Report 2018-106 Recommendation 27 Responses
Report 2018-106: Correctional Officer Health and Safety: Some State and County Correctional Facilities Could Better Protect Their Officers From the Health Risks of Certain Inmate Attacks (Release Date: September 2018)
Recommendation #27 To: Alameda County Sheriff's Office
To ensure that it is able to identify high risk situations and deter repeat offenders, Santa Rita should specifically track all gassing attacks and use the tracking data as a tool to prevent future gassing attacks.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2023
Detention and Corrections policy 5.06 DC clearly outlines our reporting procedures for gassing incidents. We keep a log (monthly) of all assaults on staff. The log specifies 243.9 PC assaults, and includes the names of the offenders. Our classification unit will refer inmates who gas to Restrictive Housing, per policy 9.02 DC, which is governed by our Consent Decree. This placement in Restrictive Housing will help to prevent future attacks. If justifiable, inmates can also be placed on an Inmate Management Plan, restricting items they are allowed to have in their cells to further prevent gassing assaults.
- Completion Date: January 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented
The Alameda County Sheriff's Office developed policies to track all gassing attacks at Santa Rita Jail and provided documentation of a monthly log of all assaults on staff—including PC 243.9 gassing assaults. Further, the Sheriff's Office provided its policy on placing inmates who gas staff into restrictive housing to prevent future attacks, and it provided evidence of its management plan.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2022
Our agency actively tracks gassing offenders in our jail facility.
-We draft incident reports to document the crime.
-We document each gassing in our end of shift reports, which is shared with all jail supervisors.
-We draft a summary of each incident, which is posted on our internal database for all staff members to review. These case summaries are also verbally reported to all security teams daily.
-Staff can access all gassing summaries on this database by inmate, dates, location, and times.
-Our electronic Classification System allows members to "flag" an inmate with a caution code, "GASSER," so deputies are made aware of any gassing history.
-Living areas of know gassers are posted with signage identifying an inmate as a known "gasser."
-After a gassing incident, a supervisor and deputies will debrief the incident to identify how the incident could have been prevented.
All of the above factors show that we track gassing incidents and utilize that information to prevent future gassing incidents.
- Completion Date: September 2020
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented
Although the Alameda County Sheriff's Office developed policies to track all gassing attacks at Santa Rita Jail, the policies do not specify how this information will be used to prevent or mitigate future gassing attacks.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2021
The Santa Rita Jail has tracked all Battery by Gassing incidents since September 1, 2018. There was no option in the drop down box for 2018. Supporting documentation was emailed to nathanb@auditor.ca.gov
- Completion Date: September 2019
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented
Although the Alameda County Sheriff's Office developed policies to track all gassing attacks at Santa Rita Jail, the policies do not specify how this information will be used to prevent or mitigate future gassing attacks.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
1-Year Agency Response
The Santa Rita Jail has tracked all Battery by Gassing incidents since September 1, 2018.
- Completion Date: May 2019
- Response Date: September 2019
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Partially Implemented
Although the Alameda County Sheriff's Office developed policies to track all gassing attacks at Santa Rita Jail, the policies do not specify how this information will be used to prevent or mitigate future gassing attacks.
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
6-Month Agency Response
As noted in #17, the Santa Rita Jail has been tracking all Battery by Gassing incidents since September 1, 2018.
- Completion Date: September 2018
- Response Date: March 2019
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Partially Implemented
Although the Alameda County Sheriff's Office developed policies to track all gassing attacks at Santa Rita Jail, the policies do not specify how this information will be used to prevent or mitigate future gassing attacks.
60-Day Agency Response
The Accreditation Unit drafted a tracking report based on information from the gassing cases in 2017 and 2018. This date will be compared with any incidents occurring in 2019. A review of the data from the three years will be performed and directed to the Commanding Officer to show what benchmarks were achieved in reporting and documenting gassing attacks.
- Completion Date: December 2018
- Response Date: November 2018
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending
Although Alameda County Sheriff's Office drafted a report template for tracking gassing attacks at the Santa Rita jail, the report does not demonstrate that it has started tracking gassing attacks at the facility. Further, it indicates that the data review is yet to be performed.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
All Recommendations in 2018-106
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.