‘Crusading’ Grand Jury Issues Its Summary; Will Disband Next Week

After a year in which the San Diego County Grand Jury has bucked the norm and leveled blistering reports against the Sheriff’s Department, the local jail system, and child protection services, the panel Friday issued its final summary report and announced it will disband next week.

“The public was demanding that certain things be looked at,” foreman Armistead B. Smith Jr. said in reflecting on the unusually strident pace set by his group over the past year.

“We endeavored to be very active. And we endeavored to be constructive. Perhaps we have used strong language in our reports, but the things we looked at merited strong language,” he said.

Seen as Crusaders

While many county grand juries in the recent past have rubber-stamped area agencies and their programs, the current panel, which dissolves July 1 to make way for a new grand jury, has been seen by many as a crusading group.

The jury has confirmed reports of deputies assaulting inmates in the county jails. It has found serious deficiencies in the medical treatment of inmates. And it has determined that the region’s system for handling child abuse cases is in disarray and unable to adequately protect victims.

The investigation into deputies beating inmates was prompted after numerous past and former prisoners complained of routine abuse in the six county detention facilities. The grand jury, after touring the jails and hearing testimony from many inmates, concluded that there was indeed a so-called “Rambo Squad” of deputies that harassed inmates.

But Smith noted that Sheriff John Duffy, who runs the jails, has been swift and responsive in attempting to correct the problems since the jury issued its findings. Smith noted that the sheriff has tightened the jail supervision process and increased his Internal Affairs unit to ferret out misconduct.

Smith added that he was unaware of any inmate complaints to the jury of abuse by inmates since the report was issued in March.

“All indications we have received is that things are occurring as they should in the San Diego County jails,” he said. “And I can assure you that if we had any indications to the contrary, we would become immediately involved.”

Inadequate Medical Care

The foreman said Duffy has also been responsive to the grand jury’s report on the jail medical system. The panel, finding that many inmates are receiving inadequate health care, recommended that the jail medical program either be turned over to the county Health Services Department or put up for bid to a private contractor.

Noting that Duffy favors a private-contractor arrangement, Smith called on the Board of Supervisors to follow up. But he also downplayed arguments from many officials who said that simply throwing additional money to the Sheriff’s Department and the jails would solve many of the problems.

“The bulk of the problems we found were not attributable to funding difficulties,” Smith said. “The bulk of the problems we highlighted were instead attributable to senior leadership in the Sheriff’s Department.”

On the child abuse issue, Smith said the grand jury welcomed the sheriff’s decision to reorganize his child abuse unit. But Smith also said that the number of abuse cases continues to rise dramatically, and he reiterated the jury’s call for a public-private partnership to build and operate a children’s center for emergency care and family services.

On Friday, he described a similar cooperative program in Orange County, and urged the Board of Supervisors to study that system as a model for San Diego County. He said such an arrangement would go a long way toward improving child protection services, particularly at the Hillcrest Receiving Home.

“We have become more and more convinced that that is the direction to go,” he said.