According to a study by the FBI, violent crimes such as rape, murder, assault and robbery saw a large decrease in the cities of Garden Grove, Orange and Santa Ana. This fall in violent crimes reported to the police is in line with the nationwide decrease of 6.4 percent for the first half of 2011.

One publication listed Lake Forest, Irvine and Mission Viejo among the safest cities. Forbes included the city of Santa Ana on its list of the safest communities in the country.

While violent crimes have decreased greatly, property crimes only saw a meager drop this year.

The City of Anaheim was the only city that had an increase in both property crime ad violent crimes during the first six months of the year. Violent crime increased 15 percent, according to FBI statistics.

The FBI study has shown a steady drop in crime across the nation for the past several years. Violent crimes are down 13 percent across the country since 2001 and property crimes have dropped nine percent since 2006.

Irvine, which calls itself “America’s Safest City”, has the lowest per capita violent crime rate in the nation. This is due, according to police officials, to the community involvement and policing strategy that is in place. However, property crime in Irvine jumped up 25 percent during the first half of 2011.

The CQ Press ranked Irvine #6 on its list of the safest cities. Mission Viejo was #3 and Lake Forest #12. Santa Ana was ranked #4 on the Forbes list of the safest cities.

The 2006 beating reportedly occurred because the defendants believed the inmate to be a child molester. Jurors found Garret Eugene Aguilar, Stephen Paul Carlstrom, Jared Louis Petrovich, Miguel Angel Guillen, and Raul Villafana,  guilty of the crime.  They all face 15 years to life.

“A grand jury probe concluded that the beating death grew out of an institutional culture that allowed inmates to run the jails while deputies watched television and slept at times,” wrote OC City News Service reporter Paul Anderson. “[Former OC Sheriff's deputy Kevin Taylor] has been accused of watching ‘Cops’ and text-messaging during the beating, just about 68-feet away from the blind spot at the jail.” Prosecutors issued a scathing report on how the jails are run after the beating, but never charged any of the guards.

Another three other men, Michael Stewart Garten,  Christopher Teague, and Jeremy Dezso Culmann, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in January. Defendant Eric Charles Miller is being tried separately.  Miller has been charged with murder.

When you think of Orange County Jail perhaps you think of recent headlines about inmate beatings and overcrowding or perhaps you’ve seen explosive television where the OC Sheriff’s Department is working hard to rebuild it’s image only to have the worst happen. In either case, my guess is you don’t think about song and joy.

Greg Rynerson Bail Bonds continues with the fifth in our series on California jails: Inside Orange County James Musick Jail. Musick, Orange County’s Irvine detention facility, gets “rocked” by “Bobby Cash” (aka Bob Millspaugh, singer and acoustic guitar player) on the third Friday of every month. No, you can’t buy tickets, but we’ll take you Inside The Jail.

Is there a jail you’d like to know more about? Let us know. We’ll get you “Inside” (or, if you need we’ll get you out!).

“Police officers get a bad rap all the time,” said Weekes. “But I’ve come to realize that all they are trying to do is keep the community safe.”

This is the third graduating class from the six-week program which was held on Saturdays. Students get a chance to tackle obstacle courses, utilize problem-solving skills in hypothetical scenarios, and find out the amount of force that should be used against suspects.

According to the head of the program, Sgt. Dave Dattola, the goal of the program is to teach young people “about ethics, decision-making and consequences.”

A lot of the students in this special program have already shown an interest in joining the Department’s Explorer program or pursuing a career in law enforcement.

“But what we teach in here, the principles of integrity, perseverance and honor, really apply to any filed,” said Dattola.

Nearly 40 percent of the participants in this year’s program were girls. Maira Soria, 17, from Hillview High in Tustin said she was most excited about the K9 unit.

“I love dogs,” she said. “What these officers do is really interesting. That’s something I would love to pursue.”

This program has been beneficial in providing role models for the students. Pat Weekes, mother of a student, said, “It was really important for him to interact with not only his peers but these positive role models. I have seen a change in him over the last few weeks. I see a lot more respect and a little less attitude.”

Ronald Lee Brockwayof Seal Beach, has been sentenced to a year in jail, three years of formal probation, and isn’t allowed to perform bail bonds services again for six months, according to prosecutors. Brockway had pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors of violating bail license regulations, which in the beginning were felonies.

According to California Law, it is illegal to ever solicit bail business — from inmates or their families. The law also includes soliciting of or recommending attorneys to bail bond clients, regardless of a money exchange.

Brockway sent numerous e-mails to attorneys suggesting that the attorneys should refer bail bond business to him while in exchange; he would offer his clients to those attorneys, which would “increase both of our earnings substantially.”

Along with trying to solicit to attorney, Brockway also solicited to inmates by mailing mass flyers to the Orange County Jail. The flyers, along with Brockway’s contact information included, “Get out of jail today by calling now!”

Furthermore, in 2005, Brockway testified to an Orange County Grand Jury that he had been receiving cash payments from then attorney, Joseph Cavallo, in exchange for referrals. Brockway was never prosecuted in that case, because his testimony was used to prosecute others.

Cavallo was convicted of engaging in “client capping,” which is paying for clients. Cavallo was sentenced on December 14, 2007 to serve six months in jail.

An anonymous phone call was made to the District Attorney’s office about receiving an odd e-mail; the one is which Brockway asked for attorney referrals, thus spawning the investigation into Brockway.

As honest bondsmen, we’re glad this guy is in jail. I find it appauling, however, that they would ever let him engage in bail services again. Hopefully, the Department of Insurance will get on top of that!

Tuesday morning, former Orange County Sheriff, Michael S. Carona, surrendered himself to authorities located in Littleton, Colorado.

Carona is facing a 5 ½ year sentence due to a 2007 felony charge of corruption dealing with witness tampering while he was serving on the Orange County Sheriff Department. Carona’s trial took place over a two month span back in 2009 in Santa Ana, where prosecutors argued that Carona had been accepting cash payments, participated in illicit sexual affairs and gave badges to campaign contributors as well as allowed them to carry concealed-weapon licenses.

Carona, however, was acquitted from five of the six charges but was still found guilty of encouraging Deputy Don Haidl to lie to the grand jury. Furthermore, both Carona’s wife, Deborah Carona and his mistress, Debra Hoffman, faced similar charges but were dropped after the acquittal of Michael Carona.

Carona had been set free on bail after appealing his conviction. At that time, judges determined that Carona was not a flight risk and let him remain free until the starting of his sentence.

This month, a federal appeals court consisting of a three-judge panel, decided to uphold the conviction and demanded for Carona to surrender. Carona will be serving his time in a four-to-six man bunk area in a prison that holds no fencing and basically, allows convicts to perform landscape duties, take college classes and use exercise equipment.

It is said, that by mid-October, Theo Lacy jail facility will house up to 840 immigrant detainees. Upon agreement, Orange County is a necessary place to hold this inmate type in contract with ICE officials.

The Sheriff’s Department made this deal with the federal officials this past summer, because of a lack of funds. Each bed, referred to as “beds for feds” will cost $118 per day for each detainee. Overall, this agreement will provide $30 million for the Sheriff’s department and will help to further secure jobs throughout the department.

Many of the detainees do have criminal backgrounds or are being held for a variety of reasons, such as waiting for deportation, asylum, travel documents, appeals, and hearings. Those with criminal charges will be sent to Theo Lacy jail facility.

Part of the agreement also includes renovations for the two facilities, Theo Lacy and Musick. This will include three court rooms for the Musick jail facility.

However, bed space for this type of detainee remains at a high demand, consequently after the recent approval of different programs such as Secure Communities, which is a goal for taking in people who are in the United States illegally with a criminal record.

The defendant, Ronald Lee Brockway is being charged with two felonies for violating regulations of bail licensing. Brockway, if convicted, will lose his bail license and serve time in a state prison for a maximum sentence of three years and eight months.

According to a news release, Brockman had sent a multitude of emails to various attorneys asking them to take part in his illegal referral scheme. Prosecutors said that Brockman’s emails asked for attorneys to refer his Respect Bail Bond Company to clients, while he in turn would refer his clients to them, which would “increase both of our earnings substantially.” A California bondsman cannot refer to an attorney.

Further, Brockman is accused of conducting business with inmates using flyers mailed to inmates at the Orange County jail with his name, company and contact information, and also the statement “Get out of jail today by calling now!”

Interestingly back in October of 2005, Brockman testified against attorney Joseph Cavallo in a trial conducted under an Orange County Grand Jury hearing that stated he had received payments from Cavallo for referring accused defendants to Cavallo’s attorney office. According to prosecutors, Brockman was not charged for this because his testimony was used in prosecuting other defendants. Attorney Joseph Cavallo, however, was convicted after pleading guilty in October of 2007 with part help from Brockman’s testimony.

The DA’s Bureau of Investigation began the investigation on Brockman after the OC District Attorney received a phone call from a private attorney reporting the delivery of an email detailing Brockman’s illegal bail scheme.

Brockman’s bail is set at $50,000 upon waiting for his arraignment. Seems that Brockman has no Respect for the bail bonds industry.

We’ve been surprised how many people visit our blog and enjoy the news stories on celebrity and sports star arrests, jail issues, and police crack-downs, but don’t realize that we are a licensed, professional California bail bond company.

Greg Rynerson Bail Bonds is owned and operated by Greg Rynerson and his wife, Tonya. Greg’s dad, Cal, started a bail bond business in Orange County, California in 1971. When Cal retired, Greg had a career in the insurance industry and the business was sold. Years later, Greg started his own bail company.

Now, we’re a thriving, family owned business. We’re a mom-and-pop company that uses technology and an network of agents throughout the state to serve every jail in California. Often, potential clients assume that we are one of the larger bail companies in the state. In reality, we’re a small bail family that cares about the individuals we work with and goes the extra miles to meet their needs. We hope you enjoy our blog and if you ever need a bail bond, we’ll be here for you.

Since that incident, Assistant Sheriff Tim Board indicated that a lot has changed within the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the manner in which they use force.  This is being attributed to the newly appointed Sheriff Sandra Hutchens as the motivator reform with the OC Sheriff Department.

Board says Hutchens has already done a lot for the department.  She understands processes of accountability and risk management.  He went on to say that they are a completely different department since the 2006 Fleuret incident.

Orange County has had other problems and incidents as well. (See Orange County Jail Bail Scams, Bondsmen Sue Orange County Jail, Theo Lacy Jail Guards Accused as reference.) Between 2004 and 2007 there were over 400 reports where jail staff used tasers on inmates.

Sheriff Hutchens was responsible for reviewing the “use-of-force” policy and brought it up to industry standards.  Board said the “use-of-force” training programs have been updated as well.  The department’s sergeants and lieutenants have gone through extensive 16 hour training programs, and that deputies are now in the process.

The Orange County Sheriff has been advised that those changes do not go far enough, and to limit the use of tasers to life or death, or serious injury incidents, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.