Sheriff’s Dept. Prisoner Buses Are Safe

The article “Delivering the Dangerous” (Feb. 24) described the Orange County Sheriff’s Department prisoner bus fleet as “a ragged fleet of silver, black and white buses.” I believe that the careless use of the adjective “ragged” has possibly led readers to believe that the aforementioned buses are something less than a fleet of safe passenger moving vehicles that are being operated on California’s streets and highways. I would like to take this opportunity to (say) that all of the prisoner buses operated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department are safe. Furthermore, we are very proud to say that our prisoner bus fleet passed the mandatory annual California Highway Patrol Terminal Inspection on Dec. 18, 1992. I can assure you that there are a lot of charter bus companies and some school districts who would like to say the same.

In your article, Judge (James M.) Brooks was quoted as saying, leaving court proceedings to the mercy of bus mechanics or sleepy inmates (presents “a god-awful situation”). I cannot speak for the sleepy inmates, but I can assure you that we, the prisoner bus mechanics, put forth maximum effort each and every workday to keep our prisoner bus fleet operating in a safe and timely manner.

Unfortunately, there are times when prisoner transportation schedules suffer because of bus breakdowns and safety-related maintenance. We will never knowingly allow any unsafe Orange County Sheriff’s Department prisoner bus to operate on any public street or highway.

As a personal observation, I believe that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department needs at least five more large buses immediately to cure their transportation problems and give the sheriff’s transportation division a little breathing room when a bus or two is out of service.

JOSEPH ROSS

Garden Grove