By Tracey Kaplan
San Jose Mercury News
SAN JOSE — Responding to a request by the citizens commission studying Santa Clara County’s troubled jails, Sheriff Laurie Smith reported late Thursday that she has fired 22 sworn correctional officers and suspended 27 others in the past six years — numbers she says demonstrate her “strong record” of holding problem employees accountable.
The figures surprised critics of the department, who have suggested that Smith and her administration did virtually nothing to keep correctional officers in line prior to late August, when three guards allegedly beat mentally ill inmate Michael Tyree to death. Seven of the terminations, or about a third, were for misconduct toward inmates, either excessive force or verbal abuse. Smith also moved swiftly to arrest the three correctional officers accused of killing Tyree, and they have since been charged with murder.
“Day in and day out, the overwhelming majority of our custody officers and staff conduct themselves honorably and professionally,” Smith and Undersheriff John Hirokawa said in a written statement. “In the instances where that has not been the case we have a strong record of holding those individuals accountable and we will continue to do so.”
But the report, which offers a rare glimpse of wrongdoing by law enforcement, did nothing to sway the head of the jail improvement commission, who remains convinced of the necessity for independent oversight of the county’s three jails. The sheriff has said she is open to that possibility.
“No matter what these stats show, I am persuaded more than ever that independent oversight is absolutely essential,” said chairwoman LaDoris Cordell, a retired Superior Court judge and San Jose’s former independent police auditor. “Any taxpayer-funded system that operates in the dark and gives individuals the power and authority to use force to maintain control is a system that will remain ripe for problems and corruption.”
It was unclear Thursday whether the discipline meted out by Smith — firing 22 sworn officers and suspending 27 others over a six-year period — was more frequent or severe than the actions of her predecessor Ed Flores, the former head of Department of Correction, who retired when Smith, whose department took over the jails in a 2010 cost-cutting move, has fired an average 3.6 officers a year since. Flores said they were in keeping with his actions.
“Her numbers are not high at all,” Flores said. “Ours were four or five a year, or even six.”
In comparison, San Jose police fired 11 sworn officers over the five-year period from 2010 through 2014, or about 2.2 officers. The comparison is not perfect because the jobs of jail guards and patrol officers are markedly different.
The acting president of the union that represents many of the more than 735 jail guards, the Santa Clara County Correctional Peace Officers Association, declined to comment Thursday. Among correctional officers under pending personnel investigations is Lance Scimeca, who had represented the county jailer’s union as president until he was suspended last fall for unspecified reasons. Sources told this newspaper he had been among a dozen or so jailers found to have shared text messages on their personal phones with racist and violent tones, something the sheriff called “absolutely shameful.”
The 21-page report briefly lists all Internal Affairs investigations from 2010 through 2015 of sworn correctional officers and civilian employees who deal with inmates that were “sustained,” meaning found to be true. The sanctions are final, meaning they either were not disputed or were upheld by arbitration. They do not include pending actions, including against the three officers accused of beating Tyree to death.
Six of the officers Smith fired had been arrested for drunken driving or other alleged motor vehicle offenses, including committing hit-and-runs.
Six other officers engaged in romantic or otherwise inappropriate relationships with inmates, including some who improperly accessed criminal databases for those inmates.
While the correctional officers’ union would not comment, the union that represents deputy sheriffs, who are also under Smith’s supervision, issued a short statement. It commended Smith for the terminations, which they called “clear and appropriate, given the circumstances,” but claimed without offering specifics that she does not treat the rank and file and the higher-ups the same.
“Not everyone is meant for this job,” the statement said. “However, where the sheriff fails is in the discipline of managers, where there appears to be none.”
2010:
#1 officer lied on report about inmate altercation, profanity toward inmates, may have left inmates unsecured
#2 officer unnecessary force, lied about actions, claimed to have a concussion
#3 officer arrested by CHP, admitted being under influence of alcohol and cocaine
#4 officer arrested for drunken driving, probationary release
#5 officer arrested for two hit and runs, and resisting arrest
#6 off-duty officer involved in inappropriate or romantic relationship with former inmate and convicted felon
#7 officer involved in inappropriate/romantic relationship with convicted felon in custody, also used law enforcement database illegally and gave inmate contraband items
2011:
#1 probationary release, officer involved in romantic or otherwise inappropriate relationship with inmate or convicted felon, used law enforcement database, provided false info during department investigations, impeded investigations by advising involved party
#2 officer engaged in verbally offensive banter and made derogatory and inappropriate remarks to pair of female arrestees in intake/booking lobby.
#3 officer involved in excessive force incident in intake/booking lobby and failed to accurately report the facts
#4 off-duty officer arrested for drunken driving, resisting arrest in solo car accident, observed removing an ammo cartridge from arresting officer’s rifle.
#5 officer made untruthful statements in interview with internal affairs
#6 officer involved in romantic or otherwise inappropriate relationship with inmate or convicted felon, disobeyed order to stop, submitted false reports, used computer databases without legitimate need
#7 officer developed inappropriate relationships with inmates in and out of custody, facilitated the exchange of drugs, cell phones and communications with those inmates, and profited, provided false statements to investigators, etc.
# 8 officer failed to perform necessary duties, made false entries into log books
2012:
#1 officer cursed and yelled at inmate and removed him from his inmate worker job for no reason.
#2 off-duty officer arrested for drunken driving
#3 officer was unprofessional and used obscene langauge when interacting with inmates, relaliated v inmates after they submitted a grievance
#4 civilian worker, involved in sexual relationships with inmates in and out of custody. provided inmates with contraband.
#5 civilian worker, negligent in duties, lied, jeopardized inmates’ safety, took unauthorized photos at jail facility
#6 Officer involved in inappropriate relationship with inmate and violated the law during it, violated law enforcement database rules and failed to report association with known felon
2013:
#1 officer convicted of misdemeanor involving forged loan documents
#2 officer engaged in outside employment that he failed to report and engaged in conduct that would tend to discredit the dept and county
#3 officer involved in excessive force incident with inmates, failed to accurately report the facts
2014:
none
2015:
None, but several pending actions
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