Santa Cruz is home to one of state’s few probation offices with unarmed staff
SANTA CRUZ — This county’s probation officers aren’t — and never have been — armed.
But they have peace officer status. And they occasionally have to arrest probationers — felons ranging from sex offenders to criminals who endured decades of state prison.
A Santa Cruz County civil grand jury report on June 25 rebuked the department for sending unarmed officers into the field.
“In dangerous encounters with offenders, the (deputy probation officer’s) only course of action is to find shelter, hide behind a car or behind an armed law enforcement officer, or run,” the grand jury reported.
The grand jury has legal authority to examine special districts, and city and county governments. The panel serves as a “representative of county residents in promoting government accountability,” according to the Judicial Branch of California.
Santa Cruz County Probation Chief Fernando Giraldo derided the report he deemed “one-sided.”
“We’re not first responders,” Giraldo said. “We’ve never had a staff person injured or seriously harmed in the history of the department. We have nine law enforcement agencies in this county to help us. We don’t need any more guns — a tool we’ve never had.”
Giraldo said the probation report — titled “Santa Cruz County Probation: Officers Inadequately Equipped and At Risk” — was a pro-gun argument.
The report accused the department of lacking “safety equipment” and training — both claims Giraldo disputes.
The grand jury claimed the agency is plagued by low morale and a “culture of fear.”
“Many department staff who spoke to the grand jury shared their feelings of hopelessness, low morale and frustration with not fulfilling all their duties,” according to the report. “They also expressed fear of retaliation from management when asking for support.”
Giraldo said the grand jury “didn’t interview a single manager” besides three hours he spent trying to explain the workings of his office.
“Low morale? I’m not sure what that is about. We want our staff to be happy and enjoy every day of work,” Giraldo said. “We always know that some folks, no matter what, are not going to be happy.”
Sweeping criminal justice reforms starting in 2011 sought reductions in state prison populations — sending some offenders to serve reduced sentences in county jail and, eventually, on probation.
To meet that need, Santa Cruz County Probation has increased staff from 11 workers in 2010 to 30 workers in 2019.
Giraldo said Santa Cruz County is one of few probation offices that does not arm its officers.
Other agencies, such as Los Angeles County Probation Department, in the early 2000s tripled the number of armed probation officers to address “more violent criminals than ever before,” the Los Angeles Daily News reported in 2013.
But Giraldo said local caseloads actually have dropped after Proposition 47 — passed in 2014 — reduced some drug-possession felonies to misdemeanors and left those offenders not having to face probation. That law was part of an overall shift in criminal justice in California. Proposition 47 also mandated misdemeanor sentencing for petty theft, receiving stolen property and forging or writing bad checks when the amount involved is $950 or less, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
The “realignment population” — the people whose violent crimes qualified them for county jail and county probation — has not been particularly difficult for Giraldo’s unarmed staff.
“There are clients with crimes of violence, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to be violent toward probation officers,” Giraldo said. “It’s often the folks with low-level crimes who might (act violently).”
Realignment offenders, Giraldo said, actually have lower rates of recidivism than the general criminal population.
And he said the new county budget authorized a law enforcement officer — a sheriff’s deputy — to embed with the probation office.
Offenders “most of the time” are compliant, Giraldo said.
“There’s no evidence that would support having officers armed would make us any safer,” Giraldo said. “Weapons would put us at routine risk.”
June 26, 2019
Santa Cruz Sentinel
By Michael Todd
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