Chief of San Clemente Police Services Named

San Clemente City Manager George Scarborough has announced a new Chief of Police Services has been appointed.   Lt. John Coppok will take the reins effective March 23.  His promotion was made public earlier this week.

Coppok is a 26-year veteran of law enforcement and has spent the past seven years with the San Clemente Police Department.  His career highlights include narcotics investigations, criminal street gang enforcement, and has previous tenure serving as  the secondary commander of SWAT activities.  San Clemente Patch reported he also Read more »

$100 Million Awarded to Orange County for Jail Project

The Corrections Standards Authority awarded Orange County Jails $100 million to go towards the construction of a jail facility. Orange County was one of eleven counties chosen to receive a portion of the $602 million allotted by the state for jail projects.

This money comes after the implementation of the Governor’s realignment plan, which will send certain non-violent offenders to county jails to serve their sentences instead of the severely overcrowded state prison system. These funds will allow many of the county jails to be expanded or rebuilt in order to better accommodate this influx of prisoners.

Along with Orange County, Riverside and Los Angeles Counties were also awarded $100 million each. Stanislaus County will get $80 million; Santa Barbara and Tulare $60 million each; $33 million to Shasta and Kings; Imperial County will get $23.626 million; Sutter County $10.255 million; and Madera County will receive $3 million.

Twenty counties applied for the funding. The money Read more »

Sacramento County Turned Down for State Funding

No Expansion for Rio Cosumnes Jail

Sacramento County was not among the 11 counties chosen to receive funding from the Corrections Standard Authority last week. The county was hoping to get funds needed to expand the aging Rio Cosumnes Correctional Facility.

The CSA was offering $602 million in funding for California counties in order to help them pay for jail construction and expansion projects. Due to the new realignment plan, county jails must find ways to accommodate the increasing number of inmates that will be coming to their facilities to serve out sentences instead of state prisons.

There were twenty applicants for the money. Orange County, Los Angeles and Riverside Counties each received $100 million from the grant; Stanislaus will get $80 million; Santa Barbara and Tulare will each get $60 million.

Kings and Shasta Counties are getting $33 million each; Imperial County will get $24 million; $10 million for Sutter County and Madera County gets $3 million.

The Rio Cosumnes Correctional Facility is fifty years old and houses us to 2,000 inmates. Because of the realignment plan, the jail commander thinks that soon it will only house sentenced inmates instead of detainees awaiting trial.

Santa Barbara County Granted $60 Million

The construction of a much-needed North County jail in Santa Barbara County can finally get underway thanks to a grant from the Corrections Standard Authority.

Santa Barbara County jails applied for an $80 million grant and was given $60 million. This grant is the second phase in the Assembly Bill 900. Together, the CSA has handed out $1.2 billion in funding to 22 counties for their jail construction.

In order to receive this money, the county had to let go of the $56 million that was awarded during the first phase of the plan. If those funds are shifted around, Santa Barbara may get the full $80 million that it requested.

The funding is intended to Read more »

Two Orange County Bail Bondsmen Charged

The Orange County District Attorney charged Kenneth Lance Hendrick and James Everett Morris with 14 felony counts for allegedly using inmates inside the Orange County Jail to solicit clients for their bail bond company.

Hendrick, who lives in Mission Viejo, is facing eleven years and eight months in a state penitentiary. He allegedly made an agreement with 11 detainees in the period between March 4 and December 6, 2010 that they would contact him if they needed to be bailed out. The DA says that an inmate would solicit others to call Hendrick for Orange County bail bonds. He was Read more »

San Mateo Denied Money for Jail Construction

San Mateo County jail will not be receiving any state funding for its needed jail construction, despite all of its efforts.

In October, San Mateo County was told that it should not bother with applying for those funds. It needs between $155 million and $160 million in order to complete the project. County officials attempted to lobby the Authority anyway.

California is providing $602 million in funding to 11 counties across the state in order to make improvements to their jails. The counties of Los Angeles, Riverside and Orange were each allotted $100 million by the California Corrections Standards Authority, with smaller amounts going to Kings, Imperial, Santa Barbara, Madera, Stanislaus, Shasta, Tulare and Sutter counties.

Assistant Sheriff Trisha Sanchez, along with Deputy City Manager Mary McMillan, attended the public meeting on Thursday to plead with the agency once more. Sheriff Greg Munks stated, “We wanted to go onto the record. There have been counties approved who are years from sticking a shovel in the ground; you ought to award the money to us.”

San Mateo County has Read more »

Riverside County Granted $100 million for Jail Expansion

A chance to make much-needed improvements to the overcrowded Riverside County jails will finally be in reach thanks to a grant of $100 million by the State of California.

It was announced that 11 counties would be receiving a share of the $602 million in funding that was being offered by the state for jail improvements across California.

It is hoped that this funding will make the recent realignment changes easier for the counties to transition into. The realignment plan, instituted Read more »

Burbank Jail Renovations Complete

For almost a year, Burbank has had to share the Glendale jail while its own underwent renovations. At last, the finishing touches have been made and the Burbank Jail is now ready to open its doors and accept inmates.

Transporting Burbank arrestees to the Glendale jail added at least 45 minutes to the process for police officers. This would increase the amount of the response time for Burbank.

The new facility will be able to house up to 70 inmates and bring added convenience to the police officers.

Burbank Police Lt. John Dilibert said, “Response times will decrease because we can turn over officers quicker, versus commuting to Glendale and back. It is such a huge benefit. We have control of what’s happening in the jail, and as watch commander I know what’s going on down there.”

Minor repairs began on the Burbank Jail Read more »

Bail Bond Phone Scam

As bail bondsmen we see these bail phone scam alerts about twice a year. They are a real concern for the general public. Residents of Morgan County Alabama have been the latest put on alert for a phone scam that has been making the rounds recently.

The scammers have been calling around, pretending to be from a bail bond company, and telling business owners and families that their employee or loved one has been taken to jail. The fraudulent bondsman then tells the person that, in order to get their friend/ family member/ employee out of jail, thousands of dollars need to be wired directly to them.

The scammers have even gone so far as to give the person they call a fake phone number for the Morgan County Jail so that when he or she calls to verify that their loved one is, in fact, there, then the scammer will answer the phone as an employee of the jail and confirm that their friend or family member has been arrested. Wow! That’s a new one.

Two people have paid money to the scam artist, one paying more than $6,000. At least six other people have contacted the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office to ask about their family members.

Here are a few warning signs to be on the alert for if you receive a call for bail help:

• The caller will Read more »

LAPD Devonshire Station Reports Crime Reduction

The LAPD Devonshire Station Community Enhancement Plan has successfully reduced area crime by 14% since it was launched on Jan. 1.  Capt. Kris Pitcher said that the program may be implemented in other problem areas if it continues to be successful.

According to a report by the Daily News the plan focuses on targeted patrols within crime-dense neighborhoods.  One such operation involved setting up a sting for would-be “Johns”  as a means of deterring solicitation.   Vice, narcotics and gang enforcement units are also being implemented.

Sgt. Jose Torres said they are trying to deploy in the areas with the most impact with the minimal number of officers.  Torres further said officers are routinely reallocated on specific missions so they have a higher probability of encountering crime.

The Northridge based LAPD Station is also Read more »