Shasta County Grand Jury report touches wide variety of topics

Redding drew strong Shasta County grand jury criticism for failing to build a police station as the panel had recommended three years ago.

The grand jury report, released Monday, urges the city to move the police department out of its cramped, leaking, 61-year-old California Street headquarters temporarily to a safer building.

Meanwhile, the city should quickly move to build or retrofit a larger police station, jurors said.

"Ultimately, it is the city council that is responsible for seeing that the facilities used by RPD are safe, modern and efficient," jurors wrote. "In the past 21 years, the various city councils have failed in meeting that responsibility."

City Manager Kurt Starman declined to comment Monday on the report, saying state law forbids him from saying anything before the document's official release.

Other Shasta County officials were willing to comment Monday.

The report reserves its sharpest barbs for the Shasta Mosquito and Vector Control District, where the grand jury found mismanagement and questionable compensation to a retiring manager.

The report also recommends that:

•Redding tighten its computer security, phase out old software and toughen computer use policy against abuses like those leading to resignation or discipline for eight employees in 2007 for exchanging personal and sometimes pornographic e-mail during working hours.

•The Shasta County Sheriff's Office better account for items in its property/evidence storage building, where 75 percent of the material could be removed since the cases have already been processed.

•Shasta County Adult Protective Services improve training and tracking for its social workers, who sometimes go to remote places where they encounter potentially dangerous situations.

•Shasta County codify its purchase procedures.

Thousands of hours

All told, the grand jury completed 14 reports and recommended improvements in 11 cases.

Superior Court Judge Stephen Baker on Monday praised the jurors for the "thousands of hours" they put into the report.

Not all the jury reports level heavy criticism.

One investigative report, first released in March, generally praises Redding's red light camera program as effective in deterring scofflaws and preventing accidents.

Redding Police Department's system for dealing with complaints against officers generally works as it should, according to the report. The jury recommends only that RPD allow people to file complaints online.

Finally, in another report released earlier this year, the grand jury commends the Shasta County Department of Agriculture/Weights and Measure for its gasoline pump testing.

Redding police station: "Enough study! "

The 2005/2006 grand jury found that RPD’s California Street headquarters downtown is too small. Exposed wiring, cramped work cubicles, congested locker rooms and inadequate handicap access compromise employee and public safety.

That report recommended the city switch from funding recreational projects to public safety and, if necessary, seek a seven-year, half-percent sales tax hike to help fund a new police station.

"A sales tax increase was never placed on the ballot, nor was a new RPD facility build, despite ample funds to construct other city projects over the past 10 years, " the current report states.

Conditions at headquarters have gotten worse over the past four years, according to the report, noting recent problems with a backed-up sewer line and a leaky roof that the city must soon replace.

Redding’s Safety Inspection Team in September flagged several potential Occupational Safety and Health Act violations at RPD headquarters that could expose the city to liability, the report noted. Only some of those violations have been corrected, according to the report.

The City Council in early 2008 appointed a committee to study how Redding could finance a police station large enough for the force out through mid-century. The committee recommended tapping a number of funds, including a sales tax hike.

The council rejected the idea of raising the sales tax to help pay for a new police building.

Earlier this year, the council directed a consultant to prepare a report comparing the cost of building a police station from scratch near City Hall and retrofitting a shampoo plant in north Redding just west of the Highway 273/Interstate 5 interchange.

Despite this activity, the city is moving too slowly, the grand jury charges, saying lack of funds is not an excuse.

Redding should draw down general fund reserves or borrow from other reserves to build or retrofit for a new police station, the report recommends.

Starman has strongly recommended against drawing down fund reserves for any purpose, noting the city must keep a cash cushion for fiscal emergencies.

Insufficient evidence to support Mountain Gate allegations

The Mountain Gate Community Services District came under grand jury scrutiny after allegations surfaced that a board member threatened residents with a lawsuit unless they removed their names from a recall petition.

But jurors could not find sufficient evidence that the threats had been made, according to the report.

"When questioned, residents denied being intimidated or said the issue was resolved to their satisfaction," the report stated.

The grand jury did discover conflicts within the Mountain Gate board, between board members and district employees and between board members and community residents.

The recall petition sparked by board infighting ultimately cost the district nearly $10,000, according to the report.

The grand jury criticized district officers for failing to control audience participation and tolerating outbursts during board meetings.

The district has not completed a municipal service review, which prevents it from expanding its services or service area, the report found. Jurors issued 13 recommendations to improve district operation.

Sheriff's handling of surrendered guns scrutinized

The grand jury investigated a compliant about three handguns that were surrendered to the Shasta County Sheriff's Office by a man put under a restraining order.

Through a "series of missteps," according to the report, the office sold the guns at auction before the man could reclaim them. The Shasta County Risk Management Office then denied the man reimbursement for the guns.

The grand jury recommends that the sheriff's property unit check law enforcement databases before setting guns for auction and log any inquires made by property owners.

Sheriff Tom Bosenko said that during the grand jury's investigation, he recommended that the risk management office reopen the case. It did and Bosenko said the sheriff's office reimbursed the complainant for the reasonable market price for the three guns.

"It was obvious that those guns shouldn't have been sold," Bosenko said Monday after receiving the grand jury report.

Overflowing evidence

The sheriff's property and evidence hold is overflowing with both, according to the grand jury report.

Property and evidence, "from drugs and guns to blood-stained clothing," is "stacked and shelved from the floor to the ceiling in several rooms and hallways," according to the report. The hold has close to 100,000 individual items.

The grand jury recommends that the Sheriff's Office conduct regular audits of property and evidence in the hold, that its personnel assigned to the hold receive ongoing training, and that it develop a plan for disposing of property and evidence that doesn't need to be stored any more.

Sheriff Bosenko said his office is reviewing those recommendations. He said the office has property and evidence dating back to the 1980s that no longer needs to be stored. He said the problem has been finding time for employees to check the outcome of old court cases while also doing their daily duties of processing new property and evidence.

"It’s very detail oriented," Bosenko said.

District Attorney Jerry Benito said his office switched to an automated system that flags cases that have evidence held with the sheriff’s office in April. When the cases are complete an electronic message is sent to the attorney, telling him or her to send a letter to the sheriff’s hold.

"It’s one of those things that can be remedied," Benito said.

Reporter Scott Mobley can be reached at 225-8220 or at smobley@redding.com.

Reporter Jim Schultz can be reached at 225-8223 or at jschultz@redding.com.

Reporter Dylan Darling can be reached at 225-8266 or at ddarling@redding.com.

http://www.redding.com/news/2009/jul/07/grand-jury-report-touches-wide-variety-of-topics/