San Mateo County Grand Jury • 2009-2010

Sex Offender Law Enforcement in San Mateo County Issue | Background | Findings | Conclusions | Recommendations |

Published: February 17, 2010 192 pages

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Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F9, F10, F11, F12, F13, F14, F15, F16, F17, F18, F19, F20, F21, F22, F23, F24, F25, F26, F27, F28, F29, F30, F31, F32, F33, F34, F35, F36, F37, F38, F39, F40, F41, F42, F43, F44, F45, F46, F47, F48, F49, F50, F51, F52, F53, F54, F55, F56, F57, F58, F59, F60, F61, F62, F63, F64, F65, F66, F67, F68, F69, F70, F71, F72, F73, F74, F75, F76, F77, F78, F79, F80, F81, F82, F83, F84, F85, F86, F87, F88, F89, F90, F91, F92, F93, F94, F95, F96, F97, F98, F99, F100, F101, F102, F103, F104, F105, F106, F107, F108, F109, F110, F111, F112, F113, F114, F115, F116, F117, F118, F119, F120, F121, F122, F123, F124, F125, F126, F127, F128, F129, F130, F131, F132, F133, F134, F135, F136, F137, F138, F139, F140, F141, F142, F143, F144, F145, F146, F147, F148, F149, F150, F151, F152, F153, F154, F155, F156, F157, F158, F159, F160, F161, F162, F163, F164, F165, F166, F167, F168, F169, F170, F171, F172, F173, F174, F175, F176, F177, F178, F179, F180, F181, F182, F183, 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Findings and Recommendations 9 findings

Of sex offenses in San Mateo County 76% are committed against children.27

No recommendations for this finding

When convicted sex offenders are not under consistent and intensive supervision (e.g., face-to-face contact with law enforcement, at both scheduled and random times.)28, they re-offend at the same (or higher) severity levels and frequency as compared with sex offenders not under such supervision.

Related Recommendations (1)

Prioritize funding within the County Probation Department to keep sexual offender recidivism at a relatively low level by re-establishing a permanent, dedicated sexual offender unit. The 2009-2010 San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury recommends to the City Councils of San Mateo County that they work through the San Mateo County Police Chiefs’ Association to:

The percentage of children taken for examination of possible sexual abuse and assault to the San Mateo Medical Center's Keller Center by Sheriff's deputies declined in 2008- 2009 by about 1/2 from 2004-2007 levels. Use of the Internet by Sexual Predators

No recommendations for this finding

Consistent and intensive monitoring of convicted sex offenders when released from parole/probation is performed inconsistently throughout San Mateo County. Some city police departments have extensive procedures in place to monitor sex offenders while others perform the minimum required by law.

Related Recommendations (1)

Reinstate the SAFE Task Force. Based upon other task force formulas, the Sheriff’s Office and the combined cities would each contribute 50%.

There is insufficient sharing and coordination of information about sexual offenders among the law enforcement agencies within the County.

Related Recommendations (1)

Reinstate the SAFE Task Force. Based upon other task force formulas, the Sheriff’s Office and the combined cities would each contribute 50%.

The Sheriff requested a lieutenant’s position from the BOS to oversee the new jail construction. The request was turned down. In order to fund the position, in April 2007 the Sheriff eliminated the sergeant’s position for Sexual Habitual Offender Program (SHOP) and sexual offender/predator coordination. As a result, the San Mateo County sex crimes unit currently functions with one FTE composed of fractional commitments of four investigators.

Related Recommendations (1)

Regardless of funding, the Sheriff’s Office should reinstate its permanent, dedicated three to four person sexual offender investigation unit, including all SHOP activities.

The Sheriff’s Office successfully oversees and coordinates many taskforces in cooperation with San Mateo County cities’ police forces: Gang, Drug, Vehicle Theft and White Collar Crime, among them. These taskforces remained in place because they received funding from either the local, state or federal governments.

No recommendations for this finding

According to the Sheriff’s Office, a joint task force for county-wide, coordinated investigation and enforcement of sexual offenses (similar to SAFE) could be implemented for $1.55 million with 50/50 resource-sharing between the Sheriff’s Office and cities similar to the funding model used for other joint task forces (e.g., white-collar crime, drugs, gangs). Conclusions

No recommendations for this finding

F1995 Page 5

The information available was further expanded by California’s Megan’s Law in 1996 (Chapter 908, Stats. of 1996). As of December 2009, 557 registrants in San Mateo County of the total 750 registered sex offenders are subject to disclosure as required by Megan’s Law.20 In San Mateo County 511 sex offenders are required by law to register with the County Sheriff’s Office and are then monitored by local city police departments. The other 46 sex offenders live in the unincorporated area of the County and are monitored by the Sheriff’s Office. Of the total 557 sex offenders, 40 are in violation because they have not registered or cannot be found. Table 1, below, lists the total number of registered sexual offenders by city (as reported by 19 city Police Departments in response to a Grand Jury survey). Also listed are the number of Megan’s Law registrants and Megan’s Law registration violators by city as of December 2009. It 15 Protecting Children Online. Sergeant Bryan Raffaelli & Detective Jacqueline Chong, presentation to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, April 13, 2007. The ICAC program consists of 59 regional task forces that provide training, networking, and technical assistance for member agencies. http://www.svicac.org/ 17 ACLU - http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/12/19/offenders/index.html 18 http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Parole/Sex_Offender_Facts/jessicas_law.html 19 http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=3081 20 Megan’s Law website: www.meganslaw.ca.gov/ 5 should be noted that some sex offenders are not required to appear on the public site. For instance, Daly City actually has 98 sex offender registrants, while the Megan’s Law website only shows 68, those that have committed high risk offenses as defined in Megan’s Law. Note that sexual offenders who are transient and those who live in some unincorporated areas of the County are not included in portions of the following Table: Table 1 Sexual Offender Population by City Megan’s Law In Violation of Registered Offenders City Registrants Registration Requirements (PD reports) (meganslaw.ca.gov) (subject to Megan’s Law) Atherton 3 Belmont 30 19 1 Brisbane 2 1 Broadmoor 7 Burlingame 15 8 2 Colma 2 Daly City 98 68 5 East Palo Alto 97 25 3 El Granada 1 Foster City 10 7 1 Half Moon Bay 10 10 3 Hillsborough 0 Menlo Park 32 23 2 Millbrae 17 6 Montara 2 Moss Beach 3 1 Pacifica 45 24 Pescadero 2 1 Portola Valley 1 Redwood City 142 104 11 San Bruno 37 21 2 San Carlos 14 8 San Mateo 57 39 S. San Francisco 132 67 7 Woodside 3 1 TOTAL 750 439 39 6 Chart 3 shows that the number of sex offender registration violations submitted to and prosecuted by the District Attorney has not changed significantly from 2004-2009. Chart 3 Source: San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office D. Law Enforcement A senior County law enforcement official has characterized sexual offenders as the most dangerous criminals other than mass murders. As found during our interviews, law enforcement personnel consider sexual predators among the smartest criminals. It is understood by all in the field that predatory behavior is resistant to permanent rehabilitation. At least 50% of all convicted sexual offenders will re-offend.12 The consensus among law enforcement officers is that the most effective preventative measure against sexual offenders is making regularly scheduled and random contact, plus ongoing observation. While sex offenders are on probation they are monitored by the San Mateo County’s Probation Department. The State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation monitors sex offenders on parole from prisons for major sex crimes. Once offenders complete the terms of probation or parole, the responsibility for monitoring is transferred to local police departments. The County Probation Department’s Sex Crimes Unit was proactive and implemented many innovations. After an offender was convicted, he/she was interviewed to get information about his/her modus operandi, relatives, favorite hangouts, etc. This information is vital for law 7 enforcement officials after the offender is released from custody. Another innovative approach was registering undocumented sex offenders before they were released from jail. Previously, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents (ICE) would deport the offenders before they registered as per Megan’s Law. If they returned to the United States, there was no method of tracking them. Of the 196 sex offenders currently on probation in San Mateo County, 76% committed crimes against children, including 49 who were convicted of having sex with a minor under the age of 14. Sex offenders have an historic recidivism rate of 60% or more. Up to now, the San Mateo County Probation Department reports lower recidivism rates than the national average because of continuing, rigorous training and officer contact with probationers. The County Probation Department faces a $9.1 million annual reduction in budget from 2008-2011. In the future, the Probation Department will no longer be able to fund a dedicated sex crimes unit and the personnel will be folded into general enforcement. In 2006, Californians approved Proposition 83, referred to as Jessica’s Law. The provisions of the law were to ensure that sex offenders could not reside within 2000 feet of a school or park and to mandate Global Positioning Supervision (GPS) for life.21 California leads the nation in tracking sex offenders with GPS technology. California has more than 6,600 sex offenders equipped with GPS including all active sex offender parolees in the county.22 The State’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation took the ballot initiative a step farther by attaching GPS units to those sex offenders convicted prior to the 2006 measure.23 The California State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is tasked with monitoring all the State’s sexual offenders’ GPS units. Jessica’s Law is not enforced anywhere in California once the sex offender completes probation or parole. The Law was not funded to provide GPS technology to the local law enforcement agencies after the three or five year parole and/or probation was completed. The cost varies from $4,380 to $9,500 per year for a 24/7 monitoring service. Additionally, the Law did not provide penalties associated with not wearing a GPS monitor once sex offenders complete probation or parole. The Grand Jury surveyed all San Mateo County cities’ police departments as to their success in monitoring sex offenders and educating their communities to recognize predatory behavior. Written responses were received from all 19 police chiefs and the Sheriff. In many cases law enforcement practices changed significantly compared to those employed during the 2003-2007 period when there was county-wide coordination through participation in SAFE. In the absence of a county-wide plan, lacking internet investigation expertise, and shrinking resources, each city devised its own approach. Today, law enforcement practices vary widely among cities as reflected in the range of written responses to the Grand Jury questionnaire (illustrated in Table 2.) 21 http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Parole/Sex_Offender_Facts/Jessicas_Law.html#stats 22 http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Parole/Sex_Offender_ 23 www.csmonitor.com/USA/2009/1106/p02s04-usgn.html 24 http://gpsmonitoring.com/blog/?p=762 and “State to expand tracking of parolees with GPS”: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/24/MN9F1BI81D.DTL 8 Table 2 Sexual Offender Monitoring Practices in San Mateo County Cities ateo u ty Meets Legal Question Requirements Exceeds Legal Requirements 1. In addition to legally mandated “Nothing else is done by “Periodic compliance checks at the registrations, what steps does your our agency beyond the registered residence of the suspect to agency take to ensure that those legally mandated periodic confirm they are, in fact, living at the individuals required to register remain registration of convicted registered residence.” in compliance with their obligations? sexual offenders” 2. What rules and mechanisms do you “No procedures in place. “The Dept has numerous venues of employ if the presence of a particular Must exercise extreme communications including city’s website, registered sex offender requires more caution in disseminating email alert system, telephone call tree to all widespread information information because of households, monthly newsletter and dissemination? exposure to lawsuits.” monthly public meetings. Used when a ‘violent sexual predator’ was released from State mental hospital.” 3. When large gatherings with children “No” “Yes, the (department) conducts proactive will be present does your department criminal background checks on all screen employees and restrict their personnel who work for carnival contact with children as appropriate? companies and individuals who are applying for commercial solicitor permits to work within and/or conduct business within our community.” 4. When sexual registrants are on active “None since the liaison “PD works with State Parole and San parole or probation, what interaction program was eliminated Mateo County Probation in a continuous or joint efforts with San Mateo County due to lack of funding.” effort to assure registrants’ compliance. PD Probation and State Parole does your is in constant contact with (State) Parole agency participate in? Agents from the Daly City and Redwood City Parole Offices to identify Jessica’s Law RSO’s as they enter and/or exit our jurisdiction.” 5. If a sexual registrant that is your “PD does not routinely “Police Department contacts the agency agency’s responsibility moves either follow-up with the new where the individual has moved to confirm elsewhere in California or out of state, jurisdiction.” they have registered. We will then generate do your officers make an attempt to a new report with a new case number and follow-up with the law enforcement document that the 290 (Megan’s Law) agency(ies) that will have jurisdiction registrant has moved to another city. Our over the registrant to insure the department will work together with the whereabouts of the individual remain other jurisdiction to share any necessary known and trackable? information should the 290 registrant fail or be late in his/her registration requirements.” 9 In response to specific questions about SAFE, 16 out of 19 police chiefs felt that reestablishing the SAFE taskforce would be a great benefit to their communities. There was general agreement that a county-wide approach would be the most effective way to address sex crimes, including the monitoring of registered sex offenders. In FY 1996-1997 following the brutal attack in Redwood City on a 9-year old girl by a previous sex offender, the Sheriff’s Office, in conjunction with the Board of Supervisors and with active support/participation from the District Attorney’s Office and Probation Department, established the Sexual Habitual Offender Program (SHOP) in order to monitor sex offenders. It was originally funded through forfeitures and fingerprinting fees. This dedicated sex crimes unit worked in cooperation with the San Mateo County Probation Department to register and track sex offenders throughout San Mateo County. In FY 1998-1999, SHOP was formally funded through Proposition 172 (½-cent sales tax to ‘enhance law enforcement’) and Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Funds (SLESF) (AB3299 funds generated through vehicle license fees). As found in Board of Supervisors (BOS) records from 2001, the Sheriff used to make annual requests of the BOS to specifically designate SLESF for funding SHOP. With the reduction in state sales tax revenue and SLESF funds, the County now treats these funds as general law enforcement contributions, and the Sheriff can no longer request the BOS to designate a specific funding source for sexual offender tracking and enforcement. From 2003-2007 the SHOP unit was staffed with a sergeant, three detectives and two ICE agents. In addition to the unit’s regular duties, the Sheriff signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Silicon Valley ICAC unit to provide equipment and personnel to monitor child pornography and child exploitation on the Internet. The SHOP sex crimes unit handled 300 San Mateo County sex offender cases per year. The San Mateo County SAFE taskforce consisted of members from the Sheriff’s Office, County Probation Department, Daly City, and South San Francisco Police Departments, which all had signed an MOU committing resources to the Taskforce. The SAFE program’s purpose was to have various law enforcement agencies conduct “sweeps” in specific areas to visit the residences of sex offenders to ensure they were in compliance with regulations. Often Foster City and Redwood City Police Departments would join in the “sweeps”. The taskforce completed six “sweeps” before the California Department of Justice disbanded the program in San Mateo County. Due to the lack of State funding for the SAFE taskforce, the Sheriff’s Office Sex Crimes Unit and the Probation Department Sex Crimes Unit took up the slack. In 2005 the Sheriff’s Office contract to provide investigative services to the East Palo Alto Police Department expired. Two detectives were assigned from that unit to San Mateo County Sheriff's Sex Crimes Unit. The Sex Crimes Unit then became a team consisting of a sergeant and three deputies. Staffing for sexual offender investigation, enforcement, and coordination of city police efforts was then one full- time sergeant and three full-time detectives in the Sheriff’s Office plus two days a week participation from ICE and County Probation personnel. 25 http://articles.sfgate.com/1996-08-07/news/17782043_1_megan-s-law-offenders-task-force 26 Interdepartmental Memo: Sheriff Don Horsley to Board of Supervisors, April 3, 2001 for hearing April 24, 2001. In 2007 the Sheriff’s Office discovered that the two assigned detectives were not funded. They were then eliminated from the budget. Further, in April 2007 to fund the Jail Planning Lieutenant; the Sheriff combined the duties of the SHOP sergeant with the general crimes sergeant. Therefore, in April 2007, the Sheriff’s Office eliminated funding for the dedicated sexual offense enforcement unit within the investigations division resulting in case coverage of one sergeant (25% time), one detective (50% time) and two other detectives (25% total time). This represents a 75% reduction from four dedicated Full-Time-Equivalents (FTEs) to one FTE shared among four persons, as well as the elimination of county-wide coordination among cities. The Sheriff’s Office budget approved by the BOS shows the following appropriations for SHOP: Chart 4 Source: San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Budget documents In addition to general crimes and absorption of the Sexual Habitual Offender’s Program, the one FTE Sheriff’s Sex Crimes Unit continues to work all sex crimes in as a timely manner as they can while investigating other crimes. The Sheriff’s Office indicated to the Grand Jury that they would be open to reestablishing a full- time SAFE/SHOP task force with three dedicated FTEs (a Detective Sergeant and two Detectives). Their draft budget for such an effort is approximately $930,000 in yearly Sheriff’s 11 personnel costs. This can be compared to the present Sheriff’s Office budget of approximately $160 million, though only $10-15 million is truly discretionary, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Findings Sexual Abuse and Assault Against Children 1. Of sex offenses in San Mateo County 76% are committed against children.27 2. When convicted sex offenders are not under consistent and intensive supervision (e.g., face-to-face contact with law enforcement, at both scheduled and random times.)28, they re-offend at the same (or higher) severity levels and frequency as compared with sex offenders not under such supervision.

No recommendations for this finding

Conclusions 17

CL1 Page 13

The citizens of San Mateo County, especially children, are at a greater risk of being the victims of sexual offenses because some law enforcement agencies (a) no longer vigorously monitor sexual offenders nor investigate sexual predators to the same degree and (b) no longer coordinate such activities on a county-wide basis.
CL2 Page 13

Enforcement in San Mateo County has drastically declined during the past 3 ½ years with (a) the January 2007 elimination of county-wide law enforcement coordination through SAFE, (b) the April 2007 elimination of the dedicated four person sexual offender investigations unit in the Sheriff’s Office, and (c) the forthcoming elimination of the dedicated sexual offender unit in the County Probation Department.
CL3 Page 13

The registered sexual offender population and the total sexual abuse crime rate against children in San Mateo County did not decline from 2004-2009. The Grand Jury believes 13 the most likely explanation for the decline in Keller Center examinations in light of the static arrest rate is due to a lack of assigned personnel within the Sheriff’s Office.
CL4 Page 5

While sophisticated tools are available to identify violators of child pornography laws and to catch internet sexual predators, San Mateo County law enforcement resources are insufficient to use these tools to pursue investigation of these criminals in a timely manner. Local police departments do not have the specialized resources or the personnel to pursue the predators who are increasingly using the internet.
CL5 Page 14

The relatively low sexual offender recidivism rate achieved by the County Probation Department is at risk due to reprioritized funding that will eliminate its permanent, dedicated sexual offender unit.
CL6 Page 14

City Police Department practices vary dramatically across the County. Sharing and coordination of information regarding sexual offenders among the law enforcement agencies in the County is insufficient to effectively control sexual offender activity.
CL7 Page 14

In 2009-2010, if either (a) 1% of the County’s $80 million contribution to the Sheriff’s Office’s $160 million budget or (b) 2% of the State’s Proposition 172 funding for enhanced law enforcement would have been reprioritized, the Sheriff’s Office could have operated a full-time, 3-person team dedicated to sexual offender enforcement.
CL8 Page 13

The citizens of San Mateo County, especially children, are at a greater risk of being the victims of sexual offenses because some law enforcement agencies (a) no longer vigorously monitor sexual offenders nor investigation sexual predators to the same degree and (b) no longer coordinate such activities on u county-wide buses. Response: The law enforcement agencies of San Mateo County disagree with the conclusion that the children of San Mateo County are at greater risk of becoming victims due to insufficient predator monitoring and lack of coordination of countywide activities. Even though the SHOP program is no longer in existence, law enforcement agencies in San Mateo County are working together, nonetheless, to combat predatory activity. Both the San Mateo County Probation Department and the Parole division of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation work with local law enforcements to find and track registered sex offenders. These supervisorial agencies conduct "sweeps" in target cities, appearing unannounced at the homes of sex registrants, and targeting individuals who are not in compliance with their registration obligations. In the month of August 201 0, there were two such "sweeps" in the City of East Palo Alto, alone. Additionally, law enforcement officers who investigate child abuse offenses meet on a monthly basis to get training and share information through the San Mateo County Multi-Disciplinary Committee. As part of the San Mateo County Child Sexual Abuse Protocol, and in compliance with the National Children's Alliance, this County has a multi-disciplinary approach to the investigation of child abuse cases. This means that multiple agencies gather at the Keller Center to make sure that a complete investigation is conducted, which will meet the needs of all participating agencies (law enforcement, Youth and Family Services, District Attorney, medical), so that the perpetrator can be brought to justice while minimizing trauma to the child victim. Part of the same multi-disciplinary process involves monthly meetings where representatives from each of these disciplines gather, in addition to representatives from Rape Trauma Services and the Victim's Center, to share information, ideas and investigative techniques. These meetings include trainings from experts in specific fields. As a result, not only are individual officers trained in new techniques and law, but the training promotes uniformity in child abuse investigations throughout the county. All law enforcement agencies contribute financially to employ a child forensic interviewer who is trained to elicit the most complete disclosure from a child victim. Again, this ensures that children from each jurisdiction in the county will be interviewed by a highly trained and professional interviewer. Twice a year, San Mateo County puts on a 2-day Sexual Assault Training aimed specifically at training law enforcement officers and child welfare workers, but which is open to any professional in the county who works within the multi-disciplinary process. The result of this ongoing training is that new officers and child welfare workers are trained on San Mateo County Protocol guidelines and best practices, and victims throughout this County are provided with the same professional service.
CL9 Page 13

Enforcement in San Mateo County has drastically declined during the past 3 % years with (a) the January 2007 elimination of county-wide law enforcement coordination through SAFE, (b) the April 2007 elimination of the dedicated four person sexual offender investigations unit in the Sheriff's Office, and (c) the forthcoming elimination of the dedicated sexual offender unit in the County Probation Department. Response: Respondent is unable to respond to this conclusion as it is directed towards the San Mateo County Sheriffs and Probation Departments.
CL10 Page 13

The registered sexual offender population and the total sexual abuse crime rate against children in San Mateo County did not decline from 2004-2009. The Grand Jury believes the most likely explanation for the decline in Keller Center e.xaminations in light of the static arrest rate is due to a lack of assignedpersonnel within the Sheriff's Office. Response: This conclusion is directed towards the San Mateo County Sheriffs Office. It should be noted that the number of children brought to the Keller Center countywide reached a peak in 2005. Since that time, there has been a steady decrease countywide, not just in the Sheriffs Office. The number of exams countywide began to increase again in 2008, although the Sheriffs Office remained steady. Medical examinations at the Keller Center are not the only method of investigating child sexual abuse case. Many, and in fact most cases of child abuse are reported months or even years after the abuse has occurred. Unless the abuse is substantial and or extremely recent, often medical exams are not appropriate, since the likelihood of forensic findings is nonexistent. A true measure of the responsiveness of law enforcement agencies to complaints of sexual abuse is the number of children interviewed, rather than the number of exams performed.
CL11 Page 5

While sophisticated tools are available to identifi violators of child pornography laws and to catch internet sexual predators, Sun Mateo County law enforcement resources are insufficient to use these tools to pursue investigation of these criminals in a timely manner. Local police departments do not have the specialized resources or the personnel to pursue the predators who are increasingly using the internet. Previously answered in finding number 3 under "Use of Internet by Sexual Predators."
CL12 Page 14

The relatively low sexual offender recidivism rate achieved by the County Probation Department is at risk due to reprioritized funding that will eliminate its permanent, dedicated sexual offender unit. Response: The conclusion is directed towards the San Mateo County Probation Department.
CL13 Page 102

In 2009-2010, if either (a) 1% of the County's $80 million contribution to the Sheriff's C?ffice $160 million budget or (b) 2% of the State's Proposition 172 funding for enhanced luw enforcement would have been reprioritized, the Sheriff's Office could have operated a full-time 3-person team dedicated to sexual offender enforcement. Response: This conclusion was directed towards the San Mateo County Sheriffs Office.
CL14 Page 187

The citizens ofSan Mateo County, especially children, are ata greaterrisk ofbeing the victims ofsexualoffenses because some law enforcementagencies (a) no longer vigorouslymonitorsexual offenders norinvestigation sexualpredators to thesame degree and (b) no longercoordinatesuch activities on a county-wide bases. Response: The Town of Hillsborough Police Department, and to our understanding, all of the other law enforcement agencies of San Mateo County, disagree with the conclusion that the children ofSan Mateo County are at greater risk of becoming victims due to insufficient predator monitoring and lack ofcoordination ofcountywide activities. Even though the SHOP program is no longer in existence, law enforcement agencies in San Mateo County are working together, nonetheless, to combat predatory activity. Both the San Mateo County Probation Department and the Parole division ofthe California Department ofCorrections and Rehabilitation work with local law enforcements to find and track registered sex offenders. These supervisorial agencies conduct "sweeps" in target cities, appearing unannounced at the homes ofsex registrants, and targeting individuals who are not in compliance with their registration obligations. In the month ofAugust 2010, there were two such "sweeps" in the City of East Palo Alto, alone. Additionally, law enforcement officers who investigate child abuse offenses meet on a monthly basis to get training and share information through the San Mateo County Multi- Disciplinary Committee. As part ofthe San Mateo County Child Sexual Abuse Protocol, and in compliance with the National Children's Alliance, this County has a multi-disciplinary approach to the investigation ofchild abuse cases. This means that multiple agencies gather GrandJury Response Page7 atthe Keller Centerto make sure that a complete investigation is conducted, which will meet the needs of all participating agencies (law enforcement, Youth and Family Services, District Attorney, medical), so that the perpetrator can be brought tojustice while minimizing trauma to the child victim. Part ofthe same multi-disciplinary process involves monthly meetings where representatives from each ofthese disciplines gather, in addition to representatives from Rape Trauma Services and the Victim's Center, to share information, ideas and investigative techniques. These meetings include trainings from experts in specific fields. As a result, not only are individual officers trained in new techniques and law, but the training promotes uniformity in child abuse investigations throughout the county. All law enforcement agencies contribute financially to employ a child forensic interviewer who is trained to elicit the most complete disclosure from a child victim. Again, this ensures that children from each jurisdiction in the county will be interviewed by a highly trained and professional interviewer. Twice a year, San Mateo County puts on a 2-day Sexual AssaultTraining aimed specifically at training law enforcement officers and child welfare workers, but which is open to any professional in the county who works within the multi-disciplinary process. The result of this ongoing training is that new officers and child welfare workers are trained on San Mateo County Protocol guidelines and best practices, and victims throughout this County are provided with the same professional service.
CL15 Page 188

Enforcementin San Mateo County has drastically declined during the past3 1A years with (a) theJanuary2007elimination ofcounty-wide law enforcementcoordination through SAFE, (b) theApril2007elimination ofthe dedicatedfourperson sexualoffender investigations unitin the Sheriff's Office, and (c) theforthcoming elimination ofthe dedicatedsexual offenderunit in the County Probation Department. Response: Respondent is unable to respond to this conclusion as it is directed towards the San Mateo County Sheriff's and Probation Departments.
CL16 Page 188

The registeredsexualoffenderpopulation and the totalsexualabuse crime rate against children in San Mateo County didnotdeclinefrom 2004-2009. The GrandJurybelieves the most likely explanationfor the decline in Keller Centerexaminations in light ofthe static arrestrate is due to a lack ofassignedpersonnel within theSheriff's Office. Response: This conclusion is directed towards the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. It should be noted that the number ofchildren broughtto the Keller Center countywide reached a peak in 2005. Since that time, there has been a steady decrease countywide, not just in the Sheriff's Office. The number of exams countywide began to increase again in 2008, although the Sheriff's Office remained steady. Medical examinations at the Keller Center are not the only method of investigating child sexual abuse case. Many, and in fact most cases ofchild abuse are reported months or even GrandJuryResponse Page 8 years afterthe abuse has occurred. Unless the abuse is substantial and or extremely recent, often medical exams are not appropriate, since the likelihood offorensic findings is nonexistent. A true measure ofthe responsiveness of law enforcement agencies to complaints of sexual abuse is the number ofchildren interviewed, ratherthan the number ofexams performed.
CL17 Page 102

In 2009-2010, if either (a) 1% of the County's $80 million contribution to the Sheriff's Office $160 million budget or (b) 2% ofthe State's Proposition 172fundingfor enhanced law enforcement would have been reprioritized, the Sheriff's Office could have operated afull-time 3-person team dedicated to sexualoffenderenforcement. Response: This conclusion was directed towards the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office.

No Responses Found 1

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

San Mateo County Sheriff Elected County Office