The team of Department members and Health Care Agency staff who worked to establish the Crisis Stabilization Unit in the Intake Release Center’s Module L were honored Thursday. They were recognized for their efforts by the presentation of the Health Care Agency/OCEA Labor-Management Committee’s Team Excellence Award.

The annual Steve Ambriz Team Excellence Award was created to recognize teams that exemplify principles of Enlightened Leadership and Team Excellence in creative and collaborative action and to identify the qualities and characteristics of effective work teams. 

The Crisis Stabilization Unit opened on October 2, 2006 with the mission to provide accessible, quality acute mental health care to the severely and chronically mentally ill within the Orange County Central Jail Complex. It is the fourth such unit in the state. An increasing number of mentally ill are being committed to the Criminal Justice System. Some mental health experts say that jails and prisons are the new mental hospitals in our country. Other agencies that worked to establish the unit included Public Defenders, County Counsel, Behavioral Health, The Mental Health Association, Public Administrator/ Public Guardian, Patient Rights, and Superior Court.

Sherri Curl,  Administrative Manager for Corrections Mental Health said creating the unit was a formidable task. More...

Letter from the Sheriff

Department Transformation

Many changes and additions to our operation have been announced over the last few weeks. Just this Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors hired Stephen Connolly to serve as the Executive Director of the Office of Independent Review - an independent office that will review our critical incidents and internal investigations and provide reports and recommendations on our operations. We also recently announced our new Command Staff and are now undertaking an evaluation of our organizational structure.

During this transition and assessment, our priority is to identify ways to make our department operate more efficiently, while enhancing the diverse services we provide to the county. Rumors abound as to what changes will be occurring, but I can assure all of you that nothing has been set in stone. I view this organization as a living one – one that will continue to evolve as we move forward. Over the next few weeks I will be meeting with Division Commanders individually, and I will continue to visit many of our facilities to get feedback and ideas on our strengths and challenges.

I sincerely appreciate your patience and continued focus on serving our residents. I will continue to keep you informed as we move forward.

SANDRA HUTCHENS

Sheriff-Coroner

The Orange Lutheran Church High School is sponsoring the Guy Poncy 5K Memorial for August 23.

Darrell (Guy) Poncy served with the Department for 27 years, including a tour as Commander of the Academy. He was coach for the Department's Women's Running Team after his retirement and died at age 53. He was training for the Vegas 2 Baker run and died on April 15 along a running trail in Orange. He also served as a volunteer running coach for the Orange Lutheran Church High School.

The Department's Women's Running Team went ahead with the race a few days after his death and won first place in their class. The team dedicated their effort to Guy Poncy.

The Memorial run will be hosted by the Block at Orange. It is intended to introduce children to the joys of running and will featrue a 1K and a 50-yard run in addition to the 5K run.

The deadline for registration ranges from $10 to $25 depending on the event. The deadline for early registration is Monday, August 18. flyer

For more information click here.

The Department Crime Lab is in the news again, this time due to their helping solve the murder of a elderly couple in their Santa Ana home. The case went unsolved for more than a year when DNA left on a soda can was matched to the defendant, Carlos Martinez, 32, of Santa Ana. Martinez could receive a death sentence if convicted. 

For the full Orange County Register story click here.

The Department's Traffic Safety Programs Unit has opened a new Website dedicated to making our roads a safer place to drive.

Here is what is said about the purpose of the Website:

Why a Web site addressing this specific demographic?  The answer is safety.  Teens, especially 16 year old drivers, have a much higher risk of crashing than other age groups.  As parents we may know this but not understand that there are ways to decrease the risks as our teen drivers gain experience (one of the best ways to decrease crash risk).  Many parents also tell us that they are either un-aware of or don't understand the laws related to provisional driver licenses.  Our goal is to help clear up some of the confusion regarding these and other issues.   

The Website provides information about topics ranging from driving schools to DUI laws.

The Website is the result of a lot of hard work by Retired Deputy Will Funk, who has been helping the Department as a part time Administrative Manager.

To view the Website click here.

Stephen J. Connolly was selected by the Board of Supervisors to head the Orange County Sheriff's Department Office of Independent Review.

Connolly, 44, is a former school teacher who graduated from Loyola University Law School and joined the California Bar in 2000. He served on the Rampart Independent Review Panel before joining the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Office of Independent Review.

He said that his role will be to review the Sheriff's Department internal review procedures and make recommendations for improvements, as well as to look at individual cases that are being reviewed. He serves the Board of Supervisors and will make quarterly reports to the Board on his activities. Some of those reports will be in closed session but he said that his goal will be to provide transparency to the Sheriff's Department will providing individual sworn officers with all of the protections provided under California law.

They approved his being hired as an independent contractor for a 3-year term at $210,000 a year. He will oversee an operation with an annual budget of $750,000 and may include two other attorneys and an investigative analyst.  The investigative analyst will likely be a retired law enforcement officer with knowledge of internal investigations and credibility with the Department personnel.  

Sheriff Sandra Hutchens gave these remarks to the Board of Supervisors about the selection of Mr.Connolly.

Good Morning Chairman Moorlach and Honorable Board Members: I am here to let you know that the men and women of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department welcome this new level of oversight and transparency in our operation and the services we provide our residents each and every day.

There is a perception by some in our community that much is broken in the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. I can tell you that this perception cannot be further from the truth. The majority of the men and women on the department are hard working, ethical and professional employees dedicated to serving out our mission with the highest standards. But events of the past have sullied their reputation and cast a shadow on their extraordinary work. 

The Office of Independent Review will assist all of us in once again restoring public trust in our words and deeds, while serving as a catalyst to improve performance so that we can become a better, stronger department – the best law enforcement agency in the nation. 

I met with Mr. Connolly last Friday and I assured him that he would have access to every resource available to assist him as he sets up his office and transitions into his new role as the Executive Director.  We look forward to working with Mr. Connolly and his office as we move the Orange County Sheriff’s Department into a better and brighter future for our employees and the residents we serve. Thank you. 

To view Stephen J. Connolly's bio on the Los Angeles Office of Independent Review Website click here:

The Orange County Office of Independent Review will be patterned after the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Office of Indpendent Review. To view samples of the Los Angeles office's reports click here.

The Sheriff's order for Professional Services Responders to turn in their badges has been making news.  A news story by the Los Angeles Times and a column by the Orange County Register's Gordon Dillow show that PSRs are not happy about having to turn in their badges but seem committed to making the volunteer program the best in the country.

To read the LA Times story click here.  

To read Gordon Dillow's column click here.  

The purchasing emergency declared in April by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to expedite the installation of surveillance cameras at the Theo Lacy Facility has ended after the immediate project was completed.  

The Board of Supervisors declared the emergency on the recommendation of Department officials in the wake of a Grand Jury report. The report was on the murder an inmate in a Lacy barracks area not in view of a guard station and not monitored by a surveillance camera. The new system allows deputies to continually monitor areas of the barracks that previously had only been checked by deputies patrolling inside the barracks. Those patrols continue. Privacy walls in some barracks were also removed to give deputies a better view of the inmates in the barracks.

The camera installation had previously been approved as part of a $4.4 million project to improve video surveillance throughout the jail system, said Research and Development Director Robert Beaver. County purchasing procedures are such that the project was not expected to begin until March 2009. The Grand Jury report provided the impetus for the Board to declare the emergency for the Lacy barracks camera project. It had been budgeted at $370,000 but was completed for just under $300,000.

The emergency declaration allowed the purchase and installation on an expedited basis. The system wide surveillance project is now budgeted at $8.8 million.  

Executive Director Rick Dostal said in a report to the Board that, "Conduit, electrical and camera installations are complete in Barracks F-H. Video recordings commenced on Tuesday July 22, 2008 and audio components have been ordered and will be installed and operational on or before July 29, 2008. The purchasing of material and equipment against Emergency Price Agreement N1000009933 is complete. Therefore, this Emergency Price Agreement requires no further continuance as of July 28, 2008.

To view the documents place on file for the declaration of the emergency, click here.   

The American Bloodhound Club will honor K-9 Taffy, a member of the Department's Search and Rescue.

Taffy's handler, Reserve Lt. Doug Williams said the honor is the result of a life's work by the 8 year old hound. 

She's found numerous lost children and has helped capture a career's worth of criminals, including some who were sent to prison for murder, Lt. Williams said.

The award will be given to Taffy at a banquet in Long Beach on October 3, 2008.

Here is the criteria for the Award that will be bestowed on Taffy.  

The American Bloodhound Club
Meritorious Service Award for a Bloodhound Nomination

The American Bloodhound Club may present one "Meritorious Service Award for a Bloodhound" per year. The Bloodhound and owner chosen for this award will receive a commemorative prize. Criteria for this award shall be the performance of extraordinary service to the community by a purebred Bloodhound as documented by either American Kennel Club, Canadian Kennel Club, or other foreign registry. This service must be in the areas of volunteer search and rescue, law enforcement work, therapy work, or any other form of service achievement. Show or performance event records, including ABC mantrailing titles, are not acceptable qualifications for this award. The owner of the Bloodhound need not be an ABC member; rather, the dog and owner must have performed exemplary service to the community. Both living and deceased Bloodhounds are eligible for nomination.

The American Bloodhound Club may present one "Meritorious Service Award" per year. The award shall consist of an engraved 14" solid maple plate. Criteria for the award shall be outstanding service to the American Bloodhound Club and/or the Bloodhound breed. Please ensure that the nominee has served well beyond the realm of fulfilling an elected office or appointed position. The nominee need not be an ABC member, but must have performed exemplary service to our breed.

To find out about the American Bloodhound Club visit their Website at http://www.bloodhounds.org/

For one of the kudos collected by Taffy in her career: Bloodhound Response AV.pdf (568.33 kb)

For a South Coast Magazine Article on Taffy: South Coast Magazine.pdf (669.92 kb)

For an account of Taffy's Peabody Award: Peabody Award Article.pdf (597.81 kb)

A California Gold Star Award was given to the team, see an article about it:  CA Goldstar Award.pdf (536.01 kb)