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As Sheriff, I have a dual role: to protect the community from those within our custody; and to provide a secure, safe and rehabilitative facility for those in custody and on staff. The San Francisco Sheriff's Department serves as a bridge between the community at large and the community confined, with corresponding responsibilities to both.

Recently, as part of our effort to enhance our customer service information system, we inaugurated the California State Victim Information and Notification Everyday System (VINE). This allows victims of crimes in San Francisco to receive email or telephone notifications of offenders' custody status in California jails and prisons. This free and anonymous service allows victims to be notified within 30 minutes when an offender is released from custody, and within 8 hours if an inmate is transferred to another facility. Knowing this information can help alleviate a victim's uncertainty or concern about an offender's status.

As a means of making our department more effective for those within our care, we are also pursuing the replacement of County Jails 3 and 4. These two jails were built over 55 years ago and reflect an antiquated linear design that compacts inmate housing and prohibiting 80 percent of our rehabilitation programming. Current conditions are deplorable.

Due to the building's chronic disrepair and the aftermath of 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, on scale of 4 being the worst, these two jails have been State rated as a level 3 on the seismic hazard scale. In 2006, it was determined by the City's Capital Improvement Committee that 850 Bryant Street, The Hall of Justice, shall be demolished. County Jails 3 and 4 exist on the top two floors of the HOJ and consist of approximately 900 beds. Upon becoming Sheriff in 2012, we started to review the methodology proposed for the replacement jails. Instead of a one-to-one bed replacement, we determined that we can manage with less beds. As practice goes in the United States, while many local, state and federal jurisdictions are accustomed to expanding jail space, with the replacement of our two jails, San Francisco will be the first major county in decades to be reducing its aggregate jails beds - by almost 30 percent.

Due to a range of factors that make San Francisco's criminal justice partners unique in how we apply diversion, alternatives to incarceration for low level offenses and victimless crimes, we are under-crowded by almost 40% - practically no misdemeanants. But, the complexity of those within our care grows significantly. Ranging from medium to maximum security to inmates with acute psychiatric needs, and rival gang segregation, among other reasons, the math doesn't allow us the ability to forego the need to replace County Jails 3 and 4. If we did, we would overload our County Jail 5 in San Bruno (15 miles south of SF), thus forcing us to contract out beds elsewhere while denying reentry programming that I insist be concomitant with an inmate's stay. Reducing the number of people in jail cannot be achieved by simply reducing the existence of jail facilities. There is no question that we over incarcerate in this country, but to meaningfully reduce the jail population means that we must start with a renewed focus on how people land in jail. As the Sunday, July 11, 2013, editorial in the New York Times states: "In fact, California's problem is not excessive crime, but excessive punishment."

I was present for Attorney General Eric Holder's remarks at the American Bar Association convening on August 12th. What AG Holder gestured for the nation is already underway in San Francisco. But we must go further - address the mental health and substance abuse issues that make jail the treatment of last resort, reexamine harsh sentencing laws that disproportionately affect poor people and people of color, and provide meaningful employment and housing options for the formerly incarcerated to keep them from returning. That's how we don't build jails.

The Sheriff's Department maintains a specialized trained unit responsible for identifying and housing inmates in a proper and safe manner. This unit also insures the safety and security of staff by providing information on an inmate's criminal behavior and history. The "Class Unit", as it is affectionately called, operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is staffed with a total of 27 sworn employees including supervisors. The Class Unit uses an objective classification system based on interviews, criminal database information and other sources to score point-based housing levels referred to as minimum, medium or maximum. Deputies are responsible for screening inmates for potential threat risks, escape risks, and vulnerability in order to prevent victimization and to ensure uniformity in jail operations.

The classification deputies take many factors into consideration when making housing decisions. These include an inmate's gang affiliations, gender non-conformity, criminal history, drug usage, propensity for violence, medical needs, suicidal tendencies and psychological behaviors. In some cases an inmate will require an individualized management program due to these factors. Classification deputies are routinely subpoenaed to testify in matters regarding all of the above. Other duties include rescreening inmates on a daily basis to determine eligibility for our many custody programs.

Deputies working in classification all agree that administrative segregation housing is the hardest, most time-consuming housing units we have to maintain and manage. 

Administrative Segregation is restrictive housing referred, to as "Ad-Seg" and is used to keep an individual separate from the general population for their own safety or for the safety of others. Inmates in administrative segregation may have a higher potential for violence, suffer from acute psychiatric conditions, and/or have some vulnerability that warrants separate housing in conjunction with the use of restraint gear when moving the inmate from one location to another. The class deputies are consistently working with the supervisors and line staff at the various jails to configure appropriate housing needs for these inmates.

The Classification Unit also represents the department in San Francisco's anti-gang programs such as Ceasefire and the City Attorney's gang injunctions. The Class team is a great group of diverse personalities who work hard and come together with one objective to provide a safe environment for all those in the jails everyday!