Report 2018-106 Recommendations

To ensure the health and safety of its employees and hold its supervisors accountable, Santa Rita should revise its policies and procedures to require documentation that its supervisors are notifying victims of gassing attacks in a timely manner of the medical services and workers' compensation benefits available to them.

To ensure the health and safety of its employees and hold its supervisors accountable, Santa Rita should revise its policies and procedures to require documentation that its supervisors are notifying victims of gassing attacks in a timely manner of their right to request that the inmates involved be tested for communicable diseases.

To ensure the health and safety of its employees and hold its supervisors accountable, Santa Rita should revise its policies and procedures to require documentation that its supervisors are notifying victims of gassing attacks in a timely manner of the counseling services available to them.

To make certain that victims are aware of threats to their health, Santa Rita should follow state law and ensure that its medical personnel immediately inform victims of gassing attacks of any evidence suggesting that the inmates involved have a communicable disease. It should further document that it has provided this information to victims.

To ensure that it properly investigates gassing attacks and refers cases for prosecution, Santa Rita should implement procedures to ensure that it collects sufficient physical evidence and submits the gassing substance for laboratory testing, as state law requires.

To ensure that it properly investigates gassing attacks and refers cases for prosecution, Santa Rita should develop practices to ensure that it submits all cases for prosecution when probable cause of a crime exists. Further, it should expedite its review of the four cases that we identified, and if probable cause exists, submit those cases to the district attorney for prosecution.

To better prevent gassing attacks and promote desirable changes in inmate attitude and behavior, Santa Rita should follow its policy and pursue appropriate internal disciplinary actions—including consideration of the inmate's mental health and competency when determining whether to impose internal discipline.

To ensure the health and safety of its officers when interacting with inmates, Santa Rita should develop a policy regarding the placement of "gasser" tags on the cells of inmates who have committed or attempted to commit a gassing attack.

To ensure the health and safety of its officers when interacting with inmates, Santa Rita should provide annual training that is specific to preventing and responding to gassing attacks.

To ensure that it is able to identify high risk situations and deter repeat offenders, Santa Rita should specifically track all gassing attacks and use the tracking data as a tool to prevent future gassing attacks.

To ensure the health and safety of its employees and hold its supervisors accountable, CIM should revise its policies and procedures to require documentation that its supervisors are notifying victims of gassing attacks in a timely manner of their right to request that the inmates involved be tested for communicable diseases.

To ensure the health and safety of its employees and hold its supervisors accountable, CIM should revise its policies and procedures to require documentation that its supervisors are notifying victims of gassing attacks in a timely manner of the counseling services available to them.

To make certain that victims are aware of threats to their health, CIM should follow state law and ensure that its medical personnel immediately inform victims of gassing attacks of any evidence suggesting that the inmates involved have a communicable disease. It should further document that it has provided this information to victims.

To ensure that it properly investigates gassing attacks and refers cases for prosecution, CIM should implement procedures to ensure that it collects sufficient physical evidence and submits the gassing substance for laboratory testing, as state law requires.

To ensure that it properly investigates gassing attacks and refers cases for prosecution, CIM should develop goals for how long investigations should take and ensure that its officers adhere to these goals.

To ensure that it properly investigates gassing attacks and refers cases for prosecution, CIM should separate its evaluation of officers' use of force from the investigation process it uses to refer cases to the district attorney.

To better prevent gassing attacks and promote desirable changes in inmate attitude and behavior, CIM should follow its policy and pursue appropriate internal disciplinary actions—including consideration of the inmate's mental health and competency when determining whether to impose internal discipline.

To ensure the health and safety of its officers when interacting with inmates, CIM should maintain a sufficient supply of preventative equipment that is available to its officers and staff in all locations where gassing attacks can occur.

To ensure the health and safety of its officers when interacting with inmates, CIM should develop a policy regarding the placement of "gasser" tags on the cells of inmates who have committed or attempted to commit a gassing attack.

To ensure the health and safety of its officers when interacting with inmates, CIM should provide annual training that is specific to preventing and responding to gassing attacks.

To ensure that it is able to identify high-risk situations and deter repeat offenders, CIM should specifically track all gassing attacks and use the tracking data as a tool to prevent future gassing attacks.

To shorten the time to submit cases of gassing attacks for prosecution, the Legislature should modify state law to provide correctional facilities the discretion to omit testing the gassing substance for the presence of a bodily fluid when the correctional facility, in consultation with its district attorney, finds that such testing is unnecessary to obtain sufficient evidence of a crime.

To ensure the health and safety of its employees and hold its supervisors accountable, Men's Central should revise its policies and procedures to require documentation that its supervisors are notifying victims of gassing attacks in a timely manner of their right to request that the inmates involved be tested for communicable diseases.

To ensure the health and safety of its employees and hold its supervisors accountable, Men's Central should revise its policies and procedures to require documentation that its supervisors are notifying victims of gassing attacks in a timely manner of the counseling services available to them.

To make certain that victims are aware of threats to their health, Men's Central should follow state law and ensure that its medical personnel immediately inform victims of gassing attacks of any evidence suggesting that the inmates involved have a communicable disease. It should further document that it has provided this information to victims.

To ensure that it properly investigates gassing attacks and refers cases for prosecution, Men's Central should implement procedures to ensure that it collects sufficient physical evidence.

To ensure that it properly investigates gassing attacks and refers cases for prosecution, Men's Central should develop goals for how long investigations should take and ensure that its officers adhere to these goals.

To ensure the safety of its staff, Men's Central should provide annual training that is specific to preventing and responding to gassing attacks.