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Extraído del Informe Consolidado
Esta investigación fue publicada originalmente como parte de un informe consolidado más amplio que contiene múltiples investigaciones. Consulte el PDF consolidado para ver el documento completo.
⚠️ Aviso de traducción: Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 11 findings
F1
Page 32
The votes of three of the five commissioners are required to decide an appeal from disciplinary action. Therefore, where only three hear an appeal, all three must vote unanimously to reach a decision. In such a case, there is a significant incentive for each of the three commissioners to reach the same decision. Such an incentive is inconsistent with the duty of each commissioner to exercise his or her individual judgment and consideration.
F2
Page 32
The Commission affords too much consideration in its determination of proper discipline to historical consistency. This policy is at odds with its duty to determine in each case the discipline which is “appropriate in light of all relevant facts and circumstances” of that case.
F3
Page 33
The Commission’s Rules do not define a formal recusal policy to be followed in the event of an actual, potential, or appearance of, bias in a particular case.
F4
Page 33
The Commission, by its own rules, does not allow itself the ability to consider information contained in the full transcript of a disciplinary appeal hearing before a hearing officer. The transcript contains “all relevant facts and circumstances” which the Commission should be able to consider in making a final decision. The hearing officer’s proposed decision may contain only those facts and circumstances deemed pertinent to that officer’s proposed decision, and rarely contains “all” of the relevant facts and circumstances. By limiting the basis for its review only to the material in the hearing officer’s proposed decision, the Commission has limited its ability to make a duly informed final decision.
F5
Page 33
The Commission, by its own rules, has precluded any argument on appeal from a disciplinary action relating to evidentiary, procedural, or legal issues which were raised or could have been raised before the hearing officer, or to the weight of the evidence, or the credibility of a witness. Thus, the hearing officer’s determinations as to all issues of evidence, procedure, or law, including the weight of the evidence, or the credibility of witnesses, are not subject to review by the Commission. By refusing to consider any such argument, the Commission has ceded too much of its authority and responsibility to exercise its own judgment in making a final decision, to the discretion of the hearing officer.
F6
Page 33
Improper interpretations as to the elements of proof were applied in one or more of the cases reviewed related to the following causes for disciplinary action: (a) “Failure of good behavior . . . which is of such a nature that it causes discredit to [the employee’s] agency or employment”, and 8 Sacramento County Grand Jury June 30, 2005 (b) “Conviction of a misdemeanor which is of such a nature as to adversely affect the employee’s ability to perform the duties and responsibilities of his position.”
F7
Page 108
The County is significantly short of the federal benchmark for “surge capacity” hospital beds and may not have adequate treatment capability in the event of a large scale medical emergency.
F8
Page 108
There is no written plan for transporting emergency medical supplies which have arrived at a location designated by the State from national repositories to the sites where they are needed.
F9
Page 108
The City has recently acquired a “reverse 9-1-1” automatic telephone warning system as a means of instant communication with residents of the regional urban area, concerning imminent danger arising from a weapon of mass destruction event, along with appropriate directives and instructions. The County has not yet demonstrated a similar capability for the non urban area of the County.
F10
Page 108
The compatibility of communication technology between law enforcement, fire suppression, and emergency medical, and other related services has been extended to a wide array of state and local agencies in the region. Almost all agencies that need to communicate during an emergency have adopted a common system. However, adjustments to the antennas in Walnut Grove are needed to improve portable coverage for the Galt/Isleton area which is not fully aligned with SRRCS.
F11
Page 108
No substantial effort has been undertaken to assess the capability of mobilizing the region’s public employees as disaster service workers. Sacramento County Grand Jury June 30, 2005
Recommendations 11
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R1Page 32A minimum of four commissioners should hear appeals from disciplinary action except in the event of compelling circumstances. In no case should a vote be changed for the sole purpose of reaching a decision.
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R2Page 32The Commission should determine whether the discipline imposed is appropriate in light of all relevant facts and circumstances of the case under review, and should afford less weight to consistency of the proposed disciplinary action with 13 Nightingale v. State Personnel Board (1972) 7 Cal.3rd 507, 513-514 14 Gov. Code §19572(t) 15 An inference is the result of reasoning from evidence. It does not fall outside the record, but is simply a deduction of fact that may logically and reasonably be drawn from another fact or group of facts established by the evidence. (Evid. Code §600(b); and Cf., 74 Ops.Cal.Atty.Gen. 70, 71n3 (1991)) 7 Sacramento County Grand Jury June 30, 2005 disciplines imposed in previous cases. The exceptions are cases involving substantial claims of discrimination based on race, sex, religion or national origin.
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R3Page 33The Commission should adopt and enforce a recusal policy to be followed in the event of actual, potential, or the appearance of bias. Each commissioner should be independently responsible under the policy for the decision to recuse or not to recuse himself or herself from each particular case.
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R4Page 33The Commission should amend its rules to preserve its option to consider information contained in the full transcript of the case under appeal, and to maintain its option to hear any case with or without a hearing officer, or if previously heard by a hearing officer, to rehear the case with or without a hearing officer.
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R5Page 33The Commission should amend its rules to allow for argument before the Commission relating to evidentiary, procedural, and legal issues, raised before the hearing officer, including descriptions of evidence, weight of the evidence, and credibility of witnesses.
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R6Page 34The Commission: (a) should not require proof of actual discredit to the employee’s agency, when deciding whether there was a “Failure of good behavior . . . which is of such a nature that it causes discredit to the [employee’s] agency or employment”, and (b) should not require proof of an actual adverse affect upon the employee’s ability to perform the duties of his position, when deciding whether there was a “Conviction of a misdemeanor which is of such a nature as to adversely affect the employee’s ability to perform the duties and responsibilities of his position.” Response Requirements Penal Code sections 933 and 933.05 require that specific responses to both the
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R7Page 108The County Health Officer should determine the adequacy of the County’s existing “surge capacity” hospital beds and develop a plan to provide adequate facilities for a large scale event.
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R8Page 108The County Health Officer should formalize a written plan with the Sacramento Regional Office of Homeland Security and with the California Highway Patrol to reach an accord on how emergency medical supplies will be transported when they arrive here from a national repository.
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R9Page 108The City must complete the installation of an automatic telephone warning system and extend its capability to cell phones and voice-over-Internet- Protocol as the technology becomes available. The County must assure that the system is operable throughout the operational area.
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R10Page 108The current common communications system should be made fully operational, and the County should make the necessary adjustments to the antennas in Walnut Grove to improve portable coverage for the Galt/Isleton area, and continue to seek full alignment of that area with SRRCS.
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R11Page 109The County’s operational plan should identify how public employees could serve as disaster service workers in accordance with the existing legal framework. A process should be established to rapidly mobilize these workers during an emergency. Response Requirements Penal Code sections 933 and 933.05 require that specific responses to both the
No Responses Found 2
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
Sacramento
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Sacramento County
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