On May 8, 2008, Mr. Jim Noss wrote a letter commending Deputy Bryan Robins and Sheriff Special Officer Aaron Chamberlain, of the Theo Lacy Facility. Mr. Noss commended them for going the extra yard in helping him get a court order for a clothing exchange approved by the Watch Commander. During his wait, he observed SSO Chamberlain's interactions with the public, his fellow workers and other agencies. He said that SSO Chamberlain was very friendly and efficient at doing his job. He would like to congratulate Deputy Robins for his attention to detail and his logic in handling the situation. Mr. Noss states that Deputy Robins and SSO Chamberlain are great assets to this department.

Lieutenant Lee Trujillo of Stanton Police Services received a letter of thanks from a Stanton resident for the assistance she received from Stanton CSO Nick Rickers. The woman had been assisting her grandson who had received a traffic citation. They had been dealing with the citation and trying to get it resolved since March, when they finally came to the front counter at the Stanton Station where CSO Rickers assisted them. She stated that he made several phone calls, and "he kept us informed as to what was happening. He was pleasant; we were truly impressed with his patience and knowledge." Thank you to CSO Nick Rickers for being a true asset to the Orange County Sheriff's Department, and for your professional attitude and commitment to serving the residents of Orange County.

On July 10, 2008, the Support Services Division received a commendation email from detective Trooper Aimee Nolan of the Vermont State Police expressing her extreme gratitude regarding Records unit employee Blanche Hernandez. Blanche assisted the trooper with the procedures for submitting her request. Within one hour after receiving the request, Blanche not only faxed back a copy of our report, but she also provided the trooper with the arresting agencies information and the report numbers of their reports. Detective Trooper Nolan writes "Sometimes requesting information or assistance from agencies outside of Vermont can be very challenging; however, your department shattered that theory!" Thank you, Blanche, for being such a fine representative of the Support Services Division and the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Mothers of Preschoolers has put together a video presentation their program for incarcerated moms at the James A. Musick Facility, the first program of its kind for parents behind bars.

For more information on the International organization knows as MOPS check their Website by clicking here.

A months back I had the opportunity to observe a MOPS meeting at Music. To see the story I wrote, click here.

A portion of video is shown below.

The Exchange Club of Corona del Mar, which has been supporting community causes in Orange County for 21-years, honored five members of the Department on Thursday.

The five received plaques and kudos from the Club’s Crime Prevention Program.  The club also donated to the Department three large sacks of teddy bears.  They purchased the bears with the proceeds of their recycling program.  The bears are used by deputies when there is a need to comfort a child they encounter when duty takes them to a family crisis.

Sheriff Sandra Hutchens attended the Awards Presentation. Club members, who have given the awards for several years, said it was the clubs first presentation attended by the county sheriff.

“I want to thank your club for honoring our personnel,” Sheriff Hutchens told the group.  “I think you know how much it means to them. As you see, they have brought family members and friends. It means so much, with all the negative press sometimes that we get, it really does my heart good that you are honoring these folks who absolutely everyday do a wonderful job. We appreciate your recognizing what they have done and I know they do. “

“I’m so happy to be Sheriff of Orange County,” she added.  “I’m here to serve you.  My message to you is simple; this is your sheriff’s department.  We’re going to take our direction from you. I’m going to work with these great men and women of this Department and we’re going to make it even better. “

The first presentation was to Deputy Holly Fisher of Harbor Patrol.

Harbor Patrol’s Captain Deana Bergquist said Deputy Fisher was well deserving of the award.  She has been with the Department nearly 19 years and has worked in Harbor for 5 years, serving in all three stations. She is licensed by the Coast Guard to captain a vessel of 100 tons. The license is recognition of her boat handling and navigation competence. It entitles her to wear a pin on her uniform noting the Coast Guard license. Only 16 members of the Department hold the Coast Guard license.

Captain Bergquist noted that the weather on Thursday was  near perfect but when winter comes, the day sky often darkens with storm clouds, gale force winds and waves that break over the jetties and inside the harbor.  When weather conditions turn ugly, some mariners, Captain Bergquist said kindly, “exceed their skill level.”

“Holly has been involved in a number of dangerous situations,” Captain Bergquist said. She told a story that occurred in January. More...

During the fall of '07, a crew from Langley, the makers of Cops and other law enforcement based reality shows, spent two months taping 'JAIL' here in the Orange County Jails.  The segments have already started to air, but, in case you missed the first clip from the OC Jails, here it is, starring Deputy Bill Gibson.  You can tune in to watch Jail Tuesday nights at 9:00 PM on Channel 13.

 RETIRED LASD CHIEF SANDRA HUTCHENS PICKED AS ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF 

Today the Orange County Board of Supervisors selected Retired Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Division Chief Sandra Hutchens as Sheriff. She will command the second largest Sheriff’s Department in California, with 4,000 employees, including more than 1,700 sworn deputies. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department has a budget of more than $700 million.

“My appointment as Orange County Sheriff signifies a time for reform; a time of change for the people of Orange County and this department,” said Hutchens. “It is an honor and privilege to serve, and I am resolute in my commitment to bring about transformation, restoring integrity and the public’s trust in our law enforcement agency.”  

A longtime Orange County resident, Hutchens emerged from a pool of 48 contenders for the job. Hutchens brings more than 29 years of high-profile law enforcement experience, including jail operations, patrol, investigations and administrative assignments. Throughout her career, she successfully moved through the ranks of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department from deputy to chief – experience that offers her intimate knowledge of a Sheriff’s Department and what a Sheriff’s organization truly needs from its leadership. 

Hutchens has identified the Department’s jail system as her first priority for change. Her experience includes working in the Los Angeles County jail system for more than six years at the rank of deputy, sergeant and lieutenant. Her experience has prepared Hutchens for the myriad of issues facing the Orange County jail system, including: overcrowding, supervision, efficient management of limited resources and accountability. This keen insight into the system has driven her desire to implement new solutions – including the application of technology and proven “best practices” in the worldwide law enforcement community.  

She visited the Department headquarters shortly after her appointment and was welcomed by the Department members she met during her visit. She also met with the Departments Command Staff to discuss the transition.

A news story in the Los Angeles Times four weeks ago regarding Department overtime issues has triggered a county audit and an internal change on how overtime is tracked by Division Commanders.  

Meanwhile another news organization in the county continues the examination of Department overtime that they began in February.  Overtime expenses were recently reviewed by the Orange County Grand Jury.

The grand jury report was made public last week and on the issue of overtime, there was no adverse finding or recommendation and the Department was not required to respond.  The grand jury conclusion was this:  

Deputy Overtime in the OCSD Jail System

The Grand Jury examined the Sheriff-Coroner Department overtime costs for the last five fiscal years. Although overtime costs have increased during this timeframe, the increases have been proportionate to salary increases averaging 9% of salary and employee benefit costs. The Sherriff-Coroner Department has been under total budget for each of the last five fiscal years.

Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson recognized the need for Deputies to work overtime in order to fulfill our obligations. He thanked staff members who volunteer to work it in accordance with Department regulations. During the Santiago Fire and the subsequent flooding, over 1,300 individuals from the Sheriff’s Department worked overtime to protect the public. More...

Captains Ron White and Dave Wilson are among the latest graduates of Orange County’s Leadership Academy, designed to help county managers gain new insights on leadership and network with managers in other county departments.

The eight session course began in January and took place at Chapman University in Orange. The sessions included programs leadership challenges, leading to serve, leading teams, communicating as a leader, leading with integrity, leading through change and transition, and leadership visions.

The program has been in operation since 2004 and more than 250 county managers have graduated.

Among those who graduated with Captains White and Wilson were county managers with the Assessor, Auditor-Controller, Child Support Services,  County Counsel, County Executive Office, District Attorney, Health Care Agency, Housing and Community Services, Human Resources, Integrated Waste Management, Internal Audit, John Wayne Airport, Orange County Public Library, Probation, Public Adminstrator/Guardian, Public Defender, Resources Development Management Department, Sheriff-Coroner, Social Services Agency and Treasurer-Tax Collector.
 

Members of a group originally formed to combat Racial Profiling toured the Theo Lacy Facility on Thursday and pledged to work with the Department to help inmates lead productive lives upon their release.

Rev. Mark Whitlock, Senior Minister of the Christ Our Redeemer African Methodist Episcopal Church, in Irvine said was pleasantly surprised to find that Department officials at Lacy are working hard to help train inmates for the workforce and to help them avoid the pitfalls of drugs and criminal associates who contributed to their going to jail in the first place.

Reverend Whitlock is chairman of the Oden Commission, formed after Olympian Bev Oden was questioned about a bank fraud in May 2007. It turned out that  Bev Oden, who is black, had no connection to the crime.

While there was no acknowledgment of wrongdoing by law enforcement, the incident led to the creation of the Oden Commission and an open dialogue between law enforcement leaders and leaders of the black community in Orange County.

The tour of the Theo Lacy Facility was led by Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson, Assistant Sheriff Charlie Walters, Captain Dave Wilson and Inmate Programs Director Sharron Gibson-Casler. In addition to Reverend Whitlock, representatives of the N.A.A.C.P. attended.

“We have people here who need to be locked up. Most will be released. We treat them with respect and we do all we can to help them make useful lives for themselves when they are released,” Acting Sheriff Anderson told the group.  More...

The Board of Supervisors conducted interviews this week for the position of Sheriff. Understandably, there was a lot of discussion about the problems we are facing in our department. Over the last few months we have acknowledged the many areas we need to fix, but we also realize that these issues are not systemic, but isolated and individual in nature. The negative will undoubtedly garner headlines, but we also need to make sure we’re taking inventory of what’s right with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Among the numerous awards and recognition we’ve received, we continue to provide law enforcement services to one of the safest areas to live, work and play in the nation. Our Coroner’s facility serves as a statewide training facility and is a model for the state. An assessment conducted by the National Institute of Corrections last year noted that we operate one of the most professional jails while maintaining low assault rates; and our LA HIDTA Joint Drug Intelligence Group received the Outstanding Investigative Support Center Award of the year.

A commitment to excellence continues to thrive within our department, even as we work to correct shortcomings of the past.  With your great work and dedication, we will continue to have the opportunity to accentuate the positive while we eliminate the negative as we move toward a promising future.

Thank you for all you continue to do to lead our department in our mission to serve.

Five family members found dead in San Clemente: Sheriff's Lt. Erin Giudice said the bodies were discovered by a relative who  went to check on the family this afternoon. The person called 911 at about 3:50 p.m. Anderson, holding a news conference outside the neighborhood's gates, described the victims as an elderly woman, a man and woman ages 40-50, and two women in their early 20s, all related. No names were released. [Photo by Eugene Garcia, Orange County Register]

Sheriff says he's ready to put mattresses on jail floor: Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson on Friday said he may be forced to come up with unpalatable alternatives to ease jail crowding during an expected spike in arrests over Memorial Day Weekend. "I'll put mattresses on the floor if I have to," Anderson said after he and two high-ranking members of his command staff met behind closed doors with Assistant Presiding Judge Kim Dunning.The meeting was arranged by Orange County Counsel Benjamin DeMayo less than a day after Superior Court Judge Thomas Borris, the presiding judge of the court's criminal division, rejected Anderson's request for authority to release some inmates from their sentences early to relieve crowding.

Am I Going To Die?: Oksana Grishuk, 36, an Olympic gold-medal skater from Aliso Viejo believed a business dinner with an aquaintance last month at the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort was for all the right reasons. Instead, she found her head swirling, her stomach aching and wondering "Am I going to die?"

Secret cameras found in former Sheriff's office: Evidence of cameras that fed video to computers spirited away in a "secret compartment" in a "clandestine" room within former Sheriff Mike Carona’s old office have been turned over to federal prosecutors. Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson made the discovery recently and notified the five members of the Board of Supervisors in a confidential memo The Orange County Register obtained through a public records request.

Suspects ID'd in Marine Shooting Death: Two fellow Marines, including an Iraq veteran, are believed to be responsible in the shooting of another Marine who was found shot dead in a San Clemente ditch last week, authorities said. One suspect is in custody and another is being sought by authorities, said John McDonald, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Orange County Register Reporter Amy Taxin and Photographer Leonard Ortiz spent time with five Deputies who are completing on the job training to become Cross-Designated Agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  The journalists observed the deputies during part of their on the job training at the Intake Release Center earlier this week.

To see their report, click here.

Department officials hosted a picnic over the weekend to honor the more than 1100 volunteers who help make our Inmate Services programs a big success.

Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson, Assistant Sheriff Charles Walters and Inmate Services Director Sharron Gibson-Casler were among those attending but the real guests of honor were 437 volunteers who attended the picnic at Hart Park in Orange on Saturday.

The latest statistics show that 5,884 volunteer sessions were held at all five of the Departments jail facilities. They were attended by 103,035 inmates.

The programs include a wide variety of services for inmates, ranging from rehabilitation programs like Alcoholics Anonymous to church services, Bible study, language and literacy help.

Workshops are held where gifts are made for the families of tragedy and families of terminally ill children, fallen firefighters, fallen law enforcement officers and fallen U.S. Armed Forces Members. Others teach inmates to sew specially fitted garments for war veterans who have lost limbs in battle. There are also parenting classes and classes to help inmates cope with the challenges they will face when released.

For more pictures of the picnic, click here.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors authorized the Department to join COPLINK, an multi-jurisdictional information sharing consortium first planned four years ago with a grant from the Department of Homeland Security. 

The Sheriff’s Department joining the consortium comes after several years of wrangling over legal and technical issues, said Capt. Mike James.   

“We’ve put those issues to rest and now we are a full voting member of the Integrated Law & Justice Agency for Orange County,” Capt. James said.

COPLINK is essentially a computer interpretation tool  which accepts information from all law enforcement agencies in the county, along with the Superior Court, the District Attorney and the Probation Department. Those agencies use a myriad of computer formats but COPLINK accepts all of the data and allows it to be accessed by agencies with otherwise non-compatible computer formats.  

Sheriff’s deputies and investigators will soon have access to information on individuals, crimes and events gathered by court and law enforcement sources throughout the county.  Bob McDonell, executive director of Integrated Law & Justice Agency for Orange County said the system is currently undergoing an upgrade that will enhance the service provided to law enforcement. 

Department personnel using the system will be able to access information from the Los Angeles Police Department, San Diego County, and a growing number of agencies around the state and the nation. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is expected to join the system soon, said McDonell, who retired as the Newport Beach Police Chief before joining the agency as Executive Director.  It vastly expands the number of data bases available to deputies on patrol, investigators and those classifying inmates in the jails.  “Now when there is a traffic stop a suspicious vehicle, you can find out not more than the driver’s traffic and criminal record,” Capt. James said. “You can find out if the person was a witness to a crime, a victim of a crime and who they hang out with.”  

The system also allows investigators to feed information about a crime and learn about similar elements in crimes committed elsewhere.  In March 2004, Orange County agencies secured a DHS grant through the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) program. The UASI Grant recipients in the County - Santa Ana and Anaheim - applied for the grant to en­hance the goals of improved homeland security efforts in the region, which included information sharing among County law enforcement and justice agencies as one of its primary goals for the purpose of thwarting crime and terrorism.

A multi-jurisdictional consortium known as the Integrated Law and Justice (ILJ) Project was already in place, and under the guidance of Deloitte Consulting, had just completed developing a “requirements defini­tion” for an information sharing project in preparation for a formal bid process to identify a solution. To learn more about COPLINK, check this out: 042408 Orange County CA Case Study.pdf (1.60 mb)

The Board of Supervisors also ratified the Memorandum of Understanding between the Naval Criminal Investigative Service for the Sheriff's Department to participate in the Southern California Law Enforcement Information Exchange (SoCal LInX). 

To see the Board of Supervisors staff reports on both agenda items click here: More...

Topics include the use of overtime, early release of inmates and personnel transfers. Here's a rough transcript:

Good Morning Chairman Moorlach and Honorable Supervisors,

I’m here this morning so that I can keep you informed of transitional changes in our jails and provide updates on other media stories.

I’ll begin today on the familiar subject of Jail Operations

As many of you know, last Friday, we announced the Promotions and/or Transfers of 36 department personnel – 17 of whom will be rotating from their current position in the jails.

The Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriff’s (AOCDS) opposed my previous rotation of 23 personnel assigned to the jails in April, resulting in their filing for a court injunction to stop the transfers which was ultimately denied by the court.

In working with the County CEO Human Resources team and County Counsel’s Labor Relations Team, I am departing from long held departmental practices, and following through as appropriate with the issuance of necessary policy changes in the transfer/rotation of personnel in our jails to rectify serious and ongoing problems of the past.

I believe these transfers will create positive and lasting changes in our operation and that they will positively impact department culture – and I continue to invite the Board of Directors of AOCDS to work with me and be part of the solution.
Our Jail Operations made other news last week as well:

Although I have no plans at this time to release inmates early from our jails, On May 6, we filed a request to obtain a temporary court order authorizing the department to release inmates up to 5 days early.

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. Therefore, we sought the order to allow us the flexibility to manage inmate population as circumstances beyond our control dictate.

Jail overcrowding has been an issue here in Orange County for the past 20 years and we routinely utilize Early Release to ensure we are in the confines of the law

In fact, last year we released 1491 inmates (124 per month on average) and during the first four months of this year we released 47.

This afternoon, I am meeting with the County’s District Attorney office, CoCo, Probation and a representative of the California Department of Corrections and Reabilitation to ensure we have measures in place to ensure we can continue to handle jail overcrowding.

In other news indirectly related to Jail Operations, the Los Angeles Times recently ran a story about the department’s use of Overtime pay

I want to assure the Board that we are saving money – even as we utilize OT to fill shifts

1. The average cost of overtime for March and April is 9% less than the average for Dec, Jan, and Feb.
2. From FY 03-04 through FY 06-07, overtime exceeded budget by an average of $6.5 million while the other Salary and Employee Benefit line items was under budget by an average of $22.6 million.  This represents an annual average savings of $16.1 million for total Salaries and Employee Benefits.

I have begun implementing accountability procedures to ensure OT is tracked to each user and utilized in accordance with existing department guidelines

And, because of the tight economy and the fiscal challenges we all face, I have asked that each Division Commander find ways to decrease the amount of OT costs.

Since January 15, when I took over as Acting Sheriff,

• We have cut OT by 9%

The Acting Sheriff ended his remarks with a presentation and update on the Musick Correctional facility expansion.

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.

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...

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.
 

First a man dashed out from behind a screen, holding a gun and making threats for a moment, until the Deputy opened fire.

Next came a man with a knife lunging toward the Deputy. The quick response was to open fire.

When the man came from behind a screen holding a cell phone, the Deputy held fire and shouted out, “Get down on the ground.”

Finally a man came from behind a screen waving his empty hands and demanding to know what was going on. The Deputy again held fire and shouted for the man to get on the ground.

This sequence played out 16 times last week; once for each of the Deputies finishing up the selection process for the Department’s SWAT contingent. They used simunition weapons for this part of the tryouts, which were conducted at the Department’s Tactical Training Center located at the Katella Training Facility in Orange.

“You need to think on your feet, be able to handle specialized weapons, and make split second decisions,” SWAT Sgt. Joe Balicki had told the applicants. The evaluators, all currently members of the SWAT team, checked to see that the Deputy being tested had not only opened fire when confronted with the life threatening circumstances but whether the shot was on target. More...

Acting Sheriff Jack Anderson addressed the board this morning. Peggy Lowe covered it here. I'll have video later this week:

Good morning Mr. Chairman and honorable members of the Board.

When I addressed this honorable Board last week Supervisor Campbell asked about the inclusion of audio recording capability within the guard stations as an additional measure of safety. Supervisor Campbell used an example where a city jail employee was able to activate an audio button to summon assistance.

Without specifically revealing our jail security measures, currently Sheriff’s employees working in our jail housing areas have as many as four separate methods available to them to summon assistance outside their assigned housing area.

After having some time to further study the matter, and after receiving some valuable insight from 2nd District staffers, I have concluded that there is a workable model that will allow for a balance between an intrusive invasion of personal freedom, and the safety of staff and inmates.

I would like to propose an amenable solution, that audio recording capabilities be installed in the guard stations but they are only activated:

(a) when a deputy in the station activates it for safety reasons, or

(b) another individual or supervisor who is monitoring the surveillance video activates the audio when there is a perceptible disturbance or incident that gives rise to a concern for the deputies’ and/or inmates’ well-being.

Specific protocols will be drafted that spell out what these circumstances are, and clarify that random “eavesdropping” is not an acceptable practice.

In addition, there would be the installation of an indicator light located within the guard station that audio recording is in progress.

Thank you, I’m available for any questions.

From Tuesday, April 22. On the agenda: CCTV cameral in the jails, new taser policy, partnership with FBI and US Attorney's office, pilot program for new data collection devise and enhanced mandatory training for all sworn jail personnel:

 

They were smaller teams than they were 10 weeks ago, smaller by 722 pounds.

The Battle of the Badges pitted 10 sworn members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department against an equal number of Santa Ana Police Officers.

Of the 20 participants, every one met their goal of losing at least 10 percent of their body weight. Sheriff’s Department members lost 310 pounds between them while the Santa Ana team lost 412 pounds.

The competition, sponsored by the Lean for Life Foundation and managed by Lindora Health Clinics, drew regional press attention and is scheduled to be the subject of a segment on The CBS Early Show, between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Friday.

A need for weight control was pitched at the final Weigh-In by Lindora CEO Cynthia Stamper Graff. She gave out a set of startling statistics. For every law enforcement officer killed by a criminal, 25 die due to weight related cardiovascular diseases.

Assistant Sheriff J.B. Davis spoke to the group and mentioned that he has had a lifelong battle against gaining weight and he has had some success and some failure.

“I look at the people here and I know what they’ve done wasn’t easy,” he said. More...

Here are the Acting Sheriff's speaking points. Peggy Lowe was present. She wrote about it here. We'll have video later:

Good morning Chairman Moorlach and honorable board members. I appreciate the opportunity to address you once again.

Two weeks ago, I stood before this board just as we all were getting our first glimpse of the Special Grand Jury transcripts and the District Attorney's special report on their investigation.

The shock and outrage of what the special grand jury uncovered was felt by us all.

Over the last two weeks, I have heard from countless employees who have shared not only their disgust but their disappointment with the actions of a small portion of the members in our department.

In the last 2 weeks, our department has been under intense scrutiny and deservedly so…

You’ve all read stories in the media about jail deputies watching a DVD the day after the special grand jury report came out --- and last week we read about unsubstantiated allegation of one of our jail staff using a taser on a cat.

• Both of these incidents are under internal review and are both being fast tracked.

By now, it should be clear to everybody that I have zero tolerance for those who choose to break policy, act unprofessionally, or otherwise sully the reputation of our department. More...