San Francisco Sheriff's Department Newsletter Issue 67
February 15, 2019
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A Message from
Sheriff Vicki Hennessy
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Tech is everywhere. Even in public safety -- or should I say especially in public safety.
In 2018, the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department used technology to improve accountability, enable digital evidence and track criminal justice trends. Last year, we concluded a successful body-worn camera pilot program at County Jail #4 and secured funds to expand the program to other jails and field locations. Body-worn cameras improve transparency, increase staff and department accountability, and enhance training and evaluation.
Technology also poses challenges and risks. The cost to deploy new technologies can be steep. Concern over security, privacy, and civil-rights protections can also delay implementation. With each year, we move steadily forward toward automating our back-end paper processes.
In 2018, the department secured funding for a new, user-friendly, mobile-responsive website that will promote transparency and provide access to department policies, procedures (currently being updated), and public reports. Look for our new website launch by year's end.
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Three Key Metrics in 2018
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Here are three key metrics our agency tracked and watched in 2018.
- Sheriff’s Department electronic monitoring cases jumped 308 percent from 178 in 2017 to 725 this past year. In April, the department converted its electronic monitoring unit to a 24/7 operation.
- From 2017 to 2018, the San Francisco Pretrial Diversion Project, a vital criminal justice partner, experienced a 19 percent increase in the average number of cases they monitor and supervise each day -- from 957 to 1,143.
- The average daily jail population increased three percent in 2018 from 1,263 to 1,295 even though the courts released more people pretrial with supervision instead of ordering them to jail. This continues during 2019.
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San Francisco Leads Nation in Reducing Jail Count
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During October, the
Work Group to Re-envision the Jail,
which I co-chaired from 2016 to 2018 with former Department of Public Health director Barbara Garcia and community activist Roma Guy,
released our third and final status
update
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The Work Group's report detailed a two-year, $18.5 million series of initiatives to reduce San Francisco’s county jail count and close County Jail #4 at the Hall of Justice – without replacing jail beds.
Notwithstanding these investments, data we presented showed that efforts to reduce the jail population have not met the reduction goals required to close County Jail #4.
In 2015, James Austin of the
JFA Institute
authored a
paper
entitled, “Eliminating Mass Incarceration: How San Francisco Did It,” which found the following:
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"San Francisco City and County has been reducing its jail and prison populations at a pace that far exceeds the state and national rates. Its current jail and prison rate of incarceration is 279 per 100,000 population -- less than one-half the rate for California and less than one-third the national rate."
James Austin, JFA Institute
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Our progress toward lowering the jail count further has been incremental. More people were booked in 2018 than the previous year which drives up the jail count. At the same time, the percentage of people diverted to alternatives to incarceration also grew which shows that the Work Group's goals are moving forward.
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As part of the Work Group presentation, the Sheriff’s Department also reported on County Jail #4’s seismic hazards and dilapidated conditions,
which pose serious health and safety risks to inmates, deputies, civilian workers, and visitors as well as an increased liability risk to the City.
Without a commitment to build a replacement facility, the department has recommended that the City renovate former County Jail #6 in San Bruno to replace County Jail #4 at the Hall of Justice, reducing the number of beds from 405 to 350
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City leaders seek other solutions that do not include building or renovating a replacement facility. However, none has been proposed. In the meantime, the District Attorney and Adult Probation departments are expected to
exit
the Hall of Justice later this year.
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Promoting Re-entry & Protecting Public Safety
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Sheriff’s Department employees continue to brainstorm and carry out initiatives to help inmates re-enter, prevent recidivism and protect public safety. In 2018, this included:
- Creating a psychiatric behavioral health assessment and intervention team at County Jail #5 that includes San Francisco Sheriff’s employees, Department of Public Health (DPH) jail medical services and DPH jail behavioral health services. The team observes and interacts with inmates who need more intensive, focused psychiatric services and often have a history of violence. This includes developing individual treatment plans that teach life, hygiene and social skills. This cooperative effort aims to help these inmates successfully re-enter the jail’s general population, and eventually the community, where the team assists former inmates with transition needs.
- Implementing groundbreaking Transgender, Gender Variant and Non-Binary (TGN) policy and procedures. The Sheriff’s Department policy and procedures are among the first in the nation to address TGN inmates and cover several changes including inmate searches, housing assignments and gender awareness training for Sheriff’s deputies and civilian employees.
- Abolishing electronic monitoring and Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program (SWAP) fees, saving clients an average of $282. Fees such as these can present a financial burden to poor people and compromise re-entry.
- Implementing a “Voluntary Late Release” policy in October of 2018. This allows arrestees who are cleared for release between 6 pm and 5 am to delay their releases from San Francisco County Jail pending transfer or travel arrangements during daytime hours.
- Providing 852 taxi vouchers to newly-released individuals, helping them travel where they need to go safely. We also provide access to five emergency beds through Salvation Army Harbor Light Center for sober living until clients can connect with support services.
- Continuing our 16-year, award-winning collaboration* with Five Keys Charter School, the first high school in the nation to be embedded in a county jail. Twenty inmates received their high school diplomas in custody. Multiple people resumed their education while incarcerated and received their diplomas following their release at Five Keys community graduations.
- Expanding Five Keys' partnership with City College of San Francisco (CCSF) by increasing the number of units and breadth of classes CCSF offers to incarcerated students from six semester units to nine. This gives San Francisco County inmates more chances to acquire a college education while in custody.
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Department Update: Recent Media Reports
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As Sheriff, I take any and all allegations of department misconduct seriously. This is why, on December 2, 2018, I launched a full investigation of specific misconduct alleged to have been committed by sheriff’s deputies. I did so on the very day I learned of these complaints from internal sources and the Public Defender.
I immediately identified these complaints as a priority, directing Internal Affairs investigators to interview all complainants and witnesses. From December 2 to today, I have taken steps to ensure a thorough investigation and fair treatment of complainants and witnesses.
This includes additional inmate, staff and witness interviews; review of Incident Reports; Search and Use of Force logs; and study of all available video evidence.
We have made some personnel moves as well as assigned more supervisory support to secure the integrity of this investigation. I also am reviewing our inmate living area search policies to ensure best practices.
Our department will not prejudge the outcome of this investigation until we have concluded our examination and review of the facts.
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Protecting Lives & Our Democracy
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In addition to managing and operating the county jails, the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department has a robust field operations division that is dedicated to serving City and County residents and visitors.
Past year highlights include:
- More than 100 Sheriff’s Department staff trained with the Department of Public Health on how to use Narcan to treat emergency overdoses. From June through November 2018, Sheriff’s deputies administered Narcan and rescue breathing to 11 individuals, saving them from fatal overdoses in and around the Civic Center area, DPH clinics, and Zuckerberg SF General.
- In November 2018, the Sheriff’s Department implemented a firearms surrender program to enforce Proposition 63. The 2016 voter-passed ballot measure requires that prohibited individuals, including persons who have a domestic violence restraining order or criminal protective order issued against them, and may possess a firearm, are not allowed to keep them. In the first two months, peace officers successfully served 63 domestic violence restraining orders and accounted for firearms in six cases.
- One hundred and sixteen Sheriff’s deputies picked up voted ballots at 583 precincts on June 5 and November 6, delivering the ballots safely to the Pier 48 processing center for counting.
- Our Prisoner Legal Services provided voter services to more than 1,000 inmates for the June and November elections. Voting is one of the ways incarcerated individuals function in a productive, lawful manner. Studies show that efforts to preserve or restore individual civil rights help reduce recidivism.
- Our Emergency Services Unit and Special Response Team provided law enforcement security for San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s July 11 City Hall inauguration celebration.
- The San Francisco Public Library is partnering with the Sheriff's Department, visiting jails weekly and providing a rotating selection of books to inmates.
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Every day, the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department works with the public, criminal justice and community stakeholders to safeguard the lives, rights, and property of all people we serve. We strive to complete our mission in a manner that maintains the trust and confidence of the people of San Francisco and recognizes the importance and dignity of every human being.
I am honored to serve the City and County of San Francisco and lead the Sheriff’s Department as its 35th Sheriff.
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