it held an average 2,694 inmates a day, and in September there were 2,666 inmates daily.

The reversed trend is because inmates are staying an average one day longer before release, Bernalillo County Public Safety Director John Dantis said.

"That may not sound like a lot, but if you have 2,700 people in there and the average length of stay increased, that is a lot," Dantis said.

The average length of stay for inmates, either waiting to bond out or awaiting trial, is now 89 days, based on jail calculations Tuesday morning, Dantis said.

Without a job beyond what his mother says is occasional yardwork, Monk could be one to stay for 89 days, especially since a Metro Court judge on Tuesday raised Monk's bond from $2,500 cash or surety to $10,000 cash or surety because of his history.

Without his history, Monk's run-in with police Monday could have resulted in a verbal warning, or he could have been cited.

It was just toothpaste, after all.

Or he could have been arrested on a misdemeanor charge of shoplifting.

Then he would have joined the 140 to 150 people arrested on charges that could have otherwise been citations, Dantis said.

But Monk's history weighed heavily on the APD officer called by Wal-Mart security, Albuquerque police spokeswoman Trish Hoffman said.

Monk has received at least five criminal trespassing notices from at least three Wal-Marts in Albuquerque since 2005. The notice means a person cannot be on Wal-Mart premises, and Hoffman said the notice allows officers to increase the type of charge applied to the person if they are found at a Wal-mart, especially if they are accused shoplifting again.

According to a Metro Court criminal complaint, Monk went to the Wal-Mart on Carlisle Boulevard Northeast on Monday, and he paid for deodorant, lotion, razors and shaving cream but did not pay for the tube of Crest he had placed in his left jacket pocket.

In June, Monk was arrested at the Wal-Mart on Coors Boulevard Northwest when officers say he used wire cutters to open a case to steal a DVD player, according to a complaint. When confronted, he swung his keys at a security officer.

In May, he was at the Home Depot on Coors Boulevard Northwest when police say he stole $400 worth of faucets and other items. He dropped the merchandise when confronted by security and an off-duty state Game and Fish officer, according to a complaint.

The complaint also says Monk "slashed" at the officer with an edged weapon.

His history of shoplifting and an extensive history of arrests on charges of domestic violence date back to 1997, with an increasing number of shoplifting incidents beginning in 2001.

He's been charged with shoplifting a computer, watches and perfume.

But he has not had any drug charges or incidents that display an acute mental illness, and only one arrest that indicates intoxication during the incident.

Dantis said this type of jail inmate is in the minority at the facility where more than 500 inmates are on psychotropic drugs, 200 are in alcohol treatment and another 125 in community treatment programs.

Maybe, Dantis said, Monk had "just reached a point that this person had to be removed from the community as a consequence for his actions."

"At some point, people who continue to display that kind of behavior will end up in jail," Dantis said.

But only if an officer at the scene decides toothpaste is worth a trip to jail.

"Regardless of how incidental the items seem to be, the bigger picture is, he is a problem to the store and the community," Hoffman said. "Although at first glance it looks very strict, if you look at the whole picture, what he's been charged with in the past is not getting through to him."