In abstract
California noticed a file variety of deaths in county jails two years in the past. Now, a brand new state official is holding public conferences to listen to from folks involved about security within the lockups.
After practically three years of traditionally excessive numbers of deaths in California jails massive and smallthe state board that oversees them is internet hosting a listening session on Saturday in San Diego County, house to one of many state’s deadliest jail techniques.
Allison Ganter, the brand new director of in-custody demise evaluations on the Board of State and Neighborhood Corrections, will host the classes. A second one is deliberate for Sacramento in January. Ganter’s workplace has to date declined interview requests from CalMatters.
Till final yr, the board was not even notified about each demise contained in the county-run lockups, and a 2021 State Auditor’s report criticized the board for failing to implement its personal guidelines and requirements on psychological well being checks and in-cell wellness checks of inmates.
The state has begun to take a considerably stronger function in investigating deaths. The oversight board has pledged to conduct extra shock investigations of jails, and Ganter’s place was created via laws final yr.
Jail deaths peaked in 2022, when 215 folks died in California jails, practically all of them awaiting trial. Tulare, San Diego, Kern, Riverside and San Bernardino counties’ jails had a file variety of deaths that yr.
Jail deaths have been a specific space of concern in San Diego, the place the pinnacle of the jail’s civilian assessment board stop in frustration earlier this yr.
Since then, the county board of supervisors voted to offer its civilian assessment board extra energy to research jail deathsand mandated that the sheriff’s workplace prioritize these demise investigations.
The primary listening session is scheduled to happen in Escondido at 4 p.m. on Saturday on the North Inland Reside Effectively Middle, 649 West Mission Ave. No. 1.
The second is scheduled to happen in Sacramento at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 15 on the Board of State and Neighborhood Corrections, 2590 Enterprise Oaks Means.
Extra data on the listening classes, together with find out how to watch them on-line, is accessible at https://www.bscc.ca.gov/in-custody-death-review-division/.
