UNIT COMMANDER
Unit commanders shall monitor the grievance process in their facilities to identify, modify, or eliminate practices which are unnecessary or may impede the accomplishment of the Division's mission and goals.
As a part of this process, unit commanders shall be responsible for:
- Monitoring monthly statistics to ensure that the Department's investigations of grievances, responses to grievances, grievance appeals, and notifications to inmates are being conducted in accordance with the standards and procedures set forth in this policy;
- Analyzing inmate grievances to identify problematic trends;
- Reviewing and monitoring the Personnel Recording and Monitoring System (PRMS) to ensure that grievances against staff are appropriately tracked and documented.
Inmate grievance and appeal information shall be utilized as an early warning indicator to identify and respond to potential sources of liability for the Department.
DIVISION INMATE GRIEVANCE COORDINATOR
The Division Inmate Grievance Coordinator shall conduct monthly reviews of all units within Custody Operations to ensure compliance with the standards and procedures set forth in this policy. Any irregularities identified by the Division Inmate Grievance Coordinator shall be reviewed by the unit commander from the originating unit and reported back to the Division Inmate Grievance Coordinator.
In addition, as part of the audit process for inmate grievances, the Division Inmate Grievance Coordinator shall be responsible for:
- Reviewing emergency grievances received and handled by each facility and/or unit and determine if they were handled in accordance with policy and notifying the respective facility's unit commander if any were not handled properly;
- Maintaining and reviewing a grievance collection log and monitoring compliance with the collection procedures set forth in this policy;
- Regularly tracking the Department's handling of inmate grievances, ensuring that the investigations are completed timely and reasonably, and that inmates are notified of the results of the investigations;
- Providing a monthly report to unit commanders and Custody Operations executives of the status of inmate grievances, the timeliness of the Department’s investigations of the grievances, responses to grievances and grievance appeals, and notifications to inmates of the results of the investigations and grievance appeals;
- Analyzing inmate grievances monthly to identify any problematic trends and providing that analysis in a monthly report to unit commanders and Custody Operations executives.
DIVISION EXECUTIVES
Division executives, under the direction of the Assistant Sheriff of Custody Operations, shall review and monitor the inmate grievance process and shall ensure it operates effectively and consistently with this policy.