Governor Signs Bill for Correctional Officers : Jails: Law will allow S.D. County to hire guards, freeing higher-paid deputies for street patrol duties.

Despite the opposition of the California Sheriff’s Assn., Gov. Pete Wilson has signed a bill allowing the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department to arm its correctional deputies and giving them broader police powers in the jails for the first time.

Sheriff Jim Roache sought the bill, sponsored by state Sen. Wadie Deddeh (D-Chula Vista), so he eventually could move 300 “full-service” sheriff’s deputies out of the jail and hire corrections deputies in their place.

The corrections deputies would be given the authority to carry guns and to transport prisoners outside the jail. Although they now are allowed to make arrests only within the jails, the new law gives them the power to make arrests outside the jail, for example, when someone is trying to smuggle contraband inside.

But a representatives of the state sheriff’s group, which represents departments in all 58 counties and claims 40,000 members, said the law would create a dangerous situation in local emergencies.

“Custodial officers are not peace officers,” said Al Cooper, a lobbyist for the group. “In case of an emergency, or a natural disaster, you won’t be able to pull deputies from the jails and use them as peace officers. It sets a bad precedent as far as government safety is concerned.”

Roache agrees that, after the jail is staffed with correctional deputies, he cannot use them in the same way he can use “full-service” deputies, but he still is empowered to deputize anybody to perform lesser duties, such as manning barricades, helping in evacuations and directing traffic.

Despite the arguments, Wilson signed the bill this week, after legislators from both the state Senate and Assembly had approved it with the reasoning that local governments should be permitted to decide how they want to operate their jails.

Departments in counties with populations less than 425,000 already have empowered correctional officers to carry guns and make arrests. The new law extends the choice to departments in all counties, but only Roache and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department will take advantage of it.

Sheriff’s departments in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and Orange counties avoided getting involved in the new law, which goes into effect the first of next year. In all, 46 of 58 counties will have correctional deputies who have the additional powers.

In San Diego, the Sheriff’s Department has 862 deputies and 382 correctional officers. Administrators envision hiring 268 more correctional deputies for the jails over the next two years. For every correctional deputy hired, a regular “full-service” deputy will be moved out of the jail.

Deputies normally begin their careers in the jails, then are promoted to higher-profile jobs. Mel Nichols, the assistant sheriff for law enforcement services, said that, as the agency hires more correctional deputies to staff the jails, it will be able to trim the amount of training it provides overall.

Deputies usually receive 20 weeks of training, including crime scene investigations, criminal law, jail training and report writing. Correctional deputies get about six to seven weeks.

A study by the county administrative office shows that $22 million could be saved over 10 years if correctional deputies were used to staff the jails. The difference in pay between a deputy and correction deputy is about $4,000 a year.

“The advantages really have to do with cost,” Nichols said. “We are going to be able to save salaries over time that will lead to other law enforcement positions. The other savings is in training time because you don’t need as much time to train correctional deputies.”

Over the years, the County Board of Supervisors has made attempts to turn the jails over to a civilian corrections chief and staff it with civilian employees. Last November, voters rejected a measure that would have given supervisors the option of forming such a department.

However, both former Sheriff John Duffy and Roache said they supported phasing out all sheriff’s deputies working in the county jails and replacing them with corrections officers.