With 16 in-custody deaths so far this year and 46 last year, oversight agencies and candidates vying for the county sheriff position are pushing for changes at the county lockups.
Luna points to reforms he’s made inside the jails as proof that conditions are improving. More than 1,200 body cameras are being used, use-of-force incidents are down, and he created a unit within custody operations to review such incidents faster, he said.
A new mental health assessment area has been added to the inmate reception center downtown, and Luna said he’s proposing the county build a correctional health center modeled after the state hospital system to secure inmates but also provide better medical services.
“It’s an ongoing effort,” Luna said about reducing in-custody deaths. “I’m not going to stop. I would love to get to zero.”
Villanueva, who made a show of kicking federal agents out of county jails in his first term, said the department would continue to abide by Senate Bill 54, the state law that restricts local law enforcement from working with immigration officers and prevents them from holding inmates past release dates so they can be detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It also prevents local officials from sharing inmate information with ICE.
“SB 54 strikes a balance of competing interests,” he said, “We’d keep it at that.”
Bornman said if elected, he would conduct a “top to bottom” review of operations to focus on what he said are the three core responsibilities: patrol, court operations and custody. He also would look to work with trade schools to help inmates acquire skills to prevent recidivism.
Carranza said county jails need to be modernized and need more medical staff to care for a population that is increasingly mentally ill and struggling with addiction.
Corbett said he would examine how homeless people are released from county jail and, if elected, would look to make a “warm handoff” to community support services.
“The key to that is how I release people back into the community,” he told Fox 11 News.
To reduce deaths in the jails, Martinez proposes that the Sheriff’s Department be in charge of health care, which is provided by Correctional Health Services under the county’s Department of Health.
“They need to be out of the jails,” Martinez said. “They do not know how to do medical stuff inside the jails.”
He also suggests relying more on cameras and technology to stop drugs from being spread in lockups.
“They’re not dying because of use of force, they’re not dying from malnourishment,” he said. “They’re dying from drugs.”
Strong supports the closing of Men’s Central Jail and said the department needed to look at medical care, filthy living conditions and a lack of healthy food and clean water.
“Something is going wrong with our process, with why they’re not getting the medical care they need,” he said.
Strong said improving basic conditions would help address the health of inmates and reduce tensions.
White said conditions at Men’s Central Jail are “disgusting” and it needed to close immediately.
“That place does not need to be running,” he said.
If elected, White said he’d work with county supervisors for a plan on a new facility, which needs to focus on rehabilitation programs.
