86-040 Monthly Report of the Secure Confinement of Minors in Jails or Lockups

The Department is mandated by the State to report to the Department of Youth Authority statistical information on the number of juveniles placed in a secure confinement during each month for more than six (6) hours. These statistics have been erroneously reported by some of our stations and are now the basis for a request for an injunction by the Public Justice Foundation.

Station Jailers are responsible for the accurate recording in the Disposition column of the Jailer's Record: Arrest and Court Book (also referred to as the "Gate Book") The first time a juvenile is placed into a locked cell and the last time the juvenile is released from a locked cell. The reason (home, DPSS, etc.) must be included.

Additionally, station jailers are responsible for assuring that the station secretary receives the proper release information which identifies the person released, the reason for the release, and the actual time of release. The release form shall be initialed by the secretary entering the booking information and time of entry shall be noted. The completed release form shall be maintained in the unit's U.R.N. files. A suggested release form format is attached.

Station secretaries responsible for updating the booking system shall accurately reflect the time a juvenile is booked as well as the time that the subject is physically released from custody, not the time the booking system is updated.

Inaccuracies on the release time (i.e., using the time a jailer notifies the station clerk of a release in lieu of the actual time of release) have resulted in the Department appearing to have held a large number of juveniles in custody for over 24 hours.

The above procedure will ensure accurate recording of booking and release information even when a delay is imminent in entering booking information because of the "systems being down" and/or excessive workload.