HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC AG PKT 2007-09-24#CC
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AGENDA REPORT
DATE:
September 24, 2007
TO:
Honorable Mayor and City Council
THRU:
David Carmany, City Manager
FROM:
Jeff Kirkpatrick, Chief of Police
SUBmCT:
Seal Beach Jail Operations and Alternatives
SUMMARY OF REQUEST:
This report is designed to apprise the Seal Beach City Council of the jail's current-state-
of-affairs and to provide an altemative, operational model(s) for its consideration.
BACKGROUND:
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The police facility headquarters, designed and built in 1978 at 911 Adolpho Lopez Drive,
includes a thirty-bed (30) Class-1 jail on its ground floor level. Prior to 1994, the jail
space was under-utilized. For a variety of reasons, a decision was made to use the jail
space as an enterprise revenue generator by selling 'bed-space' to the local court and
corrections systems to house low-risk inmates for periods of as long as one year. The
revenue generators were thought to be "pay-to-stay" prisoners and those prisoners housed
by other government agencies for a daily fee through Intergovernmental Agreements
(IGA's). The City did not staff the enterprise. Instead, it outsourced jail management
and staffing to a private vendor - Correctional Systems Incorporated (CSI), a local
company. After some changes in ownership, CSI was purchased by The Cornell Group.
The 1994 decision to outsource the jail was based on several factors. The City underwent
several periods of financial instability requiring generation of alternative revenue sources.
Simultaneously, the police department was forced to downsize its personnel as a cost
cutting measure. Renting bed-space for prisoners made sense and could be a legitimate
use of under-utilized City facilities and a revenue producer. Outsourcing jail operations
to an independent contractor with its own employees would insulate the City from
liability exposure. The City engaged the services of independent contractor CSI to
operate, supervise and maintain the jail. CSI performed those services from 1994
through to June, 2007, when the last of its contractual extensions expired.
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As part of its periodic review of long-term contractual relationships with outside
contractors, the City issued a Request For Proposal (RFP) early this year to the six private
companies accredited in California with the nationally recognized, American Corrections
Association. The RFP requested that the companies submit a proposal under which the
contractor would operate the jail as a tenant. The tenant would pay monthly rent, and
Agenda Item C C
Seal Beach Jail ODerations Bnd Alternatives...
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would receive all profits generated. The City would own the facility and receive, free-of-
charge, in-kind booking and processing services for its arrestees.
Only one vendor, Paladin Eastside Psychological Services, Inc. (paladin), submitted a
proposal. Paladin proposed that the City incur the entire operating expense and rejected
the landlord/tenant requirement. Paladin projected that $492,488 would be the annual
operating expense and $72,000 would be its management fee, for a total of $564,488.
The lack of response to the RFP created a need within the police department to train
personnel to perform services that had not been the responsibility of the SBPD since
1994: Book, process, and transport arrestees. All police officers and Community
Services Officers were trained in early June 2007 in preparation for assuming these new
duties upon the expiration of the CSI contract in June.
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Currently, the police department fields one Sergeant and three officers on each twelve-
hour shift. They provide police services to our 27,000 residents within the twelve square
mile city limits. During the summer months, the ratio of public to police dramatically
increases with the influx of beach visitors and longer daylight hours. One of the
measures of police productivity is the level of 'free patrol time' an officer has during
his/her shift. ('Free patrol time' is that time an officer has when not assigned to calls for
service, self-initiated activity, or other responsibilities other than to range freely and
randomly within a beat area looking for law enforcement activity.) The current standard
for 'free patrol time' is 35% per officer.
Typically and without in-house booking services, when an officer makes an arrest
requiring actual booking, he is taken away from his patrol duties for between one and
one-half (1~) to eight (8+) or more hours. This time facilitates transportation time to the
main Orange County Jail (OCJ) in Santa Ana, or to other local jails, and to book the
arrestee. If the arrestee has medical or mental complications, the time away from the
City can be more prolonged. Since jail operations were suspended in June, officer 'turn-
around' time has been as long as five (5) hours and averages 3.00 hours for ocr
bookings (60%) and 2.36 for all others (40%).
Due to our current minimum staffing levels, such time away places the greater
community at greater risk. Fewer officers are available to respond to calls for service.
Exigent calls may suffer longer response times. Officers may be subject to greater risks
than normal attempting to service high-risk cliIls with fewer back-up personnel available.
There are a host of other issues involved, too lengthy to discuss in this report, and all of
which could surface due to a lack of personnel availability.
Staff received permission to hire a professional consultant on the subject of jail
management and hired American Homeland Solutions (AHS) based on prior references
and demonstrated subject matter expertise. The scope of AHS' services included
exploring various alternatives. The AHS preliminary report ("AHS Report") is attached.
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Seal Beach Jail ODerations and Alternatives...
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Staff would like the City Council to entertain the following alternatives:
1. Outsource to the one RFP respondent: Paladin Eastside Psychological Services, Inc.
2. Operate without any jail services, impacting the police department's ability to deliver
timely services.
3. Offer the jail facility to the Orange County Sheriff to become a regional booking
facility, for either rent and in-kind services, or in-kind services alone.
4. Regionalization of jail services among the current West Cities under ajoint powers
governance, providing a full service jail and potentially profitable correctional
services with the BOP and ICE.
5. Orange County Probation Department Lease arrangement providing rehabilitation
schooling for probation violators.
6. Book all prisoners at the Huntington Beach City Jail.
7. City operated jail - only for booking, processing, and transporting arrestees.
8. City operated jail- providing full, booking, processing, and transportation services, as
well as sustainable, profitable, revenue generating, inmate correctional services with
IGA's: City of Los Alamitos, Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and hnmigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) inmates.
The Alternatives
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1. Outsource the Seal Beach Jail to Paladin Psychologieal Services, Inc.
NOT RECOMMENDED
In April 2007, the City sent RFP's to six correctional companies. The RFP
required respondents to submit a proposal that used a "landlord/tenant"
relationship model. The RFP deadline date of May 24, 2007, passed with only
one company, Paladin Eastside Psychological Services, Inc. submitting a
proposal. Paladin's proposal excluded the required landlord/tenant model. We
initiated negotiations and on June 12, Paladin submitted a final proposal that
placated the landlord/tenant requirement. However, in its final proposal, the City
would lease the jail to Paladin for a $1.00 annual fee; the City would pay Paladin
$492,488 (the projected expense) in twelve monthly installments and Paladin
would operate the jail. In turn, Paladin would pay a base monthly amount up to
$8,100 (the originally suggested rent sum) from the "profit" and any additional
profits would be shared equally. Paladin's proposal places all the fiscal risks on
the City. Paladin would have little incentive to aggressively seek a profit.
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2. Operate without any jail services, impaeting the police deparlment's ability to
deliver timely services
NOT RECOMMENDED
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In fact, the police department could function without booking services with
arresting officers performing their own booking, processing, and transportation
services when they make an arrest.
Seal Beach Jail Ooerations and Alternatives...
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The benefits of this alternative are limited to:
. No immediate, additional contractual obligations imposed by a
vendor/client relationship.
. No additional personnel requirements.
However, several issues could mitigate any benefits:
. Officers will be removed from citywide patrol during the time it takes to
process their arrestees.
. Response times to non-priority calls for service will likely suffer.
. Response times to Priority-One (life & death) calls may suffer.
. Officers may become less inclined to make arrests to avoid down time
when other alternatives are available to them.
. Officer safety may suffer because fewer officers are available to respond
in a cover capacity.
. No opportunity for offsetting, revenue generation.
3. Offer thejailfacility to the Orange County Sherif.fto become a regional
booking facility, for either rent and in-kind services, or in-kind services alone
NOT RECOMMENDED
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The Chief of Police and Sheriff Michael Carona of the Orange County Sheriff's
Department (OCSD), met and discussed the Sheriffs interest in using the Seal
Beach Jail. During ajail facilities tour, he mentioned several uses for the jail,
including using the SB Jail to house female inmates and provide grant supported
vocational training. The facility would require interior modifications at an
unknown cost to facilitate training.
However, the Sheriffs tour occurred on August 21, 2007. We delivered
requested data to the Sheriff's offices and to date have not received any written
response from his department to use the SB Jail.
4. Regionalkation of Jail Service among the West Cities providing afuU service
jail and possible profitable correctio1Ull services with the BOP and ICE.
NOT RECOMMENDED
Pursuant to a'joint powers authority agreement, West Cities Communications
(WestComm) provides communications needs in an equitable-cost sharing
arrangement to its member cities (Seal Beach, Cypress and Los Alamitos). A
similar joint powers authority to govern jail services could be created with five
nearby cities.
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However, preliminary analysis of the regional jail concept suggests there may be
significant impediments to creating such an operational agreement for jail
services. The location of the SB Jail would require officers from two of the cities
to drive 30 miles, roundtrip, to drop off prisoners for booking and may be a
hindrance to this alternative in that it raised the same concern voiced earlier about
Seal Beach Jail Operations and Alternatives...
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officer loss of patrol time within the respective cities. With only one or two other
viable regional jail cities as a potential, the relative cost becomes a deterrent to
participation. For instance, Los Alamitos, which averaged 22 bookings a month,
may find it more cost effective to continue to pay booking fees at the SB Jailor to
transport arrestees directly to the OC Jail. Another drawback with this approach
is that the City would be one of five equal partners, each having an equal say in
the operation of the j ail.
5. Orange County Probation Deparlment Lease arrangement that provides
rehabilitation courses for probation violators.
NOT RECOMMENDED
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Staff conducted a jail tour with the Chief Deputy of the OC Probation Department
(OCPD) and staff. The OCPD proposed using the jail space to hold 18-year-old
convicted offenders (offenders) who violated probation restrictions. The
offenders are held on a 24-hour-basis and their incarcerations may be as long as 6
months. OCPD personnel would transport and supervise the offenders who attend
daily (weekday) classes in the City of Los Alamitos. At the end of the school day,
the OCPD would transport offenders back to the SB Jail and provide overnight
custody monitored by two OCPD staff. Offenders would be entitled to 5 hours of
recreation time on weekends. During the recreation periods, offenders would not
be locked down, but supervised by probation personnel within the jail facility.
Visitation is restricted to parents. The OCPD will require office and bed space for
their 24-hour personnel. We would require two beds for our own arrestees,
leaving 26 beds for OCPD offenders. Since all offenders would be 18 years or
older, juvenill? segregation from adult prisoners is not required. The OCPD
personnel showed interest in leasing the jail for their program, resulting in more
space at the Juvenile Hall facilities.
The offenders are typically gang members who come from gang families.
Though they may have extensive juvenile records, they are considered
rehabilitable. An OCPD point of contention will be the SBPD's right of refusal to
reject housing any offender based on his criminal record.
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Disadvantages of the Probation Department's proposal:
. SBPD personnel would still have to staff the jail and provide for our own
bookings and transportation to the' OC Jail. The OCPD proposal brings
nothing but rent to the Seal Beach table.
. Offenders released from the SB Jail may contribute to an increase in crime
when released from the program at the SB facility.
. Visiting offender's parents, often from gangs themselves, may increase crime
in SB and bring an unwanted gang presence and possibly graffiti.
. Though rare, escape has occurred on the school bus to and from school.
. There will be NO line supervision of OCPD personnel.
. No available space allowing ICE or BOP lAG's revenue.
Seal Beach Jail Operations and Alternatives...
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Advantages to Seal Beach:
. Lease arrangement for $8,000 requested in the Jail RFP would be met;
. Teaching and supervision personnel are supplied by the Probation
. Jail revenue not based on inmate number
. Liability for the Probation population would rest with the OC Probation
Department.
Although the OCPD inquiry may look attractive, it will still require us to staff
four employees and 48 hours of overtime/month to operate the SB Jail,
accommodating an expeditious return to the field by our officers.
Staffs opinion about the OCPD arrangement is that the City would be exposed to
a peripheral gang influence it does not currently have, by housing OC gang
members. It is common for gang members to be generational, thus the gang is
carried from father to son. The visiting parents and siblings may expose the City
to an unwanted gang element more so than the incarcerated son.
6. Book aU prisoners at the Huntington Beru;h City Jail
RECOMMENDED
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This was an alternative suggested by consultant AHS and it has merit. However,
it does not take into consideration total use of the City's asset - the jail. Details
about this alternative can be found in the AHS Report, Page-7.
7. City operatedjail- only for booking, processing, and transporting arrestees
RECOMMENDED
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The benefits of this alternative include:
. One, ci vilian, non-sworn, staffer .(Community Services Officer - CSO II or
ill) would be available per shift to provide booking and transportation
services; and, when not performing booking services, could be used to
perform other CSO duties working in the Records Bureau performing data
entry, or the Traffic Bureau doing parking control, accident investigation, or a
variety of other chores. This arrangement might allow a staff reduction in the
Records Bureau.
. This arrangement might create an increase in parking fine revenue when
CSO's work the Traffic Bureau. .
. Frees officers to quickly return to their primary duties, patrolling the
community at large and answering calls for service in a timely way
. Depending on circumstances, it may be less expensive to have a CSO watch
incarcerated drunks and other types of prisoners, as required by law. (The
alternative is to book drunks and other types of prisoners at the Huntington
Beach Jailor the Orange County Jail (OCJ). Huntington Beach charges the
City a $55 to $155 fee per booking. The ocr charges no booking fees at this
time and is currently reimbursed by the State of California for services
Seal Beach Jail Operations Bnd Alternatives...
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rendered. Booking fee reimbursements is a perennial issue in Sacramento and
is constantly in jeopardy.)
However, several issues could mitigate any benefits:
. Requires a minimum staff of civilian, non-sworn, City employees
(Community Services Officers - CSO's) to perform bookings, processing, and
transportation services. Employees come at some cost -- for pay, benefits, and
administrative costs of training, supervision, and management.
. Four CSO's on a 3/12 schedule with 56 hours of overtime could cover a 24n
operation. Salaries, benefits and overtime could cost approximately $250,704
($228,276 for salary, $22,428, overtime); however, the projected $22,440
annual payment from the Los Alamitos lAG could offset this cost. Jail
certification by attaining compliance with the California Correctional
Standard Authority (CSA), Standards and Training for Corrections (STC)
would reduce training costs through reimbursement.
8. City operatedjail- providing booking, processing, and transporttltion services;
as weU as sustainable, profitable, revenue generating, inmate correctional
services with Federal Bureau of Prisons and Immigration and Customs
Enforcement inmates
mGlll.Y RECOMMENDED
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The benefits of this alternative include:
· The Department would deploy two Jailers per shift, mitigating the pitfalls created
by the previous vendor's use of one jailer much of the time.
· The Department has projected a positive revenue flow and would develop IGA's
with the BOP, ICE, and Los Alamitos PD.
· The police department would implement a new Jail Services Bureau, managed by
our current Support Services Manager as an adjunct duty, with tell new civilian
CSO positions: one (1) Jail Supervisor (CSO ill classification) and nine (9) jailers
(CSO IT classification). The new Jail Services Bureau would staff an operational
Type-I jail.
· Additional jail upgrades may be required, including equipment, utilities, and
computer technology.
· Currently, the Department has Intergovernmental Agreements (IGA's) with the
Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and the Los Alamitos Police Department. The
Department would renegotiate these IGA's and initiate an additional, new IGA
with the Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. (Recently,
Leonard Desanti, Special Agent in Charge, Los Angeles Field Office, ICE,
contacted the department and asked if beds were available for ICE inmates. At
that time, Staff informed ICE that the jail would be suspending operations within
the month. Subsequently, SB staff contacted ICE to determine their interest level
in the SB Jail. They were so interested that ICE has initiated an IGA process with
SBPD (Attachment 3). The Department would need to negotiate an inmate fee
with BOP and ICE.
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Seal Beach Jail Ooerations and Alternatives...
8
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· The Los Alamitos Police Department is eager to renew its jail services IGA with
the City of Seal Beach and is willing to negotiate arrestee fees. The Los Alamitos
Police Department faces almost identical staffing and service delivery issues as
the Seal Beach Police Department.
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There are distinct advantages a Jail Services Bureau could create, including:
· Criminal justice industry stakeholders would have increased confidence in the
Seal Beach police department.
· Personnel recruitment, selection, and retention under current police department,
employment standards would assure top-quality personnel.
. Greater accountability.
· More effecti ve and efficient use of police resources.
. Generate a positive revenue flow.
· Increased Confidence with Stakeholders in the Criminal Justice Field
· The Department would hire civilian jailers who pass the same rigorous
background as sworn officers and be subject to similar disciplinary standards. Jail
personnel would ascribe to and embrace the same Law Enforcement Code of
Ethics just as every other Department employee. The current organizational
culture emphasizes integrity, reliability, and professionalism.
· The existing CSO salary structure would attract quality candidates.
· Each jailer would be swom in as a member of the Seal Beach Police Department;
subject to all of its rules and regulations and those of the City, and held directly
accountable for compliance with all of them.
· Control of operations. By contracting with an independent contractor, the City
has no control or supervision. Ajail services bureau would allow the
development of the following features:
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· More restricti ve policies defining what kinds of prisoners would be housed
within the facility:
. Work furlough inmates would not be allowed shelter within the facility
for any length of time.
. Pay-to-stay inmates would be limited in number but would be full-time
inmates.
. Exclusive IGA's with the BOP and ICE would ensure maximum
occupancy is met, subject to the Department's existing list of low-risk
offender acceptability ,
. No crimes of violence
. No crimes of moral turpitude
. High operational standards.
. High personnel selection standards.
. Department policies and procedures provide guidelines for jail personnel. This
includes the application of discipline.
. A reliable and consistent system of audits and controls.
. Continual training with an emphasis on professionalism and integrity.
. Dependable and dedicated supervision.
. Direct involvement of the Support Services Manager in jail operations.
Seal Beach Jail Operations and Alternatives...
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. A proactive approach and continual reminders to always "do the right thing."
Effective and efficient use of police resources:
. With current police officer staffing levels, the Jail Services Bureau could
maximize the officers' field presence. With the Police Chief's
implementation of COMPSTAT, police response to priority calls for service,
police productivity in citations, arrests, field interviews, and proactive
policing have all improved.
. Since jail operations ceased, the too-long arrestee booking time has removed
officers from the field for lengthy periods. A Jail Services Bureau would
assure an officer's expedient return to the field. The COMPSTAT strategy's
effectiveness and the overall public safety success strategy rely on the
officers' field presence. Expeditious officer availability, coupled with the
police department's geo-based, strategic plan provides the public an effecti ve
safety net, improving the community's quality of life.
. CSO jailers would be trained to perform beyond their jail services role. They
could be used to enhance parking enforcement, Records Management Systems
entry, report writing, and other police operations.
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Positive Revenue Flow:
. Under the previous vendor arrangement, and Paladin's RFP offer, it is
apparent the private sector for custodial services views the jail as a City
expense. Their operations of the jail rely upon the jail expenses being paid by
the City, or at least shared equally with the vendor.
· However, if jail services are viewed as a true business enterprise, and the jail
space as an operating expense, then total revenue must have the potential to
exceed the expense, including the jail's space cost.
. The Department evaluated revenue sources and compared them against
expenses. Staff re-worked previous cost models as suggested by the
consultant:
o Table 1 provides a summary of those expenses and revenues
o Table 2 provides projected start-up costs
. Current bed space needs by the BOP and ICE would virtually guarantee a
daily 'full house.'
. Revenue sources would limit self-pays and primarily invest in IGA's with the
BOP, ICE, and Los Alamitos. Th~ projected IGA fees would result in a
revenue potential exceeding expenses, thus a profit. The numbers are
compelling that a positive cash flow can be achieved.
. Quality control.
. Achieving a positive cash flow for the jail operation would require that most
of the 30 beds are occupied. A break-even point of return would be an 86%
occupancy rate (Table 1).
o BOP would be allocated five beds.
o ICE would be allocated 23 beds.
o Two beds would be kept available for arrestees.
. Any revenue beyond the 80% break-even point is profit.
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9
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Seal Beach Jail Operations and Alternatives...
10
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. Table I demonstrates the projected maximum profit: $41,124 the first year
after start-up costs and approximately $167,392 the second year. However,
there is an annual 6% increase due to projected inflation rate of 5% for
salaries and 3% services. The IGA's would be tailored to address inflation.
. There is plenty of interest to use our jail space. Combine the interest with
sound fee negotiations and proper management, and Staff believes a relatively
low risk, positive cash flow can and should occur.
NOTE: The initial (June 25. 2007) report was based on an ICE-lAG inmate
rate of $98/inmate. Further research showed the ICE-IGA Orange County rate
would likely be $821inmate.
NOTE: The consultant's report cites (page-4) that "...the State may require
that it be recertified by the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation (CDCR) as a Type I jail prior to reopening." We have
confirmed, in writing from the CDCR, that such recertification will not be
necessary because we suspended jail operations and maintained a certified jail
staff during the modified operational period, rather than closed the jail
completely. Therefore, the previous certifications remain valid.
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However, several issues could mitigate any benefits:
· Start-up costs require a significant investment ($111,504, Table 2).
· City Council's lack of desire to endorse a business enterprise, no matter the
potential for offsetting revenues.
. Expense inflation could decrease revenue by 6% annually.
· City exposure to lawsuits. Independent contractors are not under the control
of the City and CSI indemnified the City for all acts occurring at the jail. The
City should be prepared for potential lawsuits if the City operates the jail.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Taking into consideration all the different alternatives presented, the general fund impact
ranges between a deficit <$91,368.00> (the current extrapolated cost of all officer's
downtime associated with booking and transportation of prisoners), or a $167,392 profit
the second year. Tables 1-3 attached indicate expenses, revenues, policy guidelines,
previous vendor revenues/expenses for CY2006, and current pay scales for CSO officers
pursuant the current MOU.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council review this Staff report and provide Staff
direction regarding future Seal Beach Jail operations. Staff recommends Alternative #8
from this report.
NOTED AND APPROVED:
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~~ Cf)/
Jeff Kirkpatrick, Chief of Police
~"../,-
David Carmany, Cit~anager
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rC) 1\HS
American Homeland Solutions
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AUgust 7, 2007
Mr. JeffKirkpatri~,.ChiefofPolice
City of Seal Beach ""''?''''':'''' "
..:J.... .,\.; .
911 Seal Beach Boulevard'. ':::'
Seal Beach, CA90740 '. .-:i:'.
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Subject:
Jail Operations and Alterna,tives: Preliminary Report
Dear Chief Kirkpatrick:
American Homeland Solutions (AHS) appreciates the opportunity to submit this
prelimi~ assessment report regarding the City of Seal Bea~, jail operations and
alternatives. . ':.i:".,.. .
: . .::-::., .-
As you know we have met with you and your staff, inspected' the' Seal ;~ea~:' Pol}.ce
. Department jail and have reviewed the Jail Operations and Alternatives Report. Attached. '
you will find our observations and comments. We hope you will find the information
helPful in determining the future course of action with regard to the City's jail operations.
:~<;. . -'.
'~~.~~~ ~
We appJ.:eCiate this opportunity to serve the City of Seal Beach with our consulting services.
The AlI:~ )e~m is available for future meetings or to assist in planning and/or
implementlition strategies. If you have any questions regarding our, report.or: require
additional information, please call me at (714) 940-6370. "\:.' '?':'..::.:.:;,\'., :'" ", ,',
''<C:'', .. ,., ...;'~~\;'.:',<'J:" :
. , ~ ~
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. . ,~espectfully submitted,
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. ,.
Kenneth L. Bayless
President and CEO
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2401 East KalI!lIa Avenue, SUite 300, Anaheim, California 92806 I 714/940-6370 I fax 714/940-4920 I www.amertcanhomelandsalUtl~.!'9In,;:;i.:.,i. .
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JAIL OPERATIONS AND ALTERNATIVES:
A PRELIMINARY REPORT
Background
The City of Seal Beach Police Department has a thirty-bed jail facility that until June IS,
2007 had been operated through an outsourcing contract by Correctional Systems
Incorporated (CSI).
The CSI contract was terminated for a variety of reasons and the City is interested in
evaluating the most effective and efficient utilization of the jail without incurring a
diminution of patrol services or significant added costs. Chief Kirkpatrick has prepared a
white paper entitled "Current Seal Beach Jail Operations and Alternatives" and had
preliminary discussions with Council members to explore options.
The City retained the services of American Homeland Solutions (AHS) to assist in
evaluating the options identified and explore possible additional options that may assist
the Council in determining the best course of action for the City and its residents. As
instructed by the City of Seal Beach, American Homeland Solutions (AHS) has
completed its preliminary assessment and performed the following activities:
. Met with Chief Kirkpatrick and significant staff.
. Inspected and evaluated the jail facility for intended utilizations and
identified potential issues relevant to intended usage.
. Reviewed the proposed options onjail usage and examined assumptions,
projections and conclusions.
. Researched and identified possible additional options and/or
combinations of various options to maximize the City goals.
o
. Identified possible real world problems and issues associated with various
contract elements:
o Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
o Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
o California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
AHS was retained on July lOth and requested to conduct a preliminary review and report
during the brief period prior to the next regular meeting of the Seal Beach City Council.
The following information is presented to document the initial observations and
conclusions of the AHS consultant during the brief period available to research and
explore the options identified. The report is intended to provide the Council with an
"independent review" of the proposed alternatives from the perspective ofajail expert,
rather than provide an in-depth analysis or comprehensive report at this time. AHS staff
will'be available to assist in future planning or research should the City need additional
services.
~s
-..............
Page 1
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JAIL OPERATIONS AND ALTERNATIVES:
A PRELIMINARY REPORT
Review and Analysis of Options
Alternative #1 Outsource the Seal Beach Jail to Paladin Psychological
Services Ine.
After review of the Seal Beach Police Department jail situation, including the various
options available, we strongly support Chief Kirkpatrick's decision to reject the Paladin
Psychological Services proposal as not being in the best interest of the City.
Paladin's projected total annual cost of$564,488, with a promised return of$97,200,
produces a net negative cost of $467,288 for the City. The City's past experience has
shown that there is substantial cost and risk to the City to privatize jail services, with little
potential for profit for a municipality particularly when profits are shared with a private
company. This reality is reinforced by the fact that of the six nationally accredited private
corrections companies that were solicited to submit a response to the City's Request for
Proposal to operate it's jail, only one responded.
Alternative #2 Operate without any Jail services, impacting the Police
Department's ability to deliver timely services.
This alternative is by far the least expensive (in dollars) of the alternatives reviewed. The
City could decide not to operate its jail and to transport and book prisoners directly into
the Orange County Jail. Since there are no fees associated with booking at the Orange
County Jail, the only "expense" is the officer time associated with the transportation and
booking procedures in Santa Ana.
Based on data available since closing the City Jail in June, police officers average 2.3
hours out of the City, and therefore are unable to respond to calls for service, for each
arrest they make. To assess the possible impact of the loss of patrol time associated with
this alternative, the total number of adult and juvenile arrests in 2006 (357) was
multiplied by 3 (hours). The multiplier was based on the department's statistics on the
police officer's booking "turn around" time since the suspension of jail operations in June
2007. The "turn around" time has been as long as 5 hours, but averages 2.3 hours. Due to
the short duration of the statistical sampling the number was rounded up to 3 hours to
provide a cushion for unknown variables in the future.
Un~ this alternative, it is projected that patrol officers will spend approximately 1071
hours annually away from the City booking and transporting arrestees. This equates to
89.25 twelve-hour patrol shifts.
'iNtHS
Arnerian ...............
Page 2
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JAIL OPERATIONS AND ALTERNATIVES:
A PRELIMINARY REpORT
As the Chiefhas pointed out, prolonged transportation and booking times not only put the
community and officers at risk since the deployment strength is reduced by one third each
time an officer is away from the City; but over time there may be a subtle erosion of
enforcement norms in the City because officers can develop a reluctance to make arrests
on lesser crimes to avoid prolonged absence from the City. Additionally, arrests are often
made during periods of peak activity when officer presence in the City is of utmost
importance.
One potential mitigating factor to this alternative might be to employ a policy to transport
selected types ofarrestees such as drunks andjuveniles to the Huntington Beach Jail for
booking rather than to the Orange County Jail. Such a compromise could substantially
reduce the amount of lost patrol time while increasing hard dollar costs only slightly
since booking fees at the Huntington Beach Jail start at $55 for drunk arrests and rise to
$155 for all other arrestees.
Further study should occur prior to implementing this alternative to determine the actual
cost/benefits (of all relevant factors) associated with booking arrestees at the Huntington
Beach Jail and/or the Orange County Jail. However, even if all 2006 Seal Beach P.O.
arrests had been processed through Huntington Beach Jail, at the highest rate, the hard
dollar cost to the City would be $55,335.
Alternative #3 City operated jail- only for booking, processing, and
transporting arrestees.
This alternative would require the City to recruit, hire and train five Community Service -
Officers I Jailers. The first year salary and employee benefit costs would be
approximately $257,580 (C.S.O. II pay step B x 35% employee benefits x 5 x 12 = cost).
Additional start up costs would include training, safety equipment and uniforms. This
option would also require updating selected sections of the jail. These additional items
could bring the first year costs to over $275,000.
Restoring a minimal jailing capacity within the City would be an investment to return the
lion's share of the 1071 patrol hours to the City's patrol operations. The Department has
projected the lost hours equate to a $91,386 annual cost to the City, however a significant
benefit to this option is the additional police presence in the City and the enhanced
community and officer safety it brings.
Since this option provides for booking, processing and transporting (Le. short term
holding) of prisoners only. staff utilized for jailing responsibilities could be used to
perform additional City functions as well. The flexibility of having C.S.O. 's performing
additional duties (Le. parking enforcement, etc.) when there are no prisoners is an added
benefit to the City. This alternative could be implemented in stages by using current
C.S.O.'s, who have been trained injail operations until the new employees are in place.
ti1dis
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Page 3
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JAIL OPERATIONS AND ALTERNATIVES:
A PRELIMINARY REPORT
Alternative #4 City operated jail- providing booking, processing and
transportation services, as well as a sustainable, profitable, revenue
generating, inmate correctional services with Federal Bureau of Prisons
and Immigration and Customs Enforcement inmates.
This is the most complex of the alternatives. It provides both a possible revenue flow for
the city as well as maximizing the patrol time of its police officers. It also requires a
sizable commitment of "up fronf' money before the City sees any revenue offset, much
less profit.
This option allows the Seal Beach's police officers to spend their patrol time in the City
rather than transporting and booking arrestees at distant jails (saving approximately 1000
hours of patrol time) and creates the potential to operate the Seal Beach Jail as a profit
making enterprise via contracting bed space. Chief Kirkpatrick provides a very succinct
review of this alternative in his report to Council. We have reviewed the Chiers graphs,
Tables 1 through 4, and find them to be a well thought out assessment, albeit a little
optimistic, with regard to the projected costs and revenues. One exception may be the
projected costs to upgrade the jail to meet contemporary safety and risk management
standards.
JAIL FACILITY
Because the City closed its jail, the State may require that it be recertified by the
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as a Type I jail prior to
reopening. If the state makes this determination, the City would be required to meet all
contemporary requirements for a facility of this type. Because of the age, condition and
design of the jail a number of significant modifications may be required to meet
contemporary jail standards. Several areas of concern were pointed out to departmental
personnel during our tour of the jail facility. Additionally, an inmate reception and
release area will have to be included in the facility's design.
If the City contracts with the Bureau of Prisons or the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement a aimilar federal inspection must be completed and potential modifications
may be required. These inspections must be completed and passed prior to the receiving
of any inmates.
The proposed cell configuration of using 28 beds as a revenue source and utilizing 2 beds
for arrestees may be overly optimistic. Current state requirements dictate visual and
physical separation of women andjuvenile arrestees from male arrestees. Ibis factor
alone may require rethinking the housing configuration. A more realistic configuration
would suggest that dedicating 24 beds as "for profit" would be more manageable and
insure meeting the "break. even point" for the City as well as providing for a small profit.
The remaining 6 beds could be used for Seal Beach and Los Alamitos arrestees.
i;1tHS
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Page 4
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JAIL OPERATIONS AND ALTERNATIVES:
A PRELIMINARY REPORT
PERSONNEL
Adding ten new sworn employees and training them to contemporary jail operations
standards in a relatively short time is a major task for any law enforcement agency. It is
imperative that the Police Department work closely with the City's Personnel Department
to determine a realistic timetable to recruit, background, hire and train nine Community
Services Officers I and one Community services Officers n. Once this is accomplished an
implementation timeline can be drafted. The Intergovernmental Agreements cannot be
finalized until the State or Federal agencies have confirmed that there is adequate staff in
place to supervise their inmates.
Training the new C.S.O.s will be critical to the liability and risk management of the jail
facility. Every effort should be made to insure that the new personnel receive
standardized training, preferably at the same training sessions.
CONTRACTING WITH OUTSIDE GOVERMENTAL AGENCIES
The Federal Bureau of Prisons, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, California
Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as well as the City of Los Alamitos have
voiced an interest in utilizing the vacant Seal Beachjail to house their inmates.
The state and both federal agencies will likely have in their intergovernmental
agreements a clause that payment is based on "availability of funds". An example of this
clause can be found on page 4, section 11, of the City's current IGA with the Federal
Bureau of Prisons. It states, "Fundsfor this agreement depend upon the government's
fIScal yetii' and may not presently be available. The governments obligation under this
agreement is contingent upon the availability of appropriatedfunds from which
payment is made". Similar clauses will be found in the state IGA. Experience with these
types of contracts has demonstrated that revenue may at times significantly lag behind
expenditures. The bottom line is the City may not be paid for its services in a timely
manner. The City must be cOgJ1i71ll1t that the state or federal agencies may delay, for a
variety of reasons, their payments. 1bis potential must be evaluated with regard to the
city's financial situation. .
In negotiating the IGA's the City should insist on an annual cost re-evaluation for all
services. 1bis insures that the City does not shoulder the cost offuture salary and supply
increases. A classic example of this problem is fact that the Federal Bureau of Prisons has
been paying the same daily inmate rate of $62.50 since 1994.
The ~.J.P .LA. has advised the City that insurance premiums would not increase until a
claim has been filed against the City as a result of jail operations. However, the
consensus of most jail managers is that it is not a matter of if, but when a claim or lawsuit
will be filed. The city must be prepared for this potential aspect ofrunning ajai!.
iNtHs
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Page 5
JAIL OPERATIONS AND ALTERNATIVES:
A PRELIMINARY REPORT
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If this alternative is selected it would be a more manageable approach to house inmates
from only one agency, I.C.E., B.O.P., or C.D.C.R. It is also imperative that a very limited
classification of inmate is assigned to the city'sjail.
The Department should rework its cost model using the recommended 24 bed for profit
configuration. Our review of the Seal Beach Police Department's Second Year Annual
Expenses, Table 4, concluded that a profit is possible if the following are insured,
o A contract with a state or federal agency that guarantees a daily inmate
rate of at least $95.00.
o Minimum daily contract occupancy of 21 beds
o Continued IGA with the City of Los Alamitos with a booking fee of at
least $80.00
Alternative #5 Offer the jail facility to the Orange county Sheriff to
become a regional booking facility, for either rent and in-kind services, or
e in-kind services alone.
Chief Kirkpatrick is meeting with Sheriff Corona and his staff on August 21, 2007 to
discuss this alternative. At this time we concur with the Chiefs assessment and share
his concerns regarding this alternative.
Alternative #6 Form a Regional Jail with Seal Beach serving as the
booking and processing facility.
The Chiefs report to Council identified alteniative #6 as an open option that had not yet
been proposed or explored. After consultation with the Chief we have added alternatives
# 6 and #7 as areas of potential consideration. Alternative #6 is the formation of a
regional jail agreement between agencies. The benefit of the regional jail concept is that
the operational costs are shared among the participating municipalities.
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Along the western boarder of Orange County, there are five municipalities that have need
of a Type I jail. They are Seal Beach, Westminster, Cypress, La Palma and Los Alamitos.
These cities currently operate their own Type I jail, contract with another municipality, or
transport and book their prisoners at the Orange County Jail.
~HS
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Page 6
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JAIL OPERATIONS AND ALTERNATIVES:
A PREUMINARY REPORT
The regional jail alternative allows the City of Seal Beach to operate it's jail for booking
and processing, as described in alternative #3, and share the costs of operations with
participating agencies thereby greatly reducing it's annual operating costs. The actual
costing formula would be based on the number of annual bookings produced by each
municipality rather than aimply dividing the cost by the number of participating agencies.
Preliminary analysis of the regional jail concept suggests there may be significant
impediments to creating such an operational agreement. The location of the Seal Beach
jail would require officers from two of the cities to drive 30 miles, roundtrip, to drop off
prisoners for booking and may be a hindrance to this alternative in that it raises the same
concern voiced by Chief Kirkpatrick in Alternative #2, loss of patrol time within theiI
City. With only one or two other viable regional jail cities as a potential, the relative cost
becomes a deterrent to some. For instance, Los Alamitos, which averages 22 bookings a
month, may find it more cost effect to continue to pay booking fees or to transport
arrestees directly to the Orange County jail.
Probably the biggest problem facing regiona1ization is loss of local autonomy. Public
officials generally prefer not to lose control oftheiI resources, especially in the area of
public safety; and local policy matters often become difficult issues to overcome. The
implementation of this alternative would require a great deal of political groundwork, but
its benefits would be increased patrol time within the City of Seal Beach and reduced cost
to operating its jail.
Alternative #7 Book all prisoners at the Huntington Beach City Jail
As in Alternative #2 this would allow the City to operate without a jail, but it differs in ~
how the City of Seal Beach would pay for booking costs.
The City of Huntington Beach currently charges a $55 booking fee for drunks and $155
for all other bookings. By comparison the City pays no booking fees for arrestees booked
at the Orange County Jail.
It is an 18 mile roundtrip for Seal Beach officers to book their arrestees at Huntington
Beach, compared to an approximately 31 mile roundtrip for the officers to book at the
Orange County Jail. With almost double the travel distance to Orange County Jail it's
obvious that Seal Beach could minimhe officers time out of the City if all arrestees
where booked at Huntington Beach.
Alternative #7 differs from alternative #2 in that the City of Seal Beach could contract for
a portion of the salary of one of the Huntington Beachjailers in lieu of the booking fees
now being charged by the City of Huntington Beach. The actual cost would be
negotiated between the two cities, however, based on the arrests made by Seal Beach
officers in 2005 and 2006, the cost should be within the $35,000 to $45,000 range.
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A PRELIMINARY REPORT
lbis Alternative could be perceived as a financial win-win for both cities. Seal Beach
would not have to fund the start up and operation of a jail and Huntington Beach would
have a stable revenue source to offset its jail expenses.
Summary, Recommendations and Conclusion
The decision on whether and how to operate a city jail is clearly predicated on local
needs, priorities and fiscal constraints. The Seal Beach Police Department analysis of the
range of alternatives, their pros and cons, and fiscal issues associated with operating its
jail is an excellent document. It provides a good framework from which to examine the
best course of action for the City of Seal Beach.
In our preliminary review of the alternatives we have concluded that several options are
viable for the City depending on local needs and priorities. In our view, however, one
overarching priority during the decision process should be the maximization of officers'
patrol time. At the heart of public safety is the availability of officers to respond when a
citizen needs help.
Based on our experience and knowledge in operating and managing jails and law
enforcement operations in general, we have attempted in this preliminary assessment to
offer real world input and observations to assist the City's decision makers in choosing a
course of action. A range of options is available to the City, and in fact several of the
alternatives discus'sed could be implemented in stages once an end state goal has been
determined.
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Appendix
Principal Consultant
Lee McCown, AI88 Commander (retil8d), JaiVPublic Safety
Risk, Litigation Management Expert
Mr. Lee C. McCown served the Los Angeles County Sheriff's
Department for 36 years, before retiring in 2004. Throughout his tenure
he performed numerous assignments, including Personnel and Budget
Commander for the Custody Division and Correctional Services
Division, Commander of the Technical Service Division, Captain for
the Records and Identification Bureau, Risk Management Bureau, Inmate Reception
Center, and the Walnut! San Dimas Regional Stations. During all these assignments, Mr.
McCown performed various tasks, which included the duties of the Human Resources
Director for 2,400 personnel and management of a combined Divisional Budget of $327
million. He Chaired the Departments Item Reconciliation Committee and the
Department's Budget Reduction Committee, which oversaw the implementation of the
$166 million budget reduction the department suffered over a two-year period.
While Captain of the Risk Management Bureau, which was comprised of six units (Civil
Litigation, Health and Safety, Traffic Services, Risk Impact, Random Drug Testing, and
Manuals and Orders), Mr. McCown reduced the Litigation losses by 35%. He also
designed several risk reduction and review programs that were implemented by the
Sheriff's Department. His Bureau received the Public Risk Management Association's
National Achievement Award in 1996 and received an Honorable Mention for the
National Achievement Award in 1998.
He is an expert and has lectured in many public safety areas including: Law Enforcement
Risk Assesament and Risk Management, Monell Issues, Career Ethics and Integrity, Drug
Related Corruption within Law Enforcement, !lD-d Computer and High Technology Crime
Investigation. In the past ten years, as an Adjimct Faculty member for the International
Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and as a private consultant, Mr. McCown has
instructed personnel from over 200 public safety agencies on topics of Risk Assessment,
and Risk and Litigation Management.
Master's of Public Administration, Univenity of South em California
Bachelor of Science Degree, California State Univenity of Long Beach
Asso~te of Arts Degree, Police Science, Mount San Antonio College
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