Nevada County Courthouse and Holding Facility Reason for the Investigation

Conclusions 8

• CL1 Page 2
  The lack of uniformed guards stationed at the public entrance to the Courthouse and the lack of a video monitoring system for the hallways present a security risk to all persons in the Courthouse.
• CL2 Page 2
  Installation of the accordion partitions without the prior approval of the Nevada City Fire Prevention Officer and failure to obtain a building permit from the Building Department are clear examples of failure to properly plan and execute steps to improve building security.
• CL3 Page 4
  Court staff are working on a plan to increase the safety and security of the Courthouse.
• CL4 Page 4
  The Sheriff agrees with the conclusion.
• CL5 Page 5
  The Sheriff's Office recognizes the need for clear communication in matters such as these. The Truckee command staff kept the executive staff within the Sheriff's Office well informed of the progress, or lack thereof. In turn, the executive staff of the Sheriff's Office worked diligently with General Services' staff in order to facilitate the work. What obstructions or delays that did occur, we feel were due to ì a lack of clear communication between our executive staff and staff of General Services, and steps are now in place to help prevent such a reoccurrence. Clear written agreed upon expectations are to be used for any projects of significance between the Sheriff's Office and General Services. This should reduce the misunderstandings and confusions that delayed the Truckee project. If blame is to be assigned in the Truckee project, it certainly does not lie within the Truckee command staff, but rather within the executive staff of the Sheriff's Office and other county departments.
• CL6 Page 5
  The Sheriff disagrees with this conclusion. The projects were broken into individual ones due to the varied funding sources. Accounting and payment was easier if projects funded from different sources were completed in total before going on to the next. One project was subject to some limitations on cost but was not broken 3 into several projects. The confusion and unacceptable delays were genuine but not as a result of the facts as stated by the Grand Jury report.
• CL7 Page 6
  The Sheriff agrees with the conclusion. The Sheriff's Office, especially the command staff of the Truckee Sheriff's Station, made exceptional attempts to coordinate the efforts. The lack of a system of accountability and an individual assigned to hold the process accountable was responsible for an inefficient effort at coordination.
• CL8 Page 7
  The Sheriff disagrees partially with the conclusion. The current system is comprised of several separate storage areas, which can place an undue burden on staff in charge of evidence holding. By nature of the locations and size of the 5 storage areas, the maintaining of evidence is staff intensive, and results in a waste of staff time and a decreased level of service to the community. However, it is important to point out that as cumbersome as the system exists, the integrity of the evidence has been maintained. The evidence system is fully functional. There certainly is room for improvement and additional space is needed. However, the evidence system is functioning as it should albeit inadequate. Lastly, in an effort to improve the existing system, the Sheriff's Office has implemented suggested changes relative updating current policies and procedures as they pertain to the handling of evidence, as well as uncontrolled access problems that were identified by the Grand Jury. However, I feel it important to clarify that the Sheriff's Office's evidence technicians do not allow evidence to leave the facility without proper documentation. 2-4 The Sheriff agrees with the conclusions.

No Responses Found 2

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