OIG Newsletter #5/July/2024

Dear San Francisco, 

I hope you are enjoying the summer and had a happy and safe 4th of July. As we celebrate our country's independence this month, it's important to reflect on the meaning of freedom and acknowledge that there is still work to be done to become the country we aspire to be. At the Office of the Inspector General, we embrace the ideals of freedom to mean that everyone, regardless of their station in life or history, should be afforded respect, dignity, and the same opportunities to thrive. The humanity we show is a reflection of our society.

July is also National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. Now more than ever, mental health and addiction are at the forefront of challenges confronting the staff in our jails and affecting the living conditions of those incarcerated. As we all know, minorities are disproportionately overrepresented in our jail population and the criminal justice system. We need to make greater investments in treating mental health and addiction to break the cycles of reoffending, which will improve public safety and the overall health of our community. Providing adequate treatment in jails is crucial. 

Thank you for your continued support.

-- Terry

At the June 7th Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board meeting, the Board opened a seat for me at the meetings. I'm honored to sit with our board members. I want to thank Board Member Brookter for proposing the idea and for the Board’s camaraderie. This gesture is a meaningful expression of the solidarity between the Board and the Office of the Inspector General.

Link to the June 7, 2024, SDOB Meeting:

https://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/player/clip/46312?view_id=223&redirect=true

On June 11th, I held the first Inspector General Townhall meeting to inform the public about the Office of the Inspector General, its values, its mission, and the services it is designed to provide. This was the first of many townhalls that I intend to conduct throughout San Francisco to establish relationships with all the communities that the office will serve. I had the opportunity to share the current status of the office and my plans for what I hope the office will become. More importantly, the townhall allows me to receive direct input from community stakeholders. 

I want to acknowledge leadership from the many San Francisco organizations that attended including Diane Gray from the 100% College Prep Institute, Jameel Patterson from the New Community Leadership Foundation, Jermaine King from the Phoenix Project, David Mauroff from SF Pretrial Diversion Project, Rani Singh from the SFSO's Legal Division, and Julie Traun from the Bar Association of San Francisco. I want to especially thank Board President Soo for joining me to talk about the Sheriff's Department Oversight Board. 

Link to the June 11, 2024, OIG Town Hall:

https://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/player/clip/46334?view_id=223&redirect=true

On June 14th, I presented our budget needs for the 2024-2025 fiscal year to the Board of Supervisors Budget and Appropriations Committee. In light of the tremendous deficit that San Francisco is facing, budget cuts are expected, and full funding is unrealistic. Departments will need to do more with less. However, as a brand-new agency, we must be able to incrementally add staff to meet community needs and deliver on what voters wanted. I shared my vision for what we can accomplish with a small investment. This includes establishing a standardized schedule of discipline for misconduct, leveraging technology to allow the SFSO to monitor the jails more effectively, improving information management in the jails, and partnering with the Controller's Office to perform key audits. 

Strong independent oversight will assist the SFSO with efficiencies and reduce future civil judgments against the SFSO ultimately achieving savings for San Francisco that will exceed the annual operating cost of the Office of the Inspector General. 

The deadline for the Board of Supervisors to provide final approval of the proposed budget is July 23rd, and the deadline for mayoral approval is July 31st. 

I want to thank President Soo and Board Member Afuhaamango for attending the budget hearings in support of the Office of the Inspector General. 

Link to the June 14, 2024, Budget Hearing:

https://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/player/clip/46380?view_id=207&redirect=true

On June 21st, I joined the Jail Visiting Committee meeting. A special thank you to CJ 3's Captain James Quanico for hosting the meeting and inviting me. The purpose of the San Francisco Sheriff’s Office Visiting Committee is to bring together select stakeholders of relevant expertise within the SFSO, local justice partners, and the community to share information, coordinate actions, and make decisions on specific issues. It was great to see the proactive effort to consider suggestions from all the stakeholders to collaboratively problem solve. Visitation capacity has certainly suffered from the increased jail population, decreased staffing levels, and the pandemic. Fortunately, Captain Quanico is committed to restoring visitation capacity at CJ 3 to pre-pandemic levels by the end of this year. I will continue working with this committee and all stakeholders to improve the ability for inmates and their visitors to connect.  

On June 26th, I visited the San Francisco Jail facilities with President Soo, Vice President Carrion, and Board Member Brookter of the Sheriff's Department Oversight Board. I want to extend my gratitude to SFSO Chief of Staff Richard Jue, Chief Deputy Lisette Adams, Captain Jamala Sanford, and Captain Jennifer Collins for facilitating a very comprehensive examination of the daily operations at CJ 1 and CJ 2. We had the opportunity to see how the jails are monitored. We explored the entire intake process, from the arrival of inmates at the sally port to the booking process, including identification, medical/psychiatric screening, and classification to determine appropriate housing. We learned about how inmates under the influence of fentanyl are presenting unique challenges for jail management. We also had the opportunity to observe the living conditions and special needs of different inmates in various pods. Additionally, we had the chance to see the beautiful art painted by Board Member Palmer on the walls of the family visiting room. 

By learning about the challenges faced by the sheriff's staff, such as aging infrastructure, antiquated technology, staffing shortages, a larger and more complex jail population, and a lack of adequate funding, we gained a better understanding of the complaints from inmates, jail visitors, and the community. I appreciate the commitment of the board members to working collaboratively to find temporary and long-term, sustainable solutions to the issues facing staff, inmates, and visitors.

Incarceration doesn't just affect the individual incarcerated but also profoundly affects family members and the community. The separation of a parent and child can cause multi-generational damage. The ability to visit loved ones is critical for maintaining relationships and mitigating the harm that children suffer from not seeing a parent. It also gives inmates hope and motivation for self-improvement, ultimately improving jail and public safety. I have heard from community members, service providers, and jail staff that the visitation needs of inmates and family members are not being met. The ability to visit inmates has been greatly reduced by the pandemic, staffing shortages, lockdowns, and facility limitations. The online reservation system for visitation time quickly fills up, depriving many of seeing family members on a regular basis. 

To better understand the issues and causes, I sent my team to the San Bruno Training Facility to attend SFSO's training for deputies about jail visitation. I'm pleased to report that the trainer, Lieutenant Adrian Lavitoria, clearly embraced the importance of facilitating visits between inmates and loved ones, as well as legal counsel, and emphasized that throughout the presentation. While greater investments must be made to ensure visitation needs are met, it is reassuring to see that the SFSO is instilling an empathetic culture that encourages recognizing other perspectives and considers how the deputies' actions impact the community beyond the jail walls. 

To keep you informed about our ongoing activities and projects, below is a preview of what to expect in the next few months.

• Regular visits to the County Jails to hear input from the inmates and staff about the jail conditions. We will be alternating between the jail facilities in San Francisco and San Bruno.
• Regular town hall meetings to inform the community about the role of the OIG and available services and to engage the community in a dialog about where to prioritize our efforts.
• Using this newsletter to amplify the voices of the most impacted community members by creating a section for community perspectives and opinions. We want to thank Board Member Afuhaamango for assisting with this effort.

In 2020, San Francisco voters passed Supervisor Walton's Proposition D, which resulted in the formation of the Sheriff's Department Oversight Board and the Office of the Inspector General. The primary function of these entities is to provide independent oversight for the Sheriff's Office. On December 20, 2023, the board appointed Inspector General Wiley, who officially assumed his role on January 8, 2024.

We appreciate your patience and support as Inspector General Wiley builds the Office of the Inspector General to become operational. While the Inspector General seeks funds through the budget process to serve the people of San Francisco and deliver on the promise of Proposition D, the Department of Police Accountability will continue to provide independent investigations into complaints of serious misconduct against San Francisco Sheriff deputies and in-custody deaths pursuant to existing agreements.   

Please stay tuned for updates about the transition of this work.