Deputy Barbara Murphy, of Laguna Woods Police Services has been recognized by Assemblyman Chuck DeVore , of the Seventh Assembly District, for her service to the community.

The Certificate of Recognition presented to her on April 24th said:

In Honor Of:

Being Recognized For Your Courageous Service by the American Legion Post 257 and Your Continued Commitment to the Safety & Wellbeing of the Community.

Ten members of the Department will  suit up in shoulder pads and football helmets on Saturday to participate in the 30th Annual Cop Bowl.

The OC Lawmen will be pitted against the Dallas-Fort Worth Panthers.  Kickoff is at 3 p.m. at Segerstrom High School, 2301 W. MacArthur, Santa Ana.  Admission is $5 for adults and kids are free.

Department members on the team include:

Deputies Garry Lewellyn, Harold Abe, David Brant, Joe Slouka, Milton Thomas, David Pena, Mike Walters, Tim Dolan, Fred Kratochvil, and Michael Marroquin.

The team plays other law enforcement teams from around the country and their goal is to raise money for charitable causes.

The team’s Website said this about their goals:

The primary donation made by the Orange County Cop Bowl Association to the youth of Orange County is the presentation of the “Bob Henry” Memorial Scholarships.  The “Bob Henry Memorial Scholarship” is a scholarship program sponsored and supported totally by the Orange County Cop Bowl Association.  The scholarships are awarded each year to graduating high school student athletes to assist them with the cost of obtaining a higher level education.  Each scholarship recipient receives $1,000.00.  The Orange County Cop Bowl Association attempts to award as many scholarships as possible each year as funds are available.  For further information on the “Bob Henry” Scholarship, please see our scholarship page. 

The Orange County Cop Bowl Association also supports several other youth orientated educational and athletic programs.  These athletic programs would include but are not limited to high school football, track, soccer, field hockey, cheer, and or other athletic programs as requests are made and funds are available.  The educational programs include but are not limited to Police and Fire Fighting explorer programs, band (music), and other programs as requests are submitted and funds are available. 

The team’s Website is at http://www.copbowl.com/

The Acting Sheriff's request for court authority to release Orange County inmates up to five days early appeared to take many by surprise. What has become a routine procedure to manage our nearly constant jail overcrowding caught many individuals off guard, if only because of the current approach we are being forced to pursue -- that of obtaining a temporary court order authorizing the department to release inmates early.

There are several issues related to jail overcrowding that affect us and we believe it is important for all to understand these challenges in the context of jail operations:

·We previously had a federally ordered legal authority to manage inmate population through a system of early releases resulting from the Stuart v. Gates decision. That authority was eliminated when the court order was vacated.

·The Sheriff has no immediate plans to release inmates early from our jails.

·We are seeking this order to allow us the flexibility to manage inmate population as circumstances beyond our control dictate.

·Failure to properly manage inmate population could lead to another federal mandate that could have a more significant negative impact on the community than the early release of certain inmates.

·The Cross Designation Program adds to our overcrowding problem. The ICE agents do not pick up detainees on weekends and this can add an additional 50 inmates to our population on the weekend until they are picked up Monday morning.

·Many events, both planned and unplanned lead to an increase of arrests resulting in spikes to the jail population such as concerts, the OC Fair, demonstrations, civil unrest, natural disasters, etc.

·Title 15 of the California Code of Regulations regulates adult correctional facilities, but does not address issues such as overcrowding.  It does, however,  require attention to safety, security, basic human needs, etc. which can be affected by overcrowding.

·Jail overcrowding leads to increased jail violence as more inmates are housed in smaller spaces.

·Jail overcrowding places an unreasonable burden on our classification system. An alarmingly increasing number of inmates require special handling (separation, protective custody, etc). The additional inmates reduce the number of available single person cells available to house special handling inmates.

·Jail overcrowding creates health and sanitation problems. When the system exceeds 90% capacity we are unable to move inmates out of housing areas to complete routine maintenance.

·Housing juveniles at the Theo Lacy Facility reduces available housing for adult arrestees.

Although we missed the printing deadline for the Orange County Register, the Acting Sheriff spoke to the Register's Tony Saavedra yesterday afternoon -- the online version of his story is here and it is probably significantly different from the story in print. Here's a cut of what's online:

Members of the Orange County Board of Supervisors – the panel that will appoint a new sheriff – said Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson erred by not telling them that he was seeking to release inmates early to ease crowding, but it was unclear how it would affect his candidacy.

Supervisors were diplomatic in their criticism, but stressed that the sheriff needs to keep the board and county prosecutors apprised of such actions.

"He does have the authority, but it's best that all of us know what's going on, especially under the circumstances," said Supervisor Chris Norby. "We all want to be kept in the loop."

Anderson is one of nine finalists vying for the two-year, unfilled term vacated by former Sheriff Mike Carona, who resigned in January under federal indictment on corruption charges. The finalists will be interviewed publicly by the board on May 27.

Supervisor Bill Campbell said he didn't know about Anderson's early-release plan until he read it in the newspaper.

"I was surprised…especially since I met with him on another subject," Campbell said. "Sheriff Anderson has got a lot of balls in the air and made a miscue."

Campbell added that being acting sheriff "can be a plus, but it can also be a minus (for his candidacy). But he has done some good things."

Anderson explained Wednesday that he is not asking to do something new. The department has released thousands of inmates over the last 20 years, under a court order that recently expired. Anderson said he is asking for a new, temporary court order.

"To us, it's just routine stuff," said Anderson, who will now make regular reports to the board and other county officials on the jail crowding problem.

Additionally, the Acting Sheriff explained our early release process to the Board of Supervisors in a memo last evening. Here's the contents: More...

Updated
Five Deputies graduated on Friday, May 9 after completing a four-week-long intensive training program on immigration law and Immigration and Customs Enforcement procedures for removal of undocumented individuals booked our jails.  Once they return they will receive additional training from our deputies who are already ICE trained as well as one week of training with the Federal ICE agents over at the Federal building in Santa Ana.

The deputies will be cross-designated as ICE agents and will serve as such in our jails.   They were trained at the Mecklenberg County Sheriff’s Department in North Carolina.

The five Deputies are Jesus Hernandez, Naomi Jimenez, Cynthia Mata, Hector Martinez and Art Tiscareno.

On December 21, 2006, twelve deputies and two sergeants successfully completed the four week training course for the 287(g) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cross-designation program.  The newly trained deputies will also be cross designated as limited authority ICE agents.

Due to recent transfers, four of the deputies will remain at the IRC and one will go to Theo Lacy after they complete their on the job training here.

Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson attended the graduation and delivered these remarks.

Good Afternoon. I want to thank you for inviting me to be here today. I’m Assistant Sheriff Jack Anderson, currently acting as the Sheriff of Orange County, California.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is currently in its 2nd year of screening for undocumented foreign nationals during the booking process in our jails.

We pursued our partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement because it was essential that we reduce crime, reduce jail overcrowding and reduce cases in our court system.

For us, the Cross-Designation program is not about immigration, it’s about law enforcement. More...

The second picture attached to this article shows an Orange County Sheriff's Deputy collecting DNA from an inmate. Video is also available. Here's the story:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Laura Neuman was raped when she was 18 years old. It took nearly 20 years to identify her attacker, even though he'd been arrested six times before her attack and at least six times afterward.

Alphonso Hill pleaded guilty in September 2002 to raping Neuman and was sent to prison for 15 years. A DNA sample, taken in prison, led to charges in six other rape cases.

Police say he's also a suspect in at least 20 rapes in the Baltimore, Maryland, area. Hill denies raping any women besides Neuman, and his lawyer wouldn't comment.

If Hill is eventually proven guilty, Neuman believes that he could have been stopped.

"He could have been caught sooner if DNA had been taken and he had been matched to the cases that were unsolved," she said.

"For me, it would have made a profound difference in having the case solved sooner and for many of these women, their cases would have been solved sooner."

Read the whole thing here.

About 75 people turned out early Friday morning at Doheny State Beach for a “paddleout” in memory of retired Lt. Darrell “Guy”  Poncy, known as a mentor to many in the Department.

About 30 of those at the memorial paddled offshore on surfboards and other floatables. Flowers were cast off the stern of a fishing boat that carried several members of Lt. Poncy’s family.  His brother was in a second boat.

Duke flew overhead and a Harbor Patrol fireboat gave a salute with water spray.  Retired Assistant Sheriffs Kim Markuson and Pete Gannon were among those attending the memorial.

Lt. Poncy died on April 15 while training for the Baker 2 Vegas Run. The Department’s  Womens Running Team placed first in their category in the competition and they dedicated their victory to his memory.

Pictures were taken by Harbor Patrol's Sgt. John Hollenbeck and Deputy William Nelson.

This coming weekend there will be a “Poncy Memorial Run & Walk.” It will take place on Saturday, May 17, starting at 0800 hours at Peters Canyon Regional Park, 8548 E. Canyon View Ave., Orange.

To see the flyer click on Poncy Run Revised.pdf (142.81 kb)

A dozen public safety officers from around the state were at Harbor Patrol headquarters in Newport Beach for a weeklong training program on fighting fires on the water.

Agencies that sent personnel to the training program were the California Department of Fish and Game, the Los Angeles Fire Department, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, the Sacramento Police Department and the Los Angeles County Lake Lifeguards. Harbor Patrol is one of only two agencies in California to provide training in marine firefighting tactics.

Fighting fire on the water is a difficult task, with the boat carrying the firefighters and the boat on fire both moving at the same time and independently of each other. Each is influenced by wind, tide, current and other factors. Playing a heavy stream of water on the boat on fire is likely to cause the boat to move. More...

Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson made the following comments on May 1, 2001 when giving commendations to Investigator Jeffrey Brown, Crime Analyst Catalina Reyes and Tustin resident Michael Palacio. The three were responsible for the arrest and the large number of cases made against the individual accused of being the culprit who became known as "The O.C. Flasher."  

"On Saturday, February 2, 2008, Tustin citizen Michael Palacio was near an apartment complex when he noticed a nude male knocking on a window of an apartment. Mr. Palacio took immediate steps to confront the suspect, ultimately chasing him through the complex and apprehending him.

Our investigators suspect that this individual committed over 200 acts of indecent exposure from 2005 to 2008.

Today, family and friends gathered as we commended Mr. Palacio, Investigator Jeffrey Brown and Crime Analyst Catalina Reyes for their outstanding performance, diligence, and dedication for their efforts on this case.

Mr. Palacio's commendation reads in part: 'In 2005 the Orange County Sheriff's Department became aware of an individual who was accosting and exposing himself to lone female residents.' Based upon the suspect's method of operation, he left virtually no investigative leads or clues to his identity. The Orange County Sheriff's Department utilized all of its resources and manpower to identify and apprehend this suspect.

The Department organized and conducted covert surveillances, reviewed dozens of individuals previously convicted of indecent exposure and released a composite sketch of a suspect. For three years no suspect was identified.

The Department realized that the apprehension of this suspect would likely occur by the initial response of a patrol deputy or by the quick and decisive acts of a citizen.

Mr. Palacio's actions immediately halted the continuing victimization of women and, because of the extraordinary investigative work of Crime Analyst Catalina Reyes and Investigator Jeff Brown, the suspect will be accountable in a court of law for more than the single incident that occurred on February 2.

This is an extraordinary example of the work each of you performs on a daily basis with the support of the communities we serve. Thank you for all of your great efforts.

The Los Angeles Times featured a picture and story today on the removal of privacy walls at the Theo Lacy Facility.

To see the story, click here.

Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson mentioned the construction work in his briefing to the Orange County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, May 6. 

The Acting Sheriff spoke today about one of several court actions AOCDS has undertaken. He also gave an update on construction at Theo Lacy and continuing transitional changes in jail operations.

Right now, TV news cameras are inside Theo Lacy videotaping the deconstruction of privacy walls inside the barracks. This morning the Acting Sheriff referred to this deconstruction stating, "Yesterday, deconstruction in F Barracks at Theo Lacy began – with the removal of the privacy walls, which had been in place for 22 years. I think the removal of F Barracks privacy walls is a fitting symbol to the removal of our Department’s historical privacy walls and the ushering in of the Sheriff’s Department’s new culture of transparency and accountability."

Specific to AOCDS, he spoke of their most recent court action on the personnel transfer schedule: "The Board of Directors of the deputy’s union took us to court over this matter. On April 24, County Counsel represented us in Court. The union lost their move for an injunction and the transfers took place as planned on April 25, 2008. The next hearing before the judge on this matter is scheduled for May 16, 2008."

There are numerous reasons for the personnel transfer schedule as discussed in the Declaration we provided to the judge in court on April 24. The Declaration is available in full right here. Additionally, they are detailed in his address posted below. More...

Deputy Kevin LaPyrne and his partner Kai are highlighted in a story here:

Kevin LaPyrne, a deputy with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department Canine Unit in Santa, Ana, Calif., has the type of partner only a select number of officers in his division have: Kai, a six-year-old male Malinois K9 dog.

Hailing from Holland, Kai came to the United States in 2003. He’s trained in obedience, handler protection, searching for evidence, apprehension of criminal offenders, as well as narcotics detection, making him a dual-purpose dog.

K9s are specifically trained to follow the freshest human scent, and because of their superior snouts, are able to aid officers in the process of making arrests and/or investigating crime scenes.

“Kai’s job—like any K9’s—is to help save our lives and make our jobs safer,” says LaPyrne. “Their drive is through the roof. It’s hard to understand how truly courageous they are,” he says, making reference to SWAT teams who wait for K9s to arrive on location before entering a situation where a dog’s superior sense of smell is needed.

LaPyrne explains that K9 dogs are trained to alert their human partners in one of two ways during narcotics detection: active alert, when the dog scratches to indicate, or passive alert, when the dog sniffs and then sits when something has been located. Kai is trained passively, although there is nothing passive about him—in 2007 alone, Kai was deployed on approximately 77 calls. 

Read it all here.

Sheriff’s personnel joined prosecutors, educators, firefighters, and a coalition of officials from youth services and programs to provide more than 100 San Juan Capistrano parents with information to protect their children from an assortment of daily risks.

The speakers at the San Juan Capistrano Community Center talked about drug abuse, Internet dangers and problem of gangs in the city. Many of the parents have children attending the Marco Foster Middle School.

“The Sheriff’s Department is looking for criminals but they can’t arrest the criminals unless you report the crimes,” Deputy Orange County District Attorney Tracy Rinauro told the audience.

The District Attorney has obtained a civil court injunction against one of the leading gangs in San Juan Capistrano and it is designed to protect the ordinary citizens living in the area claim as turf by the gang.

“Lt. Mike Betzler, your city police chief, is one of the hardest working and most caring police officers I’ve ever worked with,” she said. She credited Lt. Betzler and his Department personnel under his command with making the gang injunction a success." More...

Part 3 from the Orange County Register is available today. Register reporter Andrew Galvin spent several days with our deputies for his story:

Editor's note: This is the last in a three-part series looking at how Orange County's changing economy is affecting tenants, landlords, homeowners and the people who serve eviction notices. Today, we follow a sheriff, Ramona Figueroa, and track what happened to evicted tenant Sheryl Diaz and her former landlord, Roger Nelson.

 

The story is complete with pictures and video. Read it all right here.

For further information read the flyer here: 05-01-08 Looking For Family (Melesio Rodriguez).doc (192.00 kb)

An estimated 6,000 people are expected to rally and march for Immigration Rights starting at the Plaza of Flags in the Santa Ana Civic Center at about 3 p.m.

Santa Ana Police expect that the rally and march will be peaceful but the Sheriff’s Department has Deputies and equipment on standby in case the city police need help for any unforeseen reason.  The Plaza of Flags is only a short distance from Department Headquarters and the Central Jail complex.

The activities may cause some traffic delays for Department personnel assigned to Santa Ana because the city will close several streets to accommodate the rally and march.
To read the Orange County Register’s story on the rally and march, click here.