I see that the Monterey County Jail is making some noise lately.I never knews it was getting to this level over their.
News
Posted on Tue, Jul. 18, 2006email thisprint thisreprint or license this
Funding sought for jail security
Camera equipment key in monitoring trouble spots
By JIM JOHNSON
Herald Salinas Bureau
A notoriously dangerous section of the Monterey County Jail will be adding new surveillance equipment as part of stepped-up security efforts, if corrections officials have their way.
A request for nearly $19,000 for equipment will be reviewed by the county Board of Supervisors as part of its consent agenda today. The request includes money for four new high-resolution DSP cameras and a digital video recorder. Money for the purchases would not come out of the county's General Fund, but from the Sheriff's Office's Inmate Welfare Fund.
Jail Cmdr. Jeff Budd said the equipment is a key component in efforts to better monitor inmate behavior in a section of the facility that houses the Norteño gang, which is concentrated in the E and F pods. High-risk gang members are mixed with other general population inmates of various classifications in the pods, Budd said.
"Our problem area seems to be pods E and F, probably because of the level and type of inmates we have there," Budd said, "so we're upping our security level in those areas."
Supervisor Jerry Smith, a former correctional officer at Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, called the added surveillance capability a "short-term fix for a long-term problem until we can look at expansion," referring to ongoing overcrowding, staffing and safety issues at the jail.
"Any time you can improve surveillance, you improve the safety environment for inmates and staff," Smith said.
Just two months ago, an inmate who claimed no gang affiliation, Kim Velasquez, was attacked and critically injured by assailants while in custody in F pod. On May 16 , the 45-year-old Velasquez was found bleeding and unconscious by four deputies. The jail went into lockdown and Velasquez was airlifted to San Jose Medical Center, where he was initially treated in the intensive care unit. Subsequently, the District Attorney's Office requested that Velasquez be released so the county wouldn't be responsible for his medical bills.
Velasquez is charged with burglary and vandalism of a Longs Drugs in Prunedale. His arraignment had to be postponed more than once because of the severity of his injuries.
In 2001, William D. Curtis Jr., son of retired Judge William Curtis, suffered permanent brain injuries during an assault in F pod. Curtis was beaten unconscious.
Two years ago, inmates in the E and F pods rioted after Norteño gang members were told they couldn't participate in calisthenics, a Nuestra Familia tradition.
Budd said the request for new security equipment had been in the works for some time and is not a response to any particular incident.
The new cameras will be added to the existing cameras used to monitor the area, Budd said, and will be mounted on tripods on the mezzanine level of the pods. He added that there will be more than twice as many cameras in the E and F pods as the rest of the jail. The digital video recorder will allow deputies to keep a 24-hour record of activity in the pods.
Budd said video monitoring of the pods is essential because deputies can't always be present. No deputy was present at F pod's monitoring desk when Velasquez was beaten.
"We depend on the cameras to, shall we say, keep them honest," Budd said.
A recent report by the U.S. Department of Justice's National Institute of Corrections said the county jail has been operating inefficiently in overcrowded conditions for the past three years. The report said inmates are kept in jail for longer periods now and there has been a rise in the prisoner population. When the report was compiled, the 816-bed facility housed 1,269 inmates.
The jail has also been beset by incidents of staff misconduct and alleged prisoner abuse in recent years.
News
Posted on Tue, Jul. 18, 2006email thisprint thisreprint or license this
Funding sought for jail security
Camera equipment key in monitoring trouble spots
By JIM JOHNSON
Herald Salinas Bureau
A notoriously dangerous section of the Monterey County Jail will be adding new surveillance equipment as part of stepped-up security efforts, if corrections officials have their way.
A request for nearly $19,000 for equipment will be reviewed by the county Board of Supervisors as part of its consent agenda today. The request includes money for four new high-resolution DSP cameras and a digital video recorder. Money for the purchases would not come out of the county's General Fund, but from the Sheriff's Office's Inmate Welfare Fund.
Jail Cmdr. Jeff Budd said the equipment is a key component in efforts to better monitor inmate behavior in a section of the facility that houses the Norteño gang, which is concentrated in the E and F pods. High-risk gang members are mixed with other general population inmates of various classifications in the pods, Budd said.
"Our problem area seems to be pods E and F, probably because of the level and type of inmates we have there," Budd said, "so we're upping our security level in those areas."
Supervisor Jerry Smith, a former correctional officer at Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, called the added surveillance capability a "short-term fix for a long-term problem until we can look at expansion," referring to ongoing overcrowding, staffing and safety issues at the jail.
"Any time you can improve surveillance, you improve the safety environment for inmates and staff," Smith said.
Just two months ago, an inmate who claimed no gang affiliation, Kim Velasquez, was attacked and critically injured by assailants while in custody in F pod. On May 16 , the 45-year-old Velasquez was found bleeding and unconscious by four deputies. The jail went into lockdown and Velasquez was airlifted to San Jose Medical Center, where he was initially treated in the intensive care unit. Subsequently, the District Attorney's Office requested that Velasquez be released so the county wouldn't be responsible for his medical bills.
Velasquez is charged with burglary and vandalism of a Longs Drugs in Prunedale. His arraignment had to be postponed more than once because of the severity of his injuries.
In 2001, William D. Curtis Jr., son of retired Judge William Curtis, suffered permanent brain injuries during an assault in F pod. Curtis was beaten unconscious.
Two years ago, inmates in the E and F pods rioted after Norteño gang members were told they couldn't participate in calisthenics, a Nuestra Familia tradition.
Budd said the request for new security equipment had been in the works for some time and is not a response to any particular incident.
The new cameras will be added to the existing cameras used to monitor the area, Budd said, and will be mounted on tripods on the mezzanine level of the pods. He added that there will be more than twice as many cameras in the E and F pods as the rest of the jail. The digital video recorder will allow deputies to keep a 24-hour record of activity in the pods.
Budd said video monitoring of the pods is essential because deputies can't always be present. No deputy was present at F pod's monitoring desk when Velasquez was beaten.
"We depend on the cameras to, shall we say, keep them honest," Budd said.
A recent report by the U.S. Department of Justice's National Institute of Corrections said the county jail has been operating inefficiently in overcrowded conditions for the past three years. The report said inmates are kept in jail for longer periods now and there has been a rise in the prisoner population. When the report was compiled, the 816-bed facility housed 1,269 inmates.
The jail has also been beset by incidents of staff misconduct and alleged prisoner abuse in recent years.
