LAKE COUNTY — More than 8 months in, California”s public safety realignment reduced the state”s jail population to below 140,000 for the first time in more than 15 years.
But at the local level, realignment has helped and hindered the way county law enforcement officers deal with offenders — the effects of which are evident at the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Since coming on board last September, Undersheriff Pat Turturici, who previously directed operations at the San Benito County Jail, volunteered to take control of the jail facility and worked to make improvements.
Turturici got approval from the Board of Supervisors in May to reinstate six correctional officer positions at the correctional facility using realignment funds for the county.
“We have 160 applicants for correctional officers,” Turturici said, adding that testing for the positions will begin soon.
He said numerous improvement projects are under way in order to make room for inmates that previously would have served time in state prison.
Areas of the correctional facility that went unused for as many as 10 years are being repaired to house additional inmates.
“We”re replacing flooring, showers and doing a lot of maintenance work,” Turturici said.
A water-damaged inmate housing pod was recently reopened and is being finished to house more inmates, he said.
Improvements to inmate quality of life to reduce recidivism are being enacted, he said. Those improvements include using services such as the home detention and alternative work programs as well as hiring an instructor to assist inmates in acquiring a GED and a job upon their release.
Statistics acquired in August from the Lake County Probation Department show that 88 offenders that qualified for “Post Release Community Supervision” were returned to the county for supervision, with four transferred to other counties and one transferred to parole supervision after their sentence was reclassified.
Out of those 88 offenders, 18 either had a warrant issued for their arrest or were rearrested for a new crime or violating the terms of their release, which is a 20-percent recidivism rate, according to the Probation Department statistics.
Turturici said more “sophisticated and dangerous” inmates are being transferred to the correctional facility because of realignment. As a result, he implemented more frequent correctional officer checks of inmates.
Officers now check on inmates every 30 minutes instead of hourly, with some areas checked every 15 minutes. The goal is to have correctional officers physically monitor inmates at all times. New security cameras were recently installed in the booking area for safety of inmates and correctional officers.
Turturici said one of the main goals is to keep the daily population of the jail as low as possible to accommodate inmates who are serving longer sentences.
“We try to get as many (inmates) out that aren”t at-risk to the community,” he said.
The undersheriff said the facility is rated by the State Corrections Standards Authority for 286 inmates; the population was 296 on Monday.
“Currently, we are overcrowded in the individual cell areas because of overflow,” he said.
Some inmates require an individual cell because of the nature of the crimes they committed. As a result, some inmates who are not considered a danger to others are now bunked together in certain common areas of the jail.
As many as 51 long-term inmates are now serving time at the facility, including one inmate who is serving out a 13-year sentence. The undersheriff said longer sentences require more medical care.
“As inmates become older, their health will decline,” Turturici said. “This will be a major problem for the jail facility and the taxpayer. We”re in charge of keeping these people alive. We have to deal with health issues.”
He said medical procedures for county jail inmates in the past were held off until they were released from custody as long as the medical need wasn”t serious.
“Now that inmates are staying for years, we are having to start conducting medical operations,” he said.
Since Lake County lacks certain health specialists, Turturici said inmates that need specialty care must be transported and guarded to off-site medical facilities in Santa Rosa and Sacramento.
An additional improvement to safety inside the correctional facility is the presence of a K-9 unit, which Turturici said was the first of its kind in Lake County.
“The dog has already helped with finding contraband and drugs in the jail,” he said.
The undersheriff said he was preparing to address the Board of Supervisors to get its support for a needs-assessment of the jail that would focus on the future of the facility, which first opened in 1991.
“The board has been very open and supportive about when I go to them and discuss the jail and issues surrounding it,” Turturici said. “They understand long-term planning must take place to stay ahead of the curve.”
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14. Follow on Twitter: @KevinNHume.
