Board Declines to Adopt Majority of Grand Jury's Recommendations for Jails

  RIVERSIDE (CNS) - Riverside County supervisors today signed off on an
Executive Office report -- and a separate one filed by Sheriff Chad Bianco --
that asserted the county will not implement some recommendations from a grand
jury to improve jail operations, but will take others under consideration.
  

``The action of the Board of Supervisors today does not create or
reject a specific oversight model,'' county CEO Jeff Van Wagenen said Tuesday.
``The county's position is that transparency and accountability matter.''
  

The Executive Office and Sheriff's Department each issued responses to
the 19-member civil Grand Jury's findings, published in June, that
emphasized the need for a change in how the county's five detention facilities
are operated, and what policy measures are overdue to ensure deficiencies that
jurors believe contributed to fatalities in previous years are resolved.
  

``An alarming number of in-custody deaths, combined with questions
about internal investigative practices and the absence of independent
oversight, has raised ongoing concerns about safety, transparency and
accountability of Riverside County jail operations,'' the grand jury said in
its 26-page report. ``Failure to implement independent oversight and custodial
reforms exposes the county to significant civil liability, particularly in
cases involving in-custody deaths.''
  

Jurors determined through their own comprehensive investigation that
the county would benefit from an inspector general's office to monitor and
report on correctional operations, or a civilian oversight board empowered to
conduct independent investigations and make recommendations to the board -- all
of which is authorized, but not mandated, legislatively.
  

The Executive Office said the recommendation for an independent body
``requires further analysis.'' Officials further touted the formation in July
of an ad-hoc committee to scrutinize jail policies and practices, saying the
panel will likely achieve some of the results that the grand jury advocated.
  

The sheriff's report replied that the proposal ``will not be
implemented because the recommendation is not warranted.''
  

Jurors also supported creation of a ``five-year strategic plan for
jail operations that includes measurable benchmarks, data transparency goals
(and) compliance auditing procedures.'' The sheriff's department called the
idea a ``blatant disregard for current operating procedures and shows the
complete bias of this supposed (grand jury) investigation to develop the
report.''
  

The Executive Office's response was tepid, saying that while a long-
range plan might be appropriate, the ad-hoc committee would likely have a
better answer on how to go about establishing operational objectives when it
returns with findings for the board in January.
  

The Executive Office and Bianco jointly rejected jurors'
recommendation for dissolving the Sheriff's Advisory Committee, which has been
around since the prior decade, because SAC ``has not demonstrated measurable
advisory output'' and has never published meeting minutes, ``formal findings or
written recommendations'' accessible to the public, according to the jury.
  

It highlighted the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law
Enforcement's components for achieving effective watchdog processes,
recommending that NACOLE's best practices be implemented.
  

The Executive Office answered that adoption of NACOLE's standards is
``not warranted or reasonable.'' While officials acknowledged protocols might
be ``useful'' at times, they don't necessarily justify a new ``operational
framework,'' officials said. The sheriff's report went further, saying NACOLE
does not ``have any influence, control or ability to direct operations within
the constitutionally formed office of the sheriff.''
  

The Executive Office was non-committal on jurors' recommendation for
hiring an ``independent correctional health and custodial operations expert''
to audit jail intake operations and procedures, imparting that the proposal
might be worth considering. The sheriff's department dismissed the
recommendation entirely, insisting the grand jury's effort was ``a
predetermined attempt to force or intimidate the board and the sheriff to
comply with the demands of activists.''
  

Jurors' recommendation for a quarterly online ``dashboard'' where the
public can view data on in-custody deaths, use-of-force incidents, suicide
attempts and medical emergencies was not opposed by the Executive Office, and
the sheriff signaled acceptance of the proposal, saying it ``will be
implemented in the future.''
  

Citing ``systemic deficiencies'' in jail operations, the grand jury
pointed to instances where the county had been successfully sued, with
multimillion-dollar payouts to families of inmates who died in custody. The
county ranks in the top three statewide for correctional system fatalities that
occurred over the previous decade, according to published reports. The year
2022 was particularly bad, with around 20 documented deaths in county lockups.
   T

he sheriff's report countered that during that year, 110 inmates were
resuscitated by deputies or medical personnel after they had ingested
deadly drugs, while 96 suicide attempts were ``thwarted,'' and correctional
staff ``intercepted drugs on 438 occasions,'' potentially savings hundreds more
lives.
  

None of the supervisors offered individual responses to the grand
jury, Executive Office or sheriff's reports.
  

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