Thursday, June 25, 2015

[Monterey County] Grand jury finds much to fault at Monterey County Jail


Problems at the decrepit and overcrowded Monterey County Jail range from inmate-endangering behaviors and lack of accountability to inadequate scrutiny of mail, according to a scathing civil grand jury report released Tuesday afternoon.
Deficiencies stem from three key areas, the 40-page report says: improper allocation of funding, lack of leadership and inadequate staffing.
Entrenched problems are caused by staff members who resist change and are not disciplined effectively, the report says: "Traditionally there have been few or no penalties for a deputy's failure to comply with jail policies and procedures."
Chronic short-staffing at the jail was noted as a major problem in a 2012 grand jury report, but little has changed since then, the new report says.
These three main areas lead to a host of other problems that the report outlines.
Among other things, the report covers a class-action lawsuit about inmate health care filed in U.S. District Court and pending court approval of a tentative settlement, but says "problems that were observed or reported to the [grand jury] ... go beyond the conditions alleged and settled in the class action case. These problems may be divided into ... health and safety issues, financial and contracting issues and administrative issues." The report notes the medical services contract has been held for 26 years by California Forensics Medical Group, and recommends making sure the contract is widely advertised the next time it comes up for bid.
Sheriff Steve Bernal has 60 days to respond to the report, but his office issued a brief statement Tuesday afternoon:
"The Sheriff's Office has reviewed the 2014-2015 Monterey County Civil Grand Jury (MCCGJ) Final Report No. 13. The Sheriff's Office applauds the [grand jury] for their efforts and agrees with some of their findings. As described in the report, the county and Sheriff's Office have reached a tentative settlement agreement in [the class-action suit]. The settlement agreement requires the defendants and plaintiffs to work together in addressing many of the findings of the [grand jury] , including but not limited to medical care, classification, programs and staffing.
"Additionally, many of the issues and recommendations detailed by the [grand jury] and not identified in the settlement agreement, had already been identified by the current administration. Improvements were made and practices were changed. Many additional changes have been implemented, or are in various stages of implementation.
"The Sheriff's Office looks forward to working with their partners to address the findings and recommendations of the MCCGJ and will continue to seek efficient and effective practices to ensure the safety, of staff and inmates."
Report: Inmate welfare checks a weak area
The report zeroes in on inmate deaths in custody and welfare/safety checks, concluding "there is a chronic problem with deputies at the jail failing to conduct required visual checks on inmates ... The [grand jury] found strong evidence that inmate welfare checks throughout the jail are not routinely being done once per hour, nor are they being done on an irregular schedule as required under California law." The jury also found that logs of such welfare checks often have illegible scrawls where signatures belong that "make accountability more difficult and appear to be associated with a general resistance to change." The problems can be attributed in part "to lack of, or ineffective use of, a formal, mandatory progressive discipline system by supervisory staff: [the grand jury] has been told that in the past there have been few to no consequences for a deputy's failure to comply with jail policies."
The report also says a federal minimum requirement for each inmate to be allowed three hours per week in the exercise yard "is routinely missed," in part because of short-staffing.
The jail mailroom is another weak point, according to the report. Staffed by a single clerk five days a week, the mailroom handles up to 500 pieces of mail a day. "Finding contraband and screening mail is an overwhelming job for a single employee," the report says. "While some facilities use mail screening machines and inspect mail with dogs trained to detect drugs, these are not used" here. "All screening is currently done by hand and visually," the report says. A security threat is created for inmates and staff by a jail policy that allows inmate-to-inmate mail, the report says.
Contraband also gets into the jail by people outside throwing it over the fence into the exercise yard or incoming inmates smuggling it in body cavities, the report says. "Whatever method or combination of methods are used, contraband has been described to [the grand jury] as an ongoing serious problem in the jail, with two deaths during 2014 being attributed to drug overdoses," the report says.
Misappropriated funds?
After touching on the jail's inadequate maintenance and lack of room for inmate programs, the report goes on to say that about half the money from the Inmate Welfare Fund, which is supposed to be spent primarily for the benefit of the inmates (including paying for drug counselors and the like), is being used to pay for salary and benefits of employees who should have been paid from the general fund. The amount comes to about $500,000.
"One of the first things Sheriff [Steve] Bernal did shortly after taking office in January ... was to discharge the members of the Inmate Welfare Fund Advisory Committee [which] was formed to advise the sheriff in the use of the funds deposited in the Inmate Welfare Fund," the report says. "The disbanding of the committee was done reportedly because there were members of the committee who were being paid from the fund and that was viewed by the new sheriff as a conflict of interest. To date, there have been no new members appointed outside the Sheriff's Office to sit on the committee."
The report also says state realignment funds were supposed to be spent on installing two portable classrooms, but Americans with Disabilities Act requirements caused cost overruns and the classrooms were never installed, thus maintaining the jail's lack of space for rehabilitation programs.
In conclusion, the report makes 18 recommendations for improvements, leading with the county providing more funding. Others: Plans for a new jail addition should include space for inmate training and programs; enforcement of a formal, mandatory progressive discipline system for jail employees to be consistently applied; conducting regular roll call briefings; regular audits of special funds for inmate welfare and prison realignment; hiring a second mailroom clerk and purchasing mail-scanning equipment; widely advertising the jail medical services contract the next time it comes up for bid; and analyzing whether medical services at the jail could be provided by county-owned Natividad Medical Center.
June 24, 2015
The Salinas Californian
By Katharine Ball

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