Lawsuit Filed Over Musick Jail Expansion

Elected officials in the city of Irvine have filed a lawsuit against Orange County, hoping to delay if not halt construction plans at a local jail.

At the crux of the controversy, according to the lawsuit, is the potential negative impact the proposed 512-bed expansion of the James Musick Jail could have to surrounding communities.   Voice of OC (VOOC) has reported that members of the City Council feel strongly that an environmental impact studyjames must be completed prior to moving forward.

Irvine Councilman Jeffrey Lalloway has said that the proposed expansion and how it will impact the character of the neighborhood “needs to be studied in a more thoughtful and thorough way,” he said.

Other concerns include Read more »

San Diego PD Celebrates 100 Years of Women

One century ago, the first female employee was hired at the San Diego Police Department. Rose Longacre was put in charge of female prisoners in her position as jail matron.

January 19, 1912 is the official anniversary of the hiring of the first woman in the SDPD, but there has been some controversy over just how accurate this history of the department is.

According to records at the U-T San Diego archives, “San Diego Police Chief Keno Wilson hires the first female department employee; police widow Rose Longacre, as a jail matron for female prisoners.” This was recorded on January 19, 1912. The San Diego Police Museum, as well as a book titled “History of the San Diego Police Department,” written by Chief William Lansdowne and Steve Willard in 2005, cite Longacre as the first female employee of the department also.

There are some records that credit a woman named Ida Griffin as the first female employee of the SDPD. Griffin had been hired either in April 1912 or Christmas Eve that year to fill a similar role.

History is often recorded inaccurately, which can lead to confusion in the future. However, there are several sources Read more »

State Funding For Tuolumne County Jail Unlikely

Tuolumne County Jail officials have said they believe state-funding for a new jail complex will not be granted. On Jan. 3 the county submitted an application to the state Department of Corrections (DOC) requesting the maximum grant funding of $33 million to be used toward construction cost of a new facility.  According to a document prepared by the County Board of Supervisors, the current Tuolumne County Jail  has an “effective capacity of 140 beds, and there is currently a need for 208 beds”.  By 2018, they said, that need would expand from 208 to 240.  In addition, they believe the current structure is inefficiently laid out, making it “staff-intensive” to operate safely.

“The choppy, linear design of the jail makes it difficult to cost-effectively staff,” they wrote.  “The level of difficulty they have in maintaining constant, direct supervision of inmates creates a safety issue for both jail staff and inmates.”

A Tuolumne Sheriff’s Department spokesperson has also indicated that Read more »

Quaids’ Santa Barbara Bail Bondsman Loses $1 Million

Two months after the initial appeal, the American Surety Company was denied its request to have the Santa Barbara bail bonds for Randy and Evi Quaid exonerated.

The bond company is now out the $1 million bail it posted on behalf of the Quaid’s over a year ago. The couple was arrested in September 2010 for illegally living in a property they used to own in Santa Barbara County. They claimed that they were still the rightful owners of the home. While in the home, the couple moved furniture around, broke a mirror, and carved “RQ” into the mailbox.

The couple was Read more »

786 Arrested For DUI In OC

Orange County law enforcement officials said they arrested nearly 800 people were on suspicion of DUI between Dec. 16 and Jan. 1.  This marks a year-on-year increase of 46 from the number persons arrested during the same period in 2010.

The OC Register has reported that checkpoints took place in Anaheim, Buena Park, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, La Habra, Laguna Niguel and Westminster and DUI Saturation Patrols were deployed in most cities throughout the county.

The crackdown, dubbed “Avoid the 38” involved Read more »

LA Jail Oversight Commission Now Running

A seven-member jail oversight whose job it is to investigate claims of inmate abuse and employee misconduct is now up and running. The committee members consist of a jail safety expert, a police chief, four retired judges and a pastor.

Controversy within the Los Angeles County jails has been making headlines for most of 2011. The L.A. Times has reported there have been “numerous cases of abuse and violence by deputies, including a rookie who resigned after he was allegedly told by a supervisor to beat a mentally ill inmate”.   They further point to disciplinary action against approximately 30 inmates since 2009, many of whom were accused for beating inmates or covering up abuse by other deputies.

Although the scope of the commission’s authority is somewhat hindered in that it is unable to mandate the unsealing of internal documents and cannot actually govern Los Angeles County jails, it will be able to Read more »

San Diego Sheriffs Department Offers Vacation Checks

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said if you are going away for the holidays, they’ve “got your back”.

More than 400 members of the Sheriff’s Senior Volunteer Patrol (SVP) will be keeping a watchful eye on people’s homes during their out‐of‐town holiday travels. If you live in the jurisdiction of the Sheriff’s Department you can fill out a form online and submit it to your nearest Sheriff’s Station or Substation.

NBC San Diego said the Sheriff’s Department offers the free Read more »

California Jail Realignment Dips Prisoner Population

Since the Oct. 1 implementation of the California jail realignment program, reportedly approximately 8,000 fewer incarcerates are being housed in California prisons.

Many jails, however, are still detaining more than twice the capacity of inmates they were designed for.  At current, California is housing approximately 135,000 inmates.  Although this is a marked reduction from the 173,000 inmates being detained in 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court said that still-overcrowded conditions are inhibiting prisoners from receiving adequate and basic health care.

As a means of reducing state prison populations non-violent, non-serious and non-sexual offenders have begun being transferred from state to county facilities.  This has prompted county law enforcement officials to begin releasing some less-serious offending inmates earlier than originally anticipated. Sheriffs officials from throughout the state, including at the Los Angeles County Jail. LA Sheriff Lee Baca has said they are further considering other methodologies of keeping county prison populations under control, including early release with ankle-GPS bracelet monitoring and in some cases, house arrest programs.

In some counties, parolees Read more »

Old SD Police Station Renovation Approved

It has reported that the Port of San Diego voted to allow an old police station near Seaport Village in Downtown San Diego to be renovated.

The station was first built in the 1930s and served as the San Diego Police Department headquarters until 1987.  Since that time, however, the property has been vacant.   The developer, Terramar Retail Centers, successfully pitched a $40 million plan which would make the property “more attractive to lure restaurateurs and retail stores”.

Reportedly, said that groundbreaking is expected to take place in March 2012 with completion of the projected forecast for 2013.

The San Diego Police Department has Read more »

Kern County Public Defender’s Office Investigated on Bail Bonds

According to papers filed with the Kern County Superior Court, an investigator for the Kern County Public Defender’s Office is being investigated himself for allegedly misusing the computerized Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS).

The investigator, Dave Brown, reportedly used CJIS to search for information about defendants he was not asked to look for. From the investigation, it was discovered that Brown would invoice Kern County bail bonds companies after gathering the defendants’ information, specifically Aladdin Bail Bonds and Liberty Bail Bonds. Invoices directly from Brown would be for “investigative hours” and “fugitive recovery.”

According to the search warrants, some of the Read more »