A list of 16 city services may be considered for outsourcing. The list includes the Santa Ana Fire Department, which has been serving the city since 1883. The Department may be dismantled and it’s duties taken over by the Orange County Fire Authority. Other services being considered for outsourcing include the Santa Ana Zoo, Santa Ana City Jail, police training and animal control services, and the Santa Ana Public Library.

Several meetings took place before the list of 16 was decided upon. The city’s top departmental managers all considered what the most viable options were for outsourcing. On the possibility of outsourcing the services of the fire department, Fire Chief Dave Thomas said, “It’s not something I think we want to do, but it’s something we have to look at.”

Agencies and companies that show an interest in taking over some of the city’s services will offer bids. Walters will present outsourcing recommendations to the City Council in January, after bids have been collected. It is possible that outsourcing will lead to the layoff of city staff members, he said.

Bankruptcy is another option, but not one that the city wishes to use. Andrew Belknap of Management Partners said that it could be a gamble since legal fees may cost more than sticking to contracts with city labor unions. Only one city in California, Vallejo, has declared bankruptcy, though many cities across the state are facing financial difficulties.

Mendez got 6 months in jail, 3 years probation and a 52 week treatment program. And, of course, now he’s lost his job.

Sometimes it seems like there’s a fine line between breaking the law and enforcing the law and sometimes it seems that the same type of people can be found on either side. Granted, you’ll find most stay to their side, but you regularly find the gang member turn’s good cop and visa versa. I wonder if you checked the Orange County Jail and analyzed the people types and the type that gets hired for the local police deparment, how similar they would be?

Recently, I had a call from a woman who’s brother was arrested and was at the Van Nuys Jail. He had been in an accident while driving under the influence of alcohol. His bail was $30,000 and their mother agreed to bail him out. As our bail agent arrived at Van Nuys (and was illegally approached by street solicitors looking to cut him a 5% deal on a bond – also illegal, but that’s another post), he went into the jail with bond in hand and the jailer told him, “Sorry, the guy just had an O.R. approved.”

My guy tells the jailer, “Well, I have a bond, wouldn’t that be better for everyone?”

“Sorry, gotta O.R. him,” the agent was told. (Note that I recognize that the officer was doing what he’s told to do.)

You might be thinking, that’s great for the defendant and his family; they don’t have to pay. Well, not so fast. What are the facts about O.R. versus bail when it comes to appearance in court?

Cheif Walters of the Santa Ana Police Department cited it well when he met with bondsmen in October 2008. He told us:

The Santa Ana experience was that 95 to 98% of bailees returned to court to address the charges compared with only 25% of defendants who were cited out.

Walters went on to say that when someone doesn’t appear for court, a warrant is issued and police are supposed to go out looking for the individual, at additional cost to the public and taking time away from the officers’ other duties. In my experience that doesn’t happen; police departments just don’t have the resources. If, however, a defendant on bond doesn’t show up, the bondsman will find him. That’s our job as an agent for the court.

Day in and day out we deal with nice families and people who have had bad judgement and, yes, some criminals. The purpose of the bail system is to ensure appearance at court – and that’s a good thing! It lets people who are potentially innocent get out of jail and continue their lives; it also keeps down the over-crowding in the jails, making them safer and potentially less costly to society at large. Bail bondsmen additionally provide - at no cost to the public - oversight for the defendant: a set of eyes from the bondsman and the indemnitor (the person signing the bail bond contract), which provides a service that cite and release or release on Own Recognizance (“O.R.”) does not.

When a jailer has the ability to accept a bond or release on O.R., it costs nothing to help ensure the individual will return to court. Who pays? The defendant or their family… but isn’t a safer public worth it?

More on Benefits of Bail Bonds.

The monthly meeting of Orange County bondsmen welcomed Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters, Mike Edwards, his legal counsel, and Russ Davis, Santa Ana PD Jail Administrator. Police Chief Walters began the meeting with an interesting recount of how he came to the Department nearly 20 years ago and evolution of the Santa Ana Jail.

Apparently, many years ago, the Santa Ana Police Department made the decision to release all misdemeanors on a citation (known as “O.R.” or “Cite Out” and also called a “promise to appear”) and house only felony arrestees. According to Chief Walters, the Santa Ana experience was that 95 to 98% of bailees returned to court to address the charges compared with only 25% of defendants who were cited out. In the case of non-appearance, a bench warrant is issued for the defendant which, in the case of Santa Ana at the time, put additional duties on an already stretched-too-tight police force. The results of this practice carried a clear message: bail is a stronger, safer way to release defendants.

By my understanding, this is where Police Chief Walters came in. In order to deal with the problem immediately, he leased a pre-fab 100 man jail which was paid for with drug dealer assets. When that jail was replaced with a permanent facility which opened nearly 12 years ago, Santa Ana built the jail as a business: building a jail four times larger than needed (imagine that: forward thinking!) and Santa Ana leased space to out to house Federal prisoners. This practice continues today. The Santa Ana Police Department went even further: they hired civilian correctional employees in order to keep their police officers on the street.

Fast forward to today: Russ Davis reviewed for bondsmen how the department handles, processes and houses those arrested by the Santa Ana Police Department. He told bondsmen that his department views the police officers as his customers: officers need to be on the street, not in the jail. He said Santa Ana officers are back out on the street in an average of 10 minutes through a process known as “Fast Booking”.

From that point, defendants are booked by corrections employees and kept at the Santa Ana jail an average of 4 – 6 hours, before being transferred by underground tunnel to the Orange County Jail directly accross the street. This time-frame is longer or shorter based on return of finger prints for positive identification.

In Q&A, Cheif Walters was asked to comment on bondsmen’s perception that there are people on Santa Ana streets near the Orange County jail who are illegally negotiating bail bonds. The Cheif offered to have an Santa Ana officer speak directly with bondsmen to understand and resolve the issue.

Bondsmen also asked about the ability to bail arrestees directly from Santa Ana rather than waiting for transfer to the County jail as has been the experience. Mr. Davis indicated that it is possible to bail defendants directly from Santa Ana and that his department would work with bondsmen to identify barriers to that process.

Concluding the meeting, the Cheif offered to all, “I’ll leave you my card; it’s good for a free night’s stay.” Open to hear bondsmen’s concerns, genuinely interested in the public good, fiscally aware and a good sense of humor.

I was meeting friends in San Clemente for an annual get together. Every year, I make the long drive on a Friday in horrendous Los Angeles and Orange County, traffic through the San Fernando Valley across the 101 and down the 405 South. Quite possibly the worst traffic in the world on a hot August afternoon in my estimation! (If you don’t live in So Cal, the traffic is every bit as nasty as the movie Falling Down where Michael Douglas gets out and leaves his car on the freeway out of frustration.)

This year, I realized I could take the Amtrak Surfliner to San Clemente Pier and sit back and relax. Yes, what a lovely way to go! All fine and good until I got off one stop too soon. I had been listening to the stops and heard the next one to be San Juan Capistrano. The train stopped for about three minutes and I knew San Clemente was after San Juan, so I got off when the train stopped again. Apparently, we had stopped to let another train pass. I was feeling incredibly stupid! I may be blonde, but no one ever accused me of being air-headed. The next train being an hour later, I called for a ride. Hey, live in L.A. We don’t wait around; we drive. Pathetic, I realize… Then I discovered this lovely little neighborhood surrounding the train station.

Now, if you know the area, you probably think I’m talking about Mission San Juan Capistrano. But, on the other side of the tracks is California’s oldest neighborhood: the Los Rios Historical District - complete with a petting zoo and a Rios family member in a residence that has been occupied by the family for over 250 years. That fact alone would probably excite somebody, but I got even luckier in my find: I found the original jail complete with the holding cell! (I know you were waiting for the bail bond connection – and being a bondsman and a marketer – there always is one.)

I also found a lovely young woman working in a local shop who knew the local history. The jail cell, now sitting outside and across the street from the old jail, had two different signs: one indicating circa 1869; the other 1860. Apparently, the cell used to be inside the building, but had been dismantled, moved and reassembled.

The woman told me that when people were arrested they were kept in the holding cell until it was full, then they were moved to the main Orange County jail in Santa Ana. Wow! She didn’t know I was a bondsman or how incredibly interesting it is to me that even 150 years ago most Orange County arrests led to Santa Ana jail! What a great outing! I couldn’t have planned it better… unless I brought my camera instead of just my cell phone.