A Report of the 2005-2006 Civil Grand Jury For the City and County of San Francisco San Francisco Jails:

Recommendations 2

• R2
  1 The continued recruitment and hiring of new deputies should be given top priority. The Department should develop a coordinated recruitment outreach plan so that information about the current deputy recruitment program is disseminated widely to community groups, peace officer associations, and web sites. For example, the Department could list Deputy Sheriff positions on Internet sites such as: • Women Peace Officers Association of California at http://www.wpoaca.com/Job%20Flyers/Cal/cal_jobs.html, • Police Officers Research Association of California at http://www.porac.org/employment.html, • Golden State Police Officers Association at http://www.gspoa.com [Note: The SF Police Department has jobs advertised on this site.], • Other Internet job sites such as www.indeed.com, www.usajobs.com, http://www.deputy.sheriff.jobs.com 2.2 The SFSD should consult with the Department of Telecommunications and Information Services (DTIS) to determine how to maximize the effectiveness of the SFSD website and how to ensure that the Department’s recruitment efforts get maximum exposure on Google and other search engine web sites. Required Responses: Mayor’s Office – 60 days SFSD – 60 days 1 6 Post-release programs
• R04-05
  budget.11 A recent two-year hiring freeze, instituted due to financial constraints, was lifted in 2005. Since then, however, new hires have just been replacing people who resigned or retired. Thirty-five new deputies were hired in 2006, of which 31 completed the required police academy training. However, during this period, the Department lost 27 officers due to retirement or other reasons. Therefore, in order to ensure that there are a sufficient number of deputies in the jails at all times, the Department must resort to overtime, either voluntary or mandatory. Mandatory overtime is instituted when there are an insufficient number of volunteers for a given shift. There is an open job announcement for 8302 Deputy Sheriff 1, the entry-level deputy position. New hires attend an introductory seven-week Department orientation course, then a six-week jail training Officer program before they are ready to serve at the jails. Deputies also attend a 20-week California State certified course at the Police 11 Murray, Andrew: Legislative Analyst Memorandum, Re: Sheriff’s Department April 21, 2005 Presentation to the Budget and Finance Committee, April 20, 2005 7 Academy during the first year of their employment. Upon graduation from the Academy, deputies are then fully accredited peace officers under California law.12 Understaffing, together with a high level of dependence upon mandatory overtime, is detrimental to the safety of both Departmental staff and prisoners in custody. According to an article in the Contra Costa Times, violence among prisoners in the Los Angeles County jails has nearly doubled in the past three years, largely due to a funding crisis and staffing shortages. L.A. County’s inmate-to-deputy ratio is one of the highest in the country and, as a result, inmate-on-inmate assaults at one L.A. County facility rose from 351 in 2003 to 614 last year.13 Because the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department proactively strives to keep such assaults at a minimum, the prisoner-on-prisoner assault rate is considerably less than in Los Angeles. Staff reported that the total number of prisoner-on-prisoner assaults in all seven San Francisco County jails was 247 in FY 2005. However, the trend of trimming the budget of the SFSD that began with the FY 03-04 and FY 04-05 budgets and continued in the FY 05-06 budget14 is a major concern. D. Nutrition Civil Grand Jurors were served a prisoner lunch consisting of four slices of whole wheat bread, four slices of lunch meat, corn chips, an apple, ½ pint of milk, and condiments (mustard and mayonnaise). Prisoners interviewed said that the food served to the Grand Jurors was a standard prisoner lunch. The lunch served to prisoners who do not have special dietary requirements consists of either lunchmeat or peanut butter sandwiches. No lettuce or other sandwich fillings are offered. Breakfasts and dinners are more varied and are served warm. Vegetables and dessert are served with the evening meal. The menus are fixed and do not allow for individual choices. All prisoners on a particular diet receive the same food on a given day. The Department submitted a sampling of menus that indicate prisoners are provided 12 California Penal Code §13510.1, Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) training program certification 13 “Los Angeles jail riots underscore rising violence among prisoners,” Contra Costa Times, February 6, 2005 14 Murray, Andrew: Legislative Analyst Memorandum, Re: Sheriff’s Department April 21, 2005 Presentation to the Budget and Finance Committee, April 20, 2005. The following is an excerpt from of the report: The department's FY 05-06 proposed budget totals $144.5M, a reduction of $2.0M over its original FY 04- 05 budget and $1.3M less than its projected FY 04-05 year-end actual. Notably, the department is budgeting $1.5M less for programs, $856,787 less for facilities, and $382,942 less for recruitment and training than it did in its original FY 04-05 budget. It is also budgeting for 11.5 fewer FTE in FY 05-06 than it did in FY 04-05. Significant cuts (savings) that were implemented in FY 03-04 and FY 04-05 include: - Closing three dormitories at County Jail No. 7 ($1.5M); - Eliminating porter services at County Jail No. 7 ($280,000); - Eliminating post-custody drug rehabilitation beds ($1.7M); - Eliminating Station Transfer Unit services ($2.0M); - Reducing hours and staffing at City Hall ($200,000); - Freezing hiring of new 8302 Deputy Sheriffs for last two fiscal years ($1.5M per year); and - Laying off 26 8300 cadets ($700,000) 8 balanced 3000-calorie meals. The food, while somewhat monotonous, meets basic dietary needs. In addition to the standard food offerings certain dietary needs are accommodated if requested by the prisoner or medical staff: Special menus include kosher/halal (offered to both Jews and Muslims), vegan, low salt, or diabetic. Many jurors said it is commendable that the Department both meets the nutritional needs of prisoners and provides special menus to meet dietary p