NEWS RELEASE: CLERB Statement on SDSD Response to Policy Recommendation that All SDSD Staff be Scanned when Entering Detention Facilities

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 7, 2024

 

Contact: Paul Parker

(619) 301-9212

 

 

 

CLERB Statement RE: SDSD Response to Its Policy Recommendation that All SDSD Staff be Scanned when Entering Detention Facilities

 

San Diego County’s Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board announced it will publicly discuss at its Feb. 13 meeting the County Sheriff’s latest rejection to body-scan all sheriff’s staff entering County jails.

The review board known as CLERB has strongly recommended body-scans to help prevent drug deaths and overdoses in County jails. The Sheriff’s department has twice rejected those recommendations, most recently in December 2023. Sheriff’s officials said they have reduced drugs getting into jails to “almost zero” through increased actions. Those include searches, investigations, intelligence and drug-detecting dogs.

CLERB officials say they were grateful for those actions and a 35% reduction in the number of in-custody deaths from 2022 to 2023. However, they said there were still 146 suspected overdoses in County detention facilities in 2023 and “our goal must be zero overdoses.”

“CLERB continues to be disappointed that body scanning of staff is not occurring,” said Paul Parker, CLERB’s executive officer. “(We) were hopeful that, at a minimum, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department would implement random body scanning of all staff. In other industries, most notably commercial airline operations, personnel are randomly scanned. As long as we continue to see overdose deaths in our jails, we will continue to push for scanning.”

CLERB was created by San Diego County voters in 1990 to provide independent investigation and oversight of the County’s Sheriff’s and Probation departments. Part of its authority includes oversight of all County jails in the unincorporated areas and in the nine cities that use the County’s Sheriff’s Department to provide law enforcement.

The Board’s mission is “to increase public confidence in and accountability of peace officers employed by the Sheriff’s Department or the Probation Department by conducting independent, thorough, timely, and impartial reviews of complaints of misconduct and deaths and other specified incidents arising out of or in connection with actions of peace officers.”

CLERB meets publicly once a month in room 302 of the San Diego County Administration Center, located at 1600 Pacific Highway, San Diego, 92101.

People can attend CLERB meetings virtually via Zoom. The Feb. 13 meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. People can submit questions ahead of meetings at “Request to Speak.”

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• 2.7.24 UPDATE_SDSD Response to Its Policy Recommendation that All SDSD Staff be Scanned when Entering Detention Facilities_.pdf