|
It is our goal to have all staff
working in these dormitories trained in crisis intervention. Clearly,
employees trained in crisis intervention have a better
understanding of mental illnesses and their
associated symptoms and can better manage the mentally ill inmates.
In addition to inmate housing and three courtrooms, the BRC will also
serve as the releasing center for all Orange County inmates. Currently,
inmates are released from three different facilities in the jail
complex, causing confusion for members of the community attempting to
pick up the released individual. Once the BRC opens, every person
arrested in Orange County will be brought to this building for the
booking process; likewise, every inmate released in Orange County will
be released from this single building. This will alleviate a great deal
of confusion for the public as it will also serve as the public
pedestrian “front door” for the Corrections Department, with a new
public entry and adjacent parking. Additionally, some, or all, employees
of the Corrections Transportation, Classification, Inmate Property,
Inmate Affairs, Master Head Count, Inmate Records, and Community
Corrections Division (including Pretrial Services) will work from within
this building. Having all of these functions in one building will create
multiple efficiencies for the Corrections Department.
It is planned that Pretrial Services will have a major role in the
processing of inmates through the new building. As inmates are brought
into the jail, they will be immediately screened by Pretrial Services
staff and a determination made as to what programs they might qualify
for as well as what services they might need. A risk/needs assessment
will be completed with the inmates to assist in a determination of
placement and necessary services. If an inmate qualifies for either a
Release on Recognizance (ROR) or Pretrial Release (PTR), the early
screening and processing by PTS will ensure that the release is
processed quickly. If the inmate comes in with an order for Home
Confinement as condition of bail, then the Home Confinement interview
and verifications can be completed early in the process. If the inmate
does not qualify for any programs, then the PTS staff will simply
complete an Affidavit of Insolvency in preparation for Initial
Appearance. Additionally, inmates will have early access to telephones
in order to facilitate the process of bonding out if they are able and
choose to do so.
An incredible amount of work by all parties involved (architects,
contractors, Orange County Capital Projects and Orange County
Corrections staff) has made this a model jail that will most certainly
be toured by jail officials from all over the United States. Many
specialty items have been put into place in the design of this building,
making the job of being Correctional or Law Enforcement Officers safer
and much more operationally efficient. These items include, but are not
limited to, the following:
- A sally port
accommodating 18 law enforcement vehicles;
- A traffic light and
internal drive lane allowing for law enforcement vehicles to enter and
exit the BRC safely;
- A “quick book” area at
the law enforcement entry point, allowing law enforcement officers to
safely transfer custody to Correctional staff when the arrestee is
combative, in acute mental health crisis or clearly under the
influence of drugs or alcohol. This area will allow Correctional staff
the opportunity to remove property from the inmate as safely as
possible, reducing injury to staff and/or inmates, and ultimately
reducing liability for the county;
- All areas of the
building, including the booking floor, will have video visitation
capabilities;
- Fully padded suicide
precaution and detoxification cells with flushable floor drains and
cameras monitoring inmate behavior has been placed in the acute
medical and mental health housing dorms. Cameras in those cells are
viewed not only in the control room but also locally at the floor
officer’s post for immediate response as needed;
- A door control
card-reading system has been installed throughout the entire building,
running approximately 80 percent of all interior doors, thus providing
easier movement of staff while maintaining a high level of security;
- Recorded camera
monitoring throughout all high-liability areas within the facility
will occur 24 hours per day, seven days per week;
- Exterior window frames
inside inmate cells have been custom fabricated to prevent inmates
from being able to tie items to them during suicide attempts;
- Concrete bunks, in
lieu of typical free-standing steel bunks, were placed in acute mental
health cells, making extraction of violent inmates much safer as the
inmates cannot crawl underneath them;
- Additionally, acute
medical and mental health permanent housing cells are located only
three doors away from the law enforcement booking sally port entry
point. This will mean a huge reduction in potential liability related
to transporting these typically combative or ill inmates to their
permanent housing assignments;
- Another immense
efficiency includes a complete transportation section adjacent to but
not within the booking component of the building. Included in this
area will be numerous multi-inmate and single holding cells for the
handling of different genders and a wide variety of inmate
classifications as they go to and return from off-complex functions
such as jury trials at the downtown courthouse and stays in various
local hospitals.
A team made up of experienced Correctional staff has been assigned to
plan and implement the transition to the BRC. We here at Orange County
Pretrial Services are looking forward with great anticipation to our
new home and the new roles that may come with it. We have come a long
way over the five years since the idea of this new Booking and Release
Center was born, and no doubt our roles within Corrections will
continue to grow and change as we move forward into the future.
|
