Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office adopts a proactive response to recent in-custody deaths.
The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office believes all life is precious and each death tragic. The loss of four lives in such a short period of time demands we take a hard look at all of our practices, procedures and tools. We are taking a progressive stance to analyze the circumstances and evaluate the current custodial and medical procedures.
The Sheriff and his Administration are taking action to engage an outside panel of experts to review the policies and medical practices in the jail. Even though the early indications regarding the recent deaths show that no medical care was denied, policies or laws were violated, that final determination will be left to the investigation through the In-Custody Death protocol.
Presently, the Sheriff’s Office is researching a panel that will consist of medical, mental health, and detention professionals. This panel will be charged with evaluating these three domains, as well as current applications of standards within the Main Adult Detention Facility and the North County Detention Facility. These experts will assess the current procedures from the booking intake process to the time of release. From their recommendations, we will evaluate any identified areas for improvement.
The Detention Division is inspected by the Grand Jury and Public Health Department annually. Those reports are public documents. We completed the biennial inspections by the Board of State Community Corrections as an exemplary institution with no issues of non-compliance. Furthermore, the Detention Division submits to a voluntary inspection which has a higher standard than those of the State. The Inmate Quality Assurance Panel, under the California Medical Association, recently conducted a thorough inspection and our facilities met and exceeded all standards.
These recent deaths in such a short amount of time are very unfortunate and outside of the norm. We pride ourselves in delivering detention services in a professional, firm, fair and compassionate manner. To this end, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office is advancing the review of our jail processes to better serve our community and inmate population.
Prepared by Sergeant Cecile Focha
Media Relations / PIO
Address/Location
Sonoma County Sheriff's Office
2796 Ventura Ave
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
Contact
Emergency: 9-1-1
Non-emergencies: 707-565-2650