Failing Mitrice Richardson

The discovery of Mitrice Richardson’s remains in a Malibu Canyon ravine this week cleared up some of the mystery surrounding the young Cal State Fullerton graduate, who disappeared nearly a year ago after being released from a remote sheriff’s station. But it doesn’t explain why anyone thought it wise to let Richardson go in the Malibu hills in the dead of night with no car, money or phone. If anything, the unhappy conclusion to the search for Richardson only raises more questions about the Sheriff’s Department’s approach to those it detains.

FOR THE RECORD:
Mitrice Richardson: An Aug. 13 editorial about the Richardson case described the location of the Sheriff Department’s Malibu/Lost Hills station as “deep in Malibu canyon.” It sits in a cluster of businesses and homes between U.S. 101 and state park lands, including Malibu Creek State Park. —

Deputies took Richardson into custody on the night of Sept. 16, 2009, at Geoffrey’s Malibu for failing to pay the $89 bill for her meal. They booked her at the Malibu/Lost Hills station in Agoura and, after she refused two invitations to stay in a private cell until morning, watched her walk into the chilly night with no access to her car, no ride home and no buses running for six hours.

An internal probe by the Sheriff’s Department and a draft report by the Office of Independent Review found that deputies had followed the department’s procedures to the letter. The office’s report argues that deputies had good reason to separate Richardson from her car, despite having found her to be sober — there were copious quantities of tequila, vodka and beer inside. Yet the report also asserts that deputies had no choice but to release Richardson after she was booked because they had no authority to hold her any longer.

Even if the department couldn’t detain Richardson, that doesn’t mean it was appropriate to release her on the doorstep of a station deep in Malibu Canyon. That’s hard to defend regardless of Richardson’s mental health, which deputies seemed to pay scant attention to before hauling her off from Geoffrey’s. The department recognizes that it’s not a good idea to release women from the county jail after dark — the Century Regional Detention Facility restricts nighttime releases for female inmates. If it’s a bad practice at the jail, it’s bad anywhere.

It may not be easy to avoid putting people at risk when they’re released after dark on their own recognizance. The Sheriff’s Department isn’t a taxi service, and the sheer volume of people leaving custody — almost 500 a day — poses its own challenges. The solution may require deputies to think more about what will happen after a suspect is released before deciding where to book someone. Regardless, Richardson’s tragic end proves that the department’s eagerness not to hold people too long has public safety implications too. Her case shouldn’t be closed until the department comes up with a better way to handle vulnerable people who come temporarily into its custody.