Del Norte County Grand Jury
2021-2022
Findings & Recommendations
14 findings
F1:
Pelican Bay is a well run institution that is committed to providing safe and secure housing and rehabilitative opportunities for the inmates and a safe working environment for the employees.
F2:
Pelican Bay has a focus on rehabilitation for those inmates that are looking for a way to prepare themselves for when they are released.
Related Recommendations (2)
R1:
That the warden and his senior staff continue to develop creative rehabilitative opportunities for the inmates.
R2:
That the Public Information Officer find communication channels to let other CDCR units know of the successful innovations and programs to improve the overall utilization of the facility. 2021-2022 Del Norte County Grand Jury Report Del Norte County Jail
F3:
The Warden and senior staff are actively seeking creative and constructive ways of providing rehabilitative programs to those inmates that are seeking to prepare for re- entry into the community
Related Recommendations (2)
R1:
That the warden and his senior staff continue to develop creative rehabilitative opportunities for the inmates.
R2:
That the Public Information Officer find communication channels to let other CDCR units know of the successful innovations and programs to improve the overall utilization of the facility. 2021-2022 Del Norte County Grand Jury Report Del Norte County Jail
F4:
Various paid work assignments are available to inmates.
F5:
The SHU is currently underutilized as the population of maximum security inmates has been reduced by a combination of inmate threat assessment and new California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) regulations concerning the assignment of inmates to the SHU that are taking effect.
F6:
The SHU uses a "Security Threat Group Step Down Program", where inmates may return to the General Population upon completion of all 5 designated steps. Phone Calls and extra vendor packages are allowed after completing certain steps. These inmates have access to physical activity, visiting, library and legal representation while confined to the SHU.
F7:
The video monitoring system at the Jail poses a security threat.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3:
Control room monitors should be sized and positioned in a manner preventing inmates' viewing, while allowing the control room operator's full, unobstructed viewing of the housing units.
F8:
The Jail's backup generator is unreliable.
Related Recommendations (2)
R6:
The backup generator should be fully serviced and diagnosed, and replaced if deemed unreliable.
R7:
All jail staff should be trained on how to start the backup generator if it does not automatically start.
F9:
Broken windows remain unrepaired, creating a visibility and safety issue.
F10:
Exposed sink pipes create a potential safety hazard.
F11:
Peeling paint was noted throughout the facility.
F12:
Missing and damaged ceiling tiles were observed.
F13:
The retirement of the supervisor responsible for tracking continuing training, without a successor, has created a loss of corporate knowledge and effective tracking of the training.
Related Recommendations (1)
R8:
The defective flooring should be removed, and the facility assessed for installation of a proper replacement. Invited Responses • The Del Norte County Sheriff is invited to provide plan to improve documentation of training. The Sheriff is also invited to provide plan to improve documentation of maintenance . tracking.
F14:
Maintenance tickets submitted by the Jail staff are not always addressed in a timely manner.
Related Recommendations (1)
R8:
The defective flooring should be removed, and the facility assessed for installation of a proper replacement. Invited Responses • The Del Norte County Sheriff is invited to provide plan to improve documentation of training. The Sheriff is also invited to provide plan to improve documentation of maintenance . tracking.
Additional Recommendations
2
Not linked to specific findings.
R4:
Offer a competitive compensation package for Jail staff.
R5:
Hire additional correctional officers.
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.