January 2024 Local Inquiry Team Retrospective Reviews

Amarik K. Singh OIG OFFICE of the Inspector General INSPECTOR GENERAL Neil Robertson Chief Deputy Inspector General January 2024 Local Inquiry Team Retrospective Reviews Independent Published in February 2024 Prison Oversight During the January 2024 review period, the OIG’s Local Inquiry Team retrospectively reviewed two random local inquiry cases that were closed by the department in June 2023 and September 2023, respectively, in order to assess the department’s performance on local inquiry cases that our office did not contemporaneously monitor. OIG Case Number Rating Assessment 23-0067224-INQ Poor Case Summary On May 18, 2023, three officers allegedly failed to address an incarcerated person’s safety concerns when she twice raised her concerns to the officers about a second incarcerated person whom she believed could potentially harm her and other incarcerated persons. Case Disposition The hiring authority conducted an inquiry and found insufficient evidence to sustain the allegations. Overall Inquiry Assessment Overall, the department performed poorly. The investigator failed to reference relevant departmental policies or procedures and include them as supporting exhibits to the inquiry report, such as policies involving the review of incarcerated person case factors that include enemy and victimization history, vulnerability of the incarcerated person due to medical/mental health/disabilities. The Office of Internal Affairs’ Allegation Investigation Unit manager failed to identify the investigator’s omissions and approved the investigator’s inquiry report as adequate. Page 1 of 2 10111 Old Placerville Road, Suite 110, Sacramento, California 95827 5 Telephone: (916) 288-4233 5 www.oig.ca.gov Amarik K. Singh OIG OFFICE of the Inspector General INSPECTOR GENERAL Neil Robertson Chief Deputy Inspector General January 2024 Local Inquiry Team Retrospective Reviews Published in February 2024 Independent Prison Oversight OIG Case Number Rating Assessment 24-0072385-INQ Poor Case Summary On June 20, 2023, an incarcerated person confronted an officer for delivering his legal mail unsealed. The officer then allegedly intimidated the incarcerated person, by telling him that if he wanted trouble, he should speak to his cellmate about the officer’s reputation. Case Disposition The hiring authority conducted an inquiry and found insufficient evidence to sustain the allegation. Overall Inquiry Assessment Overall, the department performed poorly. The inquiry report failed to document the condition of the legal mail prior to the first officer taking possession. The inquiry report also did not document the time frame for when the legal mail was delivered to the incarcerated person, which would have allowed the retrieval of video evidence. Instead, the investigator did not review any video evidence. The investigator also failed to identify legal mail policies and procedures and include them as supporting exhibits to the inquiry report. The Office of Internal Affair’s Allegation Investigation Unit manager and the hiring authority failed to identify the investigator’s omissions in the inquiry report and incorrectly deemed the inquiry report as adequate. Page 2 of 2 10111 Old Placerville Road, Suite 110, Sacramento, California 95827 5 Telephone: (916) 288-4233 5 www.oig.ca.gov