| California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation | |
| Common name | California Department of Corrections |
| Abbreviation | CDCR |
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| Patch of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. | |
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| Logo of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. | |
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| Badge Patch of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation | |
| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | 2005 |
| Preceding agency | California Department of Corrections California Youth Authority |
| Employees | 57,641 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | State of California, USA |
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| CDCR Locations map | |
| Size | 163,696 square miles |
| Population | 36,756,666 (2008 est.)[1] |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Sacramento, California |
| Officers | 32,772 |
| Civilians | 24,869 |
| Agency executive | Matthew Cate, Director |
| Website | |
| CDC Website | |
| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is responsible for the operation of the California state corrections, rehabilitation, probation and parole systems. CDCR is also responsible for enforcement and investigations of parolees and prison inmates as well as supervision and monitoring of state prison inmates. The CDCR is the second largest law enforcement or police agency in the United States behind the New York City Police Department which employees approximately 34,000 police officers. As of 2009, CDCR employees approximately 29,000 peace officers (state correctional officers), 1,800 state parole agents, and 692 criminal investigators/special agents.
Following are the top 6 largest law enforcement or police agencies in the United States: 1) New York Police Department (34,000 officers); 2) California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (31,000 officers); 3) Chicago Police Department (15,000 officers); 4) Los Angeles Police Department (13,000 officers); 5) Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (9700 deputies) 6) California Highway Patrol (9,905 officers).
Contents |
In 1851, California activated its first state run institutions. This institution was a 268-ton wooden ship named "The Waban", and was anchored in the San Francisco Bay.[2] The prison ship housed 30 inmates who subsequently constructed San Quentin State Prison, which opened in 1852 with approximately 68 inmates.[3] Since 1852, the Department has activated thirty one prisons across the state.
In 2004, a Corrections Independent Review Panel appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and led by former Governor George Deukmejian noted "California's $6 billion correctional system suffers from a multitude of problems — out-of-control costs; a recidivism rate far exceeding that of any other state; reported abuse of inmates by correctional officers; an employee disciplinary system that fails to punish wrongdoers; and the failure of correctional institutions to provide youth wards and inmates with mandated health care and other services."[4] Among other recommendations to address these problems, the Panel suggested "Reorganizing the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency."[4] The Agency had consisted of "the Department of Corrections, the Department of the Youth Authority, the Board of Prison Terms, the Board of Corrections, the Commission on Correctional Peace Officer Standards and Training, the Narcotic Addict Evaluation Board and the Youth Authority Board."[5]
Schwarzenegger made a reorganization plan public in January 2005 implementing many of the recommendations of the panel but without "a citizens commission overseeing the state's entire correctional operation."[6] The reorganization became effective on July 1, 2005.[5] The CDCR's current Divisions and Boards include (among others):[7][8]
CDCR operates all state institutions, and oversees variety of community correctional facilities and camps, and supervises and manages all parolees during their entry back into society.
According to the Department’s official Web site, "Currently there are 33 adult correctional institutions, 13 adult community correctional facilities, and eight juvenile facilities in California that house more than 165,000 adult offenders and nearly 3,200 juvenile offenders."[11] This inmate population makes the CDCR the largest state-run prison system in the United States.[12]
Regarding adult prisons, CDCR has the task of receiving and housing inmates that were convicted of felony crimes within the State of California. When an adult inmate arrives at a state prison, he/she is assigned a classification based on his/her committed offense. Each prison is designed to house different varieties of inmate offenders, from Level I inmates to Level IV inmates; the higher the level, the higher risk the inmate poses. Selected prisons within the state are equipped with security housing units, reception centers, and/or "condemned" units. These security levels are defined as follows:[13]
CDCR correctional peace officers are law enforcement officers per California penal code sections 830.2 and 830.5, as their primary duties are to provide public safety and law enforcement services in and outside of state institutional grounds, state medical facilities, and camps, while engaged in the performance of their duties. In addition, CDCR employs about 700 Special Agents (criminal investigators) who are assigned statewide to investigations of organized crime, prison gangs, intelligence, and narcotics enforcement.
The primary duties of the CDCR peace officers include, but are not limited to, providing public safety, protection, and law enforcement services in and around the perimeter of California's adult and youth institutions, fire camps, and community correctional facilities. In addition, these officers monitor and supervise state prison inmates, wards, and parolees who are released back into the general public. These officers also serves as liaison to all law enforcement agencies and maintains working relationships with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Other primary duties include: dignitary protection of upper state management, investigation and apprehension of escapees and parolees at large (PAL), identification and gathering of statewide gang intelligence as well as statewide coordination of same. Some of the special operations of department of corrections include: Investigations Services Unit, Gang Investigations, Transportation Units, Crisis Response Teams (CERT)formally called Special Emergency Response Teams (SERT),similar to a SWAT, Crisis Negotiators, K-9 units, Narcotics Units, etc. Currently there are over 30,000 Peace Officers including Supervisors (Sergeants, Lieutenants and Captains) employed by the Department of Corrections. There are also over 3,000 counselors and 1,500 State Parole Agents who are also peace officer classfications.
CDCR Peace Officers are trained at the Basic Correctional Peace Officer Academy located in Galt, California and Stockton, California. Cadets must complete a 16-week, formal and comprehensive training program. The curriculum consists of hundreds of hours of training and ranks among the top three correctional academies in the nation according to the Department website. Instruction includes but is not limited to firearms training, chemical agents, non-lethal impact weapons, arrest and control techniques and State of California law and Department policies. Cadets must also successfully complete Peace Officer Standards and Training courses (POST). Upon completion of the academy cadets attend a graduation ceremony where they are then sworn in as State Peace Officers. Upon assignment to their work institution or location, these officers also go further training for 2 years as a apprentice officer. Once completion of their 2 year training then they are considered a regular state correctional peace officer (CDCR officer)[14]
Officers of the department are represented by the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (the CCPOA.) It was founded in 1957 and its stated goals include the protection and safety of officers, and the advocation of laws, funding and policies to improve work operations and protect public safety. The union has had its controversies over the years, including criticism of its large contributions to former California Governor Gray Davis. Since the California recall election, 2003, the CCPOA has been a vocal critic of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In June, 2008, the union came under investigation from the from both the California Office of the Inspector General and the CDCR for its role in the hiring of a 21-year-old parolee by Minorities in Law Enforcement, an affiliate of CCPOA.[15]
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page Web site, since the inception of what is currently CDCR, 33 employees have been killed in the line of duty.[16] Most recently, on January 10, 2005, Officer Manuel Ariza Gonzalez Jr. was killed in the line of duty at the California Institution for Men located in Chino.[17] An inmate fatally stabbed Officer Gonzalez with a shank (inmate manufactured knife).[18] The suspect was later charged with "assault by a life prisoner," which is a capital crime in California, and with murder[19]; however, as of October 2007 no trial date had been set.[20]
According to the Department’s official Web site, "there are more than 148,000 adult parolees and 3,800 juvenile parolees supervised by the CDCR."[11] A 2002 article found that "California’s growth in the numbers of people on parole supervision — and in the numbers whose parole has been revoked — has far exceeded the growth in the rest of the nation."[21] California accounted for 12 percent of the U.S. population but 18% of the U.S. parole population, and almost 90,000 California parolees returned to prison in 2000.[21]
At San Quentin, the non-profit organization California Reentry Program "helps inmates re-enter society after they serve their sentences."[22]
The California prison system is currently, and has been for many years, plagued with overcrowding due to an overwhelming inmate population. In May 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a $7.4 billion prison reform bill into law that will fund up to 40,000 new prison beds.[23] However, many state officials have agreed that even with the new prison beds, the situation with overcrowding in the prison system will not be fixed. The best solution to this problem is to stop incarcerating people for non-violent crimes and to send them home to take care of their families.
On Wednesday, June 4, 2008, the California Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento ruled that the governor "was within his rights to declare a state of emergency at California's overcrowded prisons in 2006 and begin transferring inmates out of state."[24]
In addition to the overcrowding issue, the prison system is far understaffed with Correctional Peace Officers. The state is unable to hire and train enough new Officers to keep up with the flow of new offenders into the system.
There are at multiple ongoing lawsuits over medical care in the California prison system. Plata v. Schwarzenegger is a federal class action civil rights lawsuit alleging unconstitutionally inadequate medical services, and as a result of a stipulation between the plaintiffs and the state, the court issued a injunction requiring defendants to provide “only the minimum level of medical care required under the Eighth Amendment.” However, three years after approving the stipulation as an order of the court, the court conducted an evidentiary hearing that revealed the continued existence of appalling conditions arising from defendants’ failure to provide adequate medical care to California inmates. As a result, the court ruled in June 2005 and issued an order on October 3, 2005 putting the CDCR’s medical health care delivery system in receivership, citing the "depravity" of the system.[25] In February 2006, the judge appointed Robert Sillen to the position[26] and Sillen was replaced by J. Clark Kelso in January 2008.[27]
Coleman v. Schwarzenegger is a federal class action civil rights lawsuit alleging unconstitutionally inadequate mental health care, filed on April 23, 1990. On September 13, 1995 the court found the delivery of mental health care violated the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and issued an order for injunctive relief requiring defendants to develop plans to remedy the constitutional violations under the supervision of a special master.
Following the Governor’s issuance of the State of Emergency Proclamation, the plaintiffs in Plata and Coleman filed motions to convene a three-judge court to limit the prison population. On July 23, 2007 both the Plata and Coleman courts granted the plaintiff's motions and recommended that the cases be assigned to the same three-judge court.[12] The Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed and, on July 26, 2007, convened the instant three-judge district court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2284.
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