Keep Bailing

KESQ.com has reported that the Riverside County Indio Jail was placed on lockdown last week for misplaced equipment.  Representatives from the jail declined to comment as to the nature of the temporarily missing equipment.

Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Ed Reynoso said the lockdown began at 10 a.m. and lasted until approximately 10:45 a.m.  The jail continued to accept bookings once the lockdown was lifted.

The Indio jail serves the Coachella Valley and is run by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.  Constructed in 1959, the facility represents approximately 9% of the county’s Read more »

Jail overcrowding has become a major concern across California. In Riverside County, officials are looking at all possible options to help reduce the problem in the county. The county’s oldest facility, the Indio Jail, is being looked at for expansion.

The 353-bed detention center has faced severe overcrowding throughout the years, being forced to release inmates prematurely. Expanding the facility is thought to be the fastest and most cost-effective solution, as opposed to a previous effort to build a 7,200 bed facility to be used by the entire county.

The 60-year-old facility doesn’t show as much wear as people would expect, due in part to the upkeep by the inmates. Jail staff members also take pride in maintaining the facility by keeping up with all necessary repairs.

One of the most pressing issues with the jail is the lack of Read more »

If you ever want to know how bail does not work or what bondsman do not do, here’s a primer: A Riverside bail bondsman was arrested on Wednesday for an alleged kidnapping with ransom and assault with a deadly weapon charge. He was taken in for booking and processing at the Riverside County Jail known as Robert Presley Detention Center with bail set at $1 Million dollars.

In July, a customer used Bail Bonds United. In turn, the bail bond company posted the bond but the customer is said to have not been able to pay the premium (the bail bond fee, which is generally arranged in advance) to bondsman, according to the California Department of Insurance. Thus, Bail Bonds United and Damion Paul Perkins, also the co-owner, became quite dissatisfied.

Allegedly in August, Perkins (the bondsman now in custody) and a fellow male went the customer’s home, order him out at gun Read more »

Reportedly, County Sheriff Stan Sniff received the go ahead from his Riverside County Board of Supervisors to hire guards and other staff to run several new cell blocks that were just added to the  Banning jail. The board gave the Sheriff’s Department $12.6 million to do so, after a unanimous vote. This means that 142 new jobs will be available in 2010-11, which is great news for some in a struggling economy.  An additional  $750,000 earmarked for hires was also received by Sniff. 

The Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility, aka “Banning Jail“, upgrades are expected to be finished next month, but until now Sheriff Sniff feared he would not have enough funds to hire these security and administrative personnel, thanks to a former $50 million county deficit.

Now, 45 sworn law enforcement personnel are Read more »

The scene was like something out of a Hollywood action movie.  Helicopters buzzed Riverside’s East neighborhood while officers in flak jackets and helmets served warrants.  This sweep has been dubbed Operation Promise, and it was the culmination of a sixteen month long investigation aimed at crippling gang hierarchy and cutting off its cash flow from drugs and weapons.

On the morning of January 27, 2010, six hundred and fifty officers from thirty-four local and federal agencies swarmed the Riva Gang’s territory and arrested fifty alleged gang members, including Riva leaders and members of their rival gang, the 1200 Blocc Crips.

For years, the East Side Riva gangs Read more »

Riverside CA — Cattle theft in the Inland Empire is not a common occurrence. However, this week Cherry Valley resident, Steven Seick 47 was arrested and jailed by the Riverside Sheriff’s Department for stealing cattle and attempting to sell them off at an Ontario auction. 

Seick is now behind bars, and has been accused of stealing the cattle (worth about $3,600) from the Morongo Indian reservation. He tried selling eight of the head of cattle an an Ontario stockyard. That’s when officials were called in.

The state branding inspector described the cattle as being from the Morongo Tribal Cattlemen’s Association.

Stockyard owner, Jeremy Gorham explained Read more »