Grand Jury Urges ID Wristbands at Jail : Would Provide Medical Data on Inmates, Warn of Escape Risks

Inmates at the Orange County Jail should wear color-coded wristbands similar to those worn by hospital patients to give jail officials “instant identification” of inmates, the county grand jury recommended Tuesday.

A grand jury report states that the wristband system would not only help jail officials identify which inmates have health problems, but could be used to tag inmates known to be escape risks. The wristbands would include the inmate’s name and booking number.

“Being able to immediately identify inmates is extremely important,” said Linda J. Linder, chairman of the grand jury committee that issued the report. “The jail does have an identification system, but it’s not instant.”

Photo File System

Right now, inmates are all identified through a photo file system, with photographs of the inmates kept on index cards in the housing modules.

Linder said the grand jury came up with its recommendation after touring the Los Angeles County Jail, which uses a wristband identification system.

Linder said the wristbands have been known to save lives of inmates who have fallen ill suddenly because jail officials were able to quickly identify their medical histories.

Linder said the wristband system “requires only a nominal cost, is quick, easy and accurate, and it works.”

Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Dick Olson said the grand jury report had been received by the sheriff’s office but would have to be reviewed before anyone commented about it.

Linder said her committee was told the sheriff’s office has considered a wristband system but has not decided whether to adopt it.

Other Recommendations

The grand jury also recommended some minor tightening of medical procedures at the jail:

- That inmates transferred from another jail facility be given physical examinations. The grand jury suggested that too often an inmate’s physical condition at the time of his transfer varies from his condition at the time of his physical exam when first arrested.

- That the medical screening area be used only for arrestee physical assessments. Now the medical screening nurse shares facilities with the staff that conducts blood alcohol and breathalyzer tests. The grand jury report states that the nurses have complained that the area is often too congested for them to make accurate assessments of an arrested person’s condition.

- That each arrestee’s vital signs be recorded as a routine part of the medical screening evaluation.

- That medical screening forms be completed in triplicate with distribution to the arresting officer, the booking records and Correctional Medical Services.

“We just need a better system of helping to notify people what’s going on,” Linder said.