The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that it has released more than 300 inmates from Santa Rita Jail in Dublin as a safety measure in an effort to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Sheriff Gregory Ahern said in a phone interview that he took that action at the request of Alameda County Presiding Judge Tara Desautels, Public Defender Brendon Woods and District Attorney Nancy O’Malley.
Ahern said 247 inmates were approved for early release after their sentences were modified and another 67 inmates were released by the court on their own recognizance.
Ahern said his office will continue to release inmates when it’s feasible while still protecting the public’s safety. He said the inmates who’ve been released were relatively low-level offenders.
The release of the 314 inmates reduces the number of inmates at Santa Rita to 2,401, according to sheriff’s officials.
Ahern said he has directed police departments in Alameda County to only bring serious offenders to Santa Rita to be booked so that the jail doesn’t get too crowded.
He said in discussions with police chiefs in the county, he has told them to issue misdemeanor citations in the field when it’s feasible.
But Ahern said, “All felony suspects are still being booked into Santa Rita.”
Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said Ahern’s directive resulted in only 46 new inmates being booked into Santa Rita on Wednesday, which he said is much fewer than the normal level of about 100 inmates a day.
Kelly said an additional 14 new inmates had been booked as of 1 p.m. Thursday.
Ahern said deputies who normally work at Alameda County courthouses that are now closed because of COVID-19 have been reassigned to work at Santa Rita.
He said deputies who work at the jail have been placed on mandatory overtime because of the coronavirus so the reassignment of the courthouse deputies has reduced the strain on jail deputies.
Referring to the coronavirus pandemic, Ahern said, “We’re all very apprehensive and the effect on our lives is very pronounced. But my deputies have responded to every request and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Kelly said no one in the sheriff’s office has tested positive for COVID-19 so far.
They know exactly what they are doing. This is nothing political. duh…
That is truly infuriating. If CCC does that in Martinez, and 300 inmates come strolling down Alhambra Ave., I’ll blow a gasket for sure.
Lighten up! Did you even bother to read the entire article? Probably not!
don’t woory they will right back in
I understand that the virus could spread rapidly among the inmates but at the same time I figure there must have been a good reason to lock them up in the first place. Perhaps isolating the inmates at high risk would be a better solution. I think releasing inmates should be a last ditch attempt at controlling the outbreak.
I hope its worth letting 314 losers out to protect the rest of the inmates. Is that so they can be kept 6 feet apart?
ZERO Surprise.
Would be interesting to find out what percentage of those of those 2,401 inmates at Santa Rita are failures of this state’s educational system and or lack skills an employer would be willing to pay up for ?
Keep in mind after liberals spent $10,306,082 conning voters into passing Prop 47, . . . $950 or less is a misdemeanor.
Personal drug use also a misdemeanor.
https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_47,_Reduced_Penalties_for_Some_Crimes_Initiative_(2014)
If you can’t see that we don’t have time for other options, I don’t know how to explain it to you.
The problem with what they are calling “low level” is we don’t know what they were originally arrested for. How many felonies were dropped down to a misdemeanor? After a plea deal, their high level crime became a low level crime. A person convicted of drug possession could also have had a weapons charge that was dismissed. Too many violent criminals get off by a plea bargain all the time.
Well, my firearms are all cleaned and my ammo sorted. We all respond to these things in our own way.
So the shelter in place order should be understood to be enforcible by fine only. No wonder the homeless were exempted.
Ahern is not a bleeding heart liberal, so this isn’t liberalism run amok. This is just logistics and the reality of the situation, given that Santa Rita holds more people than it was ever designed to hold. It’s overcrowded, unsanitary, and there isn”t enough health care staff to deal with a medical crisis.
My 27 year old niece is currently incarcerated for 6 months in another state. Won’t get into much detail but I don’t think she belongs there. I’m really worried about her. Soap is a luxury. She’s a newbie and learned the hard way that while you are showering they will steal your soap. She is in a cell in lockdown with 6 other women. She is the sweetest , albeit not brightest girl. I want her home for her safety.
yes, this feels more like a set-up from the beginning, to create panic and disorder, then pass ordinances to take over. Beware if they try to come for the guns
Isn’t a government bailout a form of socialism? Aren’t government handouts a form of socialism? The Senate GOP is proposing a $1,200 handout. Who’s imposing a socialist agenda now? Is the GOP throwing the Constitution out the window? This rant makes no more or less sense than your rant.
Letting criminals out into the general public is an insane, stupid idea no matter how you try to justify it. It’s the easy way out. This is why gun sales are going threw the roof all across our nation.
They are in jail for a reason. Letting them out is not a solution. Stop visitation and they are probably safer then we are.
Nothing to see here since Newson has now placed all of us under house arrest.. I’m sure they are all at home…. obeying the law ….¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Since It’s likely nobody in jail has been out of the country recently, perhaps its a pretty safe place to be. No visitors, careful screening of staff etc. Releasing them into the population probably increases their odds of being infected and certainly our odds of becoming their victims.
So, where is the upside in this decision?
The disease has spread into the general population, it’s not just people who have been overseas. There are several cases of people who got sick who hadn’t left the country. A sick person could infect a corrections officer or other jail employee, who then brings it into the jail and it could spread. Or a person who was infected could have gotten arrested recently and brought it into to the jail.
The jail needs to take precautions and that means reducing the overcrowding, so they can do “social distancing”.
Their*
That’s just great. Now we have to deal with them AND the coronavirus.
Keep an even more intent eye(s) one your things and kids. The bad guy population just increased.
‘Low level offenders’. They are the ones who get released from prisons and jails, and who are currently causing the huge surge of auto burglaries, home burglaries, mail theft, porch packages theft, and so. It’s all thanks to the democrat politicians and liberal voters who love, support and encourage criminals.