HomeMy WebLinkAboutCORRESPONDENCE - 85BEM
City Council Meeting Correspondence
10/1/2019
DISCUSS AND DIRECT THE CITY MANAGER TO DIRECT STAFF TO RESEARCH AND REPORT BACK
ON THE STATUS OF THE CENTRAL RELEASE OF ORANGE COUNTY JAIL INMATES AND THE
LOCATING OF STATE OF CALIFORNIA PAROLEES IN OUR COMMUNITY
Date of Name Representative of In Favor In Opposition Comment
Correspondence of RA*. of RA.*
10/1/2019 Tim Johnson Yes
Sub -total:
*RA - Recommended Action
TOTAL:
Tuesday, October 01, 2019 Page 1 of 1
Lopez, Kenia
From: Tim Johnson <
Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2019 6:58 AM
To: eComment
Cc: Pulido, Miguel; Sarmiento, Vicente; Penaloza, David; Iglesias, Cecilia; Solorio, Jose;
Villegas, Juan; Ridge, Kristine
Subject: 8513- County Jail/State Probation Research
Mayor, Council, and CM Ridge ... I wholly support directing staff to gather information as to the county's release
procedures from the county jail located in our community as to be discussed on tonight's council agenda item 85B. It is
my belief that the county's current processes and procedures disproportionately impact the city of Santa Ana by
releasing county inmates directly onto our streets without a reasonable attempt to transport them back to their last city
of residence or the city of their arrest. Additionally, the location of their belongings for pickup exacerbates this issue
and likely increases the likelihood that they will remain in Santa Ana instead of going back to their city of origin where
they are more likely to have social, business, and family ties allowing them to more successfully reenter their productive
daily routines.
I would suggest that staff needs to determine, at a minimum, the following so that a further plan of action can be
developed:
• What times are inmates released when they have fulfilled their sentence, post bail, or other release
circumstances?
• Are they offered transportation back to their last city of residence, where they were picked up, where they have
family ties, and/or where their (alleged) infraction occurred? If so, is this transportation being provided directly
from jail prior to them being released to the streets.
• Where their belonging are stored and what are the pick up processes? This is especially important for larger
items that someone who may be experiencing homelessness may have with them.
• Is the county providing them with an opportunity to charge their cell phones prior to release?
• Is the county providing them the opportunity to voluntarily stay in safe custody pending a pick up from a relative
or friend?
• Is the county providing the option for transportation to a drug/alcohol treatment facility prior to being released
onto the streets?
• Legally, is it allowed to be require the county to transport back to last known city of residence, where the
infraction occurred, or where they were picked up?
It is my belief that once the above is known, it will be determined that the county is not doing what it should be doing to
help increase the safety of our city as well provide the formerly jailed person the most opportunity for a successful re-
entry into daily living. As such, I believe that council should ask that staff also come to the table with a range of options
that it believes the county can do a better job of achieving a goal of increasing the quality of life in our city as well as
increase the opportunity for success for the released individual.
SB42 is on the governor's desk which is a step in the right direction but does not nearly go far enough in addressing this
issue nor is it specific to the issues that I believe our city is seeing due to the county's current processes and procedures.
In addition, the city should have a better understanding of how the state parolee releases are impacting our community
by knowing the locations of state funded housing (i.e. hotel/motels such as Red Roof Inn on Main by The Discovery
Cube), how long they are allowed to stay, renewal durations (i.e. how many 30-day stays are allowed for example, if
applicable), how the state is transporting them back to their own communities where they have an established social
network.
O
This information gathering stage is a necessary one so that the next step can be strategized for the betterment of our
community and the individual who hopefully wants to integrate back into society and lead a productive life. It is my
belief that the decisions of the county (as well as the state) disproportionately impacts our city and that our city
leadership needs to encourage, if not force, the county and state to better protect our residents, businesses, visitors,
and those who are actually being released.
You have a tough job ahead of you, but I appreciate this being a topic of exploration and especially extend my thanks to
Councilmember Penaloza for bring this to the table for discussion.
Blessings to you,
Tim Johnson