Keep Bailing

Two Orange County bail bonds agents have been arrested and charged with paying inmates to solicit potential clients.

California law prohibits bondsmen from having an arrangement with a detainee in which the detainee would notify them of arrests, prohibits unlicensed persons from soliciting and negotiating bail, and disallows compensation or commissions of any kind to be paid to a non-licensed person for bail transactions.  Referring attorneys to inmates and/or arrestees is also prohibited by law.

James Morris Jr. has been charged with three Read more »

The need for jail expansion and improvements in many of California’s counties has led the state to offer $602 million in funds for just that purpose. Only eleven counties were chosen to receive a portion of that sum.

Because of the new “realignment plan,” many jails throughout the state are dealing with severe overcrowding. The money will help some of these facilities to make updates and expansions in order to improve conditions and allow for more beds.

Three of the counties that applied – Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles – each received $100 million. Stanislaus County received $80 million; Santa Barbara and Tulare each were granted $60 million. Smaller amounts will be given to the other five counties. Kings and Shasta Counties will each get $33 million; Imperial County $23.626 million; Sutter County $10.255 million; and Madera County $3 million.

Each county has its own needs which can be seen to with these funds, such as adding beds or changing from dorm-style cells to individual cells.

The funding was Read more »

Reportedly, the a new location for the old San Francisco Hall of Justice is being considered by the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department as the future location of the new jail.

Right now, 1,100 prisoners of the SFSD are being housed in San Bruno and another 464 inmates are housed one Seventh Street. Within the San Francisco jail system, the San Bruno location only has a capacity limit of 900 prisoners, according to spokeswoman Susan Fahey.

The old Hall of Justice is not likely to come through a major earthquake, and so city officials are looking around for a new site to place a new facility. In the meantime, should the worst happen, there is a plan to move the prisoners elsewhere.

The current plan is to buy Read more »

The San Diego Police Department has announced that they have disbanded it’s DUI Enforcement Team.  10 News San Diego said that one sergeant and the four remaining officers have been transferred to the Traffic Division.

SDPD Public Information Officer Lt. Andrea Brown said they did not believe the change would lead to a decrease in the quality or level of arrests of persons driving under the influence.   She further stated that the reassigned officers would still be available to arrest those under suspicion of driving while drunk or under the influence of drugs.

Brown said that most of the arrests for DUI are made by officers who have been assigned to the numerous patrol divisions that have been assigned throughout San Diego. The newly assigned Traffic Division officers, she said, will still be charged with keeping an eye out for those who are driving while intoxicated.

San Diego is one of the few counties that holds DUI arrestees for bail. Most jurisdictions in California allow defendants to go without a bail bond and simply a promise to appear in court.

The DUI Enforcement had recently come under fire after officer Anthony Read more »

After months of renovation and repair, the Burbank Jail has finally reopened.  The new-and-improved facility has the capacity to hold up to 70 inmates.

During construction, which began in April, the Burbank have been transporting arrestees to the Glendale Jail for booking.   Burbank Police Lt. John Dilibert told the Burbank Leader that this added “at least another 45 minutes to the process”.

Now that the jail is open, he said, it will not only save Read more »

In spite of the fact that the Seal Beach Jail will possibly cost the city nearly $144,000, officials have decided to keep it open. The budget for the jail during the 2011-12 fiscal year is $689,100 and it is expected that the expenditures will go over that amount.

The city council voted unanimously to keep the jail open during a meeting Monday. Councilwoman Ellery Deaton said, “Crime costs the city.”

By keeping the Seal Beach Jail open, the city is saving money because officers won’t have to drive to Orange County Jail in Santa Ana. That would use too much of the officers’ time and cost the city an extra $197,753.

Almost $100,000 had to be invested in the facility after Read more »

A possible case of mumps has led to the partial quarantine of some inmates in the Maguire Detention Facility, the San Mateo County jail, when one of them became ill on Tuesday, according to a county health official. On Tuesday morning, one inmate went to the doctor with flu-like symptoms. The doctor said that there was a chance it was mumps and collected a specimen for testing by state health officials.

Robyn Thaw, spokeswoman for the San Mateo County Health System said, “We are not reporting this as an outbreak or even a confirmed case of mumps a this time.”

While the results are pending, some of the third-floor inmates in the Maguire Correctional Facility will Read more »

One for the Money charts Plum’s transition from sales clerk to bail recovery agent. The story begins with  Jersey-girl Plum (Heigel) finding herself broke and facing eviction. Desperate for money she turns to her bail-bondsman cousin to see if he needs an office assistant.  When she learns a position isn’t open, but that he is in need of someone who can help track down bail skips, Plum blackmails him into giving her the job.

Katherine Heigel has purchased the rights to Janet Evanovich novels in which the heroine, Stephanie Plum, decides to ditch her career in lingerie sales to begin working as a bounty hunter. The first film in the action-comedy series, One for the Money, opened Jan. 27.  The National Post has reported that Heigel may even be looking to turn Evanovich’s books into a franchise.

Plum’s first case involves tracking down her high-school boyfriend and she Read more »

Local police precincts throughout Los Angeles County have said they have already begun preparing for a widespread DUI crackdown on Super Bowl Sunday.   Their message for those contemplating driving while under the influence is simple.

Don’t do it.

NBC Los Angeles reported the Los Angeles Police Department Avoid the 100 DUI Task Force said they will be deploying special roving DUI patrols on Sunday, Feb. 5  in communities throughout the area looking to stop and arrest drivers who are impaired by alcohol or drugs. These DUI patrols are, in addition to regularly scheduled patrol officers, all looking for the tale-tell signs of an intoxicated driver behind the wheel.

In 2010, over 10,000 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes that involved at least one driver or motorcycle rider with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher, law enforcement officials said.  In California, this led to 791 deaths because someone failed to designate a sober driver.

If you are hosting a Super Bowl XLVI Party, you are asked to:

• Make sure all of your guests Read more »

An officer at the Santa Maria Police Department was fatally shot earlier this week when he was about to be arrested on charges. The officer, Albert Covarrubias Jr., was reportedly at the close of his shift at a DUI checkpoint when several colleagues arrived to arrest him.  A brief struggle ensued during which the suspect fired his gun.  Another officer on the scene  fired back, fatally wounding the suspect.

The LA Times reported the four-year veteran of the department was survived by his wife, father and sister.

It is believed the officer knew he was being investigated for allegedly having a relationship with a 17-year old girl.   The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department further Read more »