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April 19, 2016 SANTA ANA POLICE OFFICERS ASSOCIATION 1607 NORTH SYCAMORE SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA 9 27 01-3 513 (714) 836-1211 FAX (714) 836-6108 MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SANTA ANA 20 CIVIC CENTER PLAZA SANTA ANA, CA 92701 Re: Santa Ana City Jail and April 19, 2016 City Council Agenda Item No. 65B Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council: The Santa Ana Police Officers Association writes to make you aware of its concerns regarding the future of the Santa Ana City Jail. More particularly, the Association requests that you revisit your action of February 2, 2016, that denied the contract amendment with the federal government for the use of the jail and directed staff to explore keeping the jail open without federal (ICE) money or propose options to terminate jail services. The Association believes that maintaining the federal contract is the best course of action as it provides the best services for local detainees, those having special needs while detained, the citizens of the City of Santa Ana and, of course, our members who work in the jail. The Association was gratified when some of your members, the City Manager, the Chief of Police and our Jail Administrator were able to successfully negotiate an increase in the fee for housing federal detainees. We believed that this meant that the City would be better able to face the costs of maintaining the jail. We were surprised when the community voiced objection to the housing of federal detainees and were even more surprised when you agreed. One of the "selling points" of the jail is that it provides local residents access to detainees. Regardless of the strongly held beliefs of the various community organizations that advocate on behalf of ICE detainees, closing the Santa Ana Jail to federal detainees will not do away with detention. Recognizing that truth, one has to wonder why these groups would choose to make life more difficult for detainees and their families by insuring that the people who would otherwise be kept in Santa Ana would then be sent to facilities around the country. The issue of detention is not one that can be resolved by the City of Santa Ana; it is an issue for the federal government. The practicalities of detention are best addressed by accepting the contract amendment so ably negotiated by you and city staff. Additionally, when you discuss the Transgender Care pilot program, please consider the observations of our members who staff that part of the facility: Our gay male and transgender detainees are from all over, but there is a definite compassion aspect to what we have here. This might be the only facility that ICE has where gay males and transgender detainees can be housed in civil detention with their peer group. ICE brings these detainees to our facility because anywhere else they go they are on lockdown or highly restricted PC (protective custody). We see these people (especially the transgender) come to us very fearful because of the treatment they received at other facilities around the country. Here we house them with other detainees with life situations just like theirs, they have a sense of community that they will get no place else. Closing this facility eliminates that option and they get scattered around again, back to isolation, back to the places that scared them enough that they arrive here they are shaking and crying because all they know is what they came from.