The National Association of Counties has honored the Orange County Sheriff's Department with a 2009 Achievement Award.

A summary of the T.A.G.R.S. program will be posted on the Association's Model Programs database where it can be accessed by county officials nationwide.

The Award will be presented next month at a ceremony in Nashville, Tennessee.

To view the letter from the Association announcing the award click: National Association of Counties Award 0610144636 (2).pdf (87.83 kb)

To see the North County Times Article on the City of Lake Elsinore linking to T.A.G.R.S. click here.

Sheriff Sandra Hutchens pleaded with County Supervisors to provide $7.2 million in funding to stave off drastic public safety cuts while the Department secures a $20 million contract to house federal inmates.  The federal contract revenue would allow the Department to maintain public safety services basically at current levels.

Supervisors balked at the plan saying that it was too risky for them to support. 

Sheriff Hutchens answered that the alternative is forcing her to impose "draconian" cuts on public safety. Cuts will result in the closing of the Women's Jail, portions of the Musick Facility and reduction in investigations and patrol services. Sheriff Hutchens is attempting to obtain a sufficent federal commitment before the Supervisors take their formal vote on June 23. She will ask them again to reconsider the public safety cuts.  

The Orange County Register story on the hearing said this of the Sheriff's remark:

Hutchens says residents across the county, even in cities that have their own police departments, will feel the impact of the cuts. The department offers countywide services that could be affected, such as jails, crime scene services, air support and response to major traffic accidents.

"I view the cuts we may have to make today as pretty draconian," Hutchens said after the hearing. "The public will feel the impact."

She also told the Register:

If the cuts supervisors approved today remain, women's central jail could be closed and employees from across the department, from investigators to 9-1-1 dispatchers, could be laid off, she said.

"Everything is on the table," she said.

Here is the Register story:

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

County to slash public safety budgets by $50 million
Sheriff's department takes the biggest hit at nearly $28 million
By JENNIFER MUIR
The Orange County Register

SANTA ANA Despite warnings that slashing the sheriff's department could cripple jails, increase response times and impact investigations, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday appeared poised to cut nearly $28 million from the Orange County Sheriff's Department budget.

It's the largest cut to services that supervisors are expected to make in the next two days as they consider how to carve more than $1 billion from next year's spending plan.

Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said the department may soon get some financial relief in the form of a contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house federal immigration detainees. The sheriff asked for $7.3 million to stave off jail layoffs for six months – allowing time for the federal contract to take effect.

But supervisors weren't comfortable gambling that an agreement could be reached.

"That means we have to make a decision based on a 'maybe'?" Supervisor John Moorlach asked. "I'm not comfortable voting on something that may happen. I may feel more comfortable voting on something once it does happen."

To view the full story click here:

To view the Los Angeles Times story click here:

Dana Point Deputy of the Year Steve Hoffman was interviewed on KUCI by Mari Frank.

To hear the interview click the icons below.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors has scheduled a hearing for tomorrow on the Sheriff's Department budget.  These are tough times for the county and the Orange County Register had a story over the weekend to preview the hearings.

Should the Board of Supervisors vote to reduce services provided by the the Sheriff's Department, the Department will attempt to maximize county savings by shifting those personnel now providing the cut services to other positions where they can reduce the Department's overtime costs.   

Friday, June 5, 2009

County may cut $50 million for safety, 150 sheriff's jobs
Supervisors will consider how to slash more than from the county budget. Public safety is a target.
By JENNIFER MUIR
The Orange County Register

County executives are recommending that supervisors slash more than $50 million from next year's public safety budget – including more than 150 Sheriff's Department jobs – to bring the county's spending in line with plummeting revenue.

That's part of a $5.5 billion budget proposal that county supervisors will consider – and likely change – during two days of marathon hearings that begin Tuesday.

With tax revenues slammed by a staggering economy, county staff recommends shrinking the budget by $1.2 billion. While the majority of those savings would come from changes that most residents might not notice, such as canceling capital improvement projects and changes to how the county manages its cash flow, the biggest service cuts recommended by the CEO are aimed at public safety.

Everything from jail guards to sheriffs and district attorney investigators to 9-1-1 dispatchers is on the chopping block. A youth camp for young offenders could be closed and jails could be crippled.

The Sheriff's department faces the deepest cutbacks, at $27 million, followed by the district attorney at $10.6 million. Probation is looking at a $4.9 million reduction and the public defender would lose $1.5 million.

To see the full story click here:

A national report by FBI on gang violence shifting from urban areas to the suburbs cites two recent cases that went to trial in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.

One of the cases involved Operation Jokers Wild, in which 96 members and associates of Florencia 13 (F13) were convicted of charges involved in narcotics distribution and the shootings of African-Americans. Ten members were convicted of racketeering and related crimes after a 3 1/2 month long trial was held before U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter. 

The second case involved the nation's largest gang sweep.  Approximately 1,400 law enforcement officers swept across the City of Hawaiian Gardens to arrest dozens of people named in a federal RICO indictment.  The indictment describes a war against the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, as well as systematic efforts to rid the community of African-Americans, with a campaign of shootings and other attacks.  Many of those arrested were brought before the court at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana.

Highlighting Recent FBI Gang Investigations

The U.S. is seeing a rise in gang membership across the country and as membership spreads from urban to suburban areas, so does the associated criminal activity. Gangs are involved not only in auto theft, assault, home invasions, armed robbery, and extortion, but also in fraud, identity theft, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, alien smuggling, and murder.

“As our communities are exposed to higher levels of crime and violence, the FBI, along with local, state, and federal partners, are responding with an even greater measure of significant law enforcement action,” according to Assistant Director Kenneth W. Kaiser, FBI Criminal Investigative Division. “The goal is to take these violent offenders off the streets and make our neighborhoods safer.”

To see the full press release click here. 

For information on the cases prosecuted in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana click here and here.

Reserve Deputies and Professional Services Responders were given a tour of Marine Operations on Wednesday.  The Marine Operations Reserve is looking for some new members and about 30 prospective volunteers showed up to hear what it takes to patrol the waters. Reserve Deputies briefed the potential volunteers on the facilities, equipment and craft used by the Department to patrol three harbors and 43-miles of coastline.

Reserve Captain Jay Wasserman was interviewed by Mari Frank on KUCI Radio.

To listen to the broadcast click the icons below.

Smoke billowed from the laundry room at the Men's Central Jail last Friday but it was no accident.  It was staged to test the skills of Department personnel and the Santa Ana Fire Department to respond to an emergency at the Jail.  The simulated casualties were Professional Services Responders.  

To view some scenes of the drill click the icon below. Still pictures of the drill are after the icon:

The Orange County Register recently had a story about the Fountain Valley Police Department joining the regional T.A.G.R.S. network which was developed by the Sheriff's Department.   

Friday, May 29, 2009
Fountain Valley police launch anti-graffiti technology
New automated tracking system keeps track of the vandalism, streamlines procedures.
By SARAH LOPEZ
FOR THE REGISTER

Fountain Valley has implemented a new technique to help combat graffiti.

The Police Department launched Tracking Automated Graffiti Reporting System (T.A.G.R.S.) on Wednesday. The County Sheriff's Department created the system to document, link graffiti to aid in investigations, and recover clean up costs.

When graffiti is reported, a city public works employee will respond to the scene with a special camera phone designed to document the location, photograph the vandalism and provide cleanup cost information. The information is sent automatically to the police-monitored T.A.G.R.S. database, which will serve as an investigative aid in graffiti crimes.  

To view the full story click here:

To view the Department Blog coverage at the time T.A.G.R.S. began click here.

Retired Deputy Coroner Maureen Albrecht told Mari Frank on KUCI about her success in losing weight in last year's Battle of the Badges. To hear what she told Mari click the icons below.

The latest just came in from the Battle of the Badges Weight Loss Competition.  

A power outage that lasted more than four and a half hours left the Men’s Central Jail and the Women’s Jail with limited lighting and no air conditioning.

Other Sheriff’s facilities in Santa Ana were impacted less because of greater backup generator power.

The Men’s Central Jail and the Women’s Jail had just 30 percent power during the outage and movement of inmates was kept to a minimum, said CJX Department Commander Lieutenant Roger Neumeister.

“Our sworn and professional staff rose to the occasion, pitched in and worked extra hard to see to it that our inmates were safe and secure,” said Lieutenant Neumeister.

One of the biggest impacts was that lunch was served an hour early. It had been prepared but because of the lack of power the meals could not be kept hot until the traditional meal hour and so they were served while they were still hot.

The impact at IRC was less severe because that facility has 80 percent backup from emergency generators.  Air conditioning was minimal but their booking operations continued as normal.

At the Coroner’s Office, operations were continued by backup power but their clerical and admin stations were closed down, along with the offices of the pathologists.

At the Brad Gates Builidng, only one elevator was in operation and many computer stations were shut down. Power was restored to the Gates Building at about 10:30 a.m.  It was restored to headquarters and the jail at about 1:30 p.m.  The Coroner’s Office remains on backup power.

The cause of the power outage remains under investigation. It impacted a large area of Santa Ana and forced the closing of the Orange County Central Justice Center.

For the Orange County Register’s story on the outage click here.

Four Orange County Sheriff's Deputies were recipients of this year's Vehicle Theft Recovery Officer of the Year Awards. Deputies Saul Cardenas, Joseph Kantar, Trent Hoffman and Tyler Ray received their honors at a reception on May 28 at the Irvine Marriot. The Awards are sponsored by the Auto Theft Advisory Committee, a partnership of law enforcement, insurance companies and auto related companies working together to fight auto theft.

Letter from the Sheriff

We all know that the continuing economic challenges have created a budget crisis for our department of a

magnitude that few of us can visualize -- a revenue shortfall in the millions of dollars.

Our mission remains as critical as ever, and each of us has a part to play in the challenge of bringing the department

through this crisis. We must continue to protect the public while reducing our services and staffing as prudently as

possible. All of us work in positions in which we see where money is spent and we have ideas on how money can be

saved.

As we continue to navigate the ever challenging budget, we are looking at cuts big and small and that is where each

of you can help the department. Look at how you do your job and how others do similar jobs. If you have a

suggestion for saving money in a way that will not endanger the public or unduly reduce the services we provide, I

want to hear about it.

You don't have to think in terms of millions of dollars, hundreds will do for a start. If each member of the department can recommend a

way to save the department $275, the gross savings for the department will be $1 million. At a time when the county is looking to reduce

staff to save money, $1 million equals the annual salary of 25 office technicians, 17 Forensic Scientists or Deputy Coroners or 16 Deputy

Sheriffs.

Send your ideas to me via email at shutchens@ocsd.org or by pony to Sheriff Hutchens, Administration, 550 Flower St.

While we're looking at a revenue shortfall in the millions of dollars, even small savings make a big difference. Thank you for all that you

do - even during these challenging times.

SANDRA HUTCHENS

Sheriff-Coroner