The Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury found county departments were poorly prepared should an emergency occur in the Humboldt County Superior Courthouse, putting the lives of employees and visitors at risk.
Two other reports by the grand jury released Friday commended county law enforcement facilities and services while raising concerns about wages and understaffing, and outlined concerns about the safety, security and maintenance of the ongoing Humboldt Bay Trail project.
Emergency response
Whether it is a fire, natural disaster or active shooter situation, county departments inside the superior courthouse building in Eureka lack adequate training and response plans, according to the grand jury.
While inspecting the building and interviewing officials in the courthouse earlier this year, the grand jury states it found that some exit signs led to no exit at all.
The grand jury found the emergency action plan for the courthouse and county facilities have not been fully implemented and contained outdated information relating emergency contacts. County employees were also found to lack regular emergency training and applied emergency protocol inconsistently.
“The result of these deficiencies is that both county employees and visitors are exposed to a higher risk of injury or death due to outdated emergency planning,” the grand jury report states.
The review was more positive for the court system itself, stating bailiffs had been consistently trained, but that written emergency procedures were lacking.
A Courthouse Safety Committee made up of court and county representatives was also discovered by the grand jury, but found that the committee mostly focused on non-emergency courthouse safety, security issues and employee safety training. The grand jury also expressed surprise, as its office is located in the courthouse building, that it was not represented on the committee.
The grand jury is recommending that the county Board of Supervisors update emergency action plans for both the courthouse and other county facilities and update emergency exit signs this year. The count’s General Emergency Action Plan, which specifies everything from department evacuation plants to maintaining exit routes, was last updated in 2001 and currently does not include a procedures for an active shooter situation, the grand jury found.
The grand jury also recommends the Board of Supervisors hire a full-time safety director by January 2019 to oversee safety at all county facilities. The report also recommends the county require each facility to perform emergency action plan drills at least once a year starting January 2019.
The Board of Supervisors and Sheriff’s Office are required to provide responses to the report within 60 to 90 days.
Jail and juvenile hall
The grand jury is calling for the Board of Supervisors to raise wages for county correctional officers in order to compete with other counties of a similar size.
Contract negotiations between the county and the union representing correction officers — AFSCME Local 1684 — are ongoing, but there is disagreement on how much more these employees should make to reduce high staff turnover.
The grand jury also found there to be a lack of mental health services at the county jail and is calling on the Board of Supervisors to approve a contract for mental health services and to develop a plan with the county Mental Health Services Division to address care for inmates after they are released.
In an interview with the Times-Standard last year, now former Chief Probation Officer William Damiano said the jail houses mentally ill patients in administrative segregation cells and provides them medication to address their individual ailments.
“They are basically put into isolation cells for 23 hours a day, which tends not to be very good for their mental health,” Damiano said at the time. “But it’s for their protection and the protection of other people in the facility.”
As part of the ongoing jail expansion project, the sheriff’s office had hoped include a $16.6 million addition to construct 52-bed mental health wing, but the state denied the funding last year.
While the grand jury raised concerns about the condition of the sheriff’s office’s Garberville substation — which it found to be in disrepair for years and in need of “major renovation” — it said that it was “impressed” with the services being provided at law enforcement facilities despite “tight budgets, understaffing and the need for physical improvements to facilities.”
The grand jury also recommends that the county Coroner’s Office receive an X-ray machine in order to reduce staff overtime caused by staff having to transport bodies to Mad River Community Hospital in Arcata.
The county’s Board of Supervisors, director of Mental Health Services, sheriff, and Public Works Department are each required to file a response to the report within 60 to 90 days.
Trail safety
Overall, the grand jury commended the efforts by the county and local cities to construct more than 14 miles of trail between Eureka and Arcata — 10 miles of which are completed — but raised safety and security concerns relating to homeless encampments, highway barriers, hypodermic needles, lighting, patrols and signage.
The report says the major safety concerns are located on the incomplete trail section on Highway 101 that is managed by the county and Caltrans. Until 2021 when construction is set to begin for this 4-mile section connecting Eureka’s trail to Arcata’s already completed section that ends before Bracut, bicyclists and trail users have to use the highway shoulder.
“The posted speed limit for this area is 50 MPH, however, traffic often moves more rapidly,” the report states. “A Caltrans survey indicates many people share significant concern for the safety of users of this temporary segment. Those with limited mobility, sight, hearing, or other disabilities would be in significant danger.”
The grand jury said the southern end of the trail in Eureka, known as the Waterfront Trail, has issues with trash and with illegal encampments.
“For both residents and tourists to enjoy this trail, homeless encampments and trash must be minimized,” the grand jury report states. “Several people interviewed told us that transients prefer their encampments to be out of public sight. They believe as more people use the trail, any encampments will move to more isolated areas.”
The grand jury made 12 recommendations including providing daily patrols security patrols along the trail; installing signs at the ends of Arcata’s and Eureka’s trails alerting users to the dangers of continuing along the highway shoulder; for Arcata, Eureka and the county to form working groups to address disability access by September and to set rules for all segments of the trail regarding animals and allowed uses by January 2019; install lighting by May 2019; install receptacles for syringes, recyclables, trash, pet waste at regular intervals along the trail by 2019; and for the county to consult with Caltrans on creating a temporary safety barrier along the shoulder of the highway where the trail has not been completed.
The county Board of Supervisors, the county sheriff’s office, Eureka and Arcata are required to submit responses to the report within 60 to 90 days.
June 22, 2018
Eureka Times Standard
By Will Houston
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