The grand jury, a fact-finding and investigative judicial body, annually inspects and reports on a variety of public agencies, including government agencies, prisons and special districts.
As part of its 2008-09 reporting process, the grand jury inspected the main jail in downtown Fairfield and spoke with personnel and administrators there.
Of particular interest to the grand jury was the jail's 15-member Custody Response Team, which is trained to handle a variety of specialized duties, including high-risk jail inmate security and movement, extraction of inmates from cells, close-quarters riot control, hostage rescue and use of less-lethal weaponry and critical incident management.
Members of the team, the grand jury report states, were used 48 times during 2008 at the main jail and at the separate Claybank jail across town.
Although members of the team are highly trained law enforcement-custodial officers, the grand jury notes, not all of them are certified as peace officers under the provisions of the California State Penal Code.
"This prevents the sheriff from fully utilizing these officers in emergency situations outside the confines of the jail," the grand jury reports. "The officers currently assigned
In the report released Thursday, and grand jury recommends that members of CRT should be certified as correctional peace officers.
"This would facilitate support of law enforcement during any local emergency while minimizing expense to the county," the report's authors noted.
To access the complete text of the grand jury's report on the main jail, visit the grand jury site at www.solanocourts.com.
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