Teamsters Law Enforcement League Calls for Hearing on Understaffing at Main Jail

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Dec 28, 2011, 04:40 ET

Say Poor Leadership Makes Understaffing Problems Worse

SAN BRUNO, Calif., Dec. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Law Enforcement League today called on the Board of Supervisors to hold a hearing on staffing at Main Jail following the latest violent outbreak in the county jail system.

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Late Sunday night, four Norteno gang members exploited their understaffed cell block to attack an inmate and the correctional officer with him. They opened their cell door, tackled the inmate and stabbed him eight times, while grabbing the correctional officer's baton.

"We've warned that understaffing is a ticking time bomb, but it's already exploding," said Chris Navarro, the correctional officer who was attacked and president of the Merced County Sheriffs Employee Association, an affiliate of the Teamsters Law Enforcement League. "If these violent offenders can so easily escape their cell, what's to prevent them from escaping the jail? We're extremely concerned that we won't be able to protect the citizens of Merced County because of the severe staffing shortage."

Navarro said the understaffing problem is made worse by indecisive management.

"We need leadership," he said. "We need an advocate and we need a steady hand at the helm. Management keeps going back and forth. They've changed our booking procedures and location, then changed them back again. Inmates were transferred out and then they were transferred back. Layoffs were implemented and then partly rescinded. I can't imagine how much this has cost the taxpayer.

"None of us denies the county's economic problems, but public safety has got to come first," Navarro said. "We're scrambling to protect the public, but we simply don't have the people we need."

The Merced County Sheriffs Employee Association is affiliated with Teamsters Local 856 in San Bruno.

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. For more information, please visit www.Teamster.org or follow us on Twitter @TeamsterPower.

SOURCE Teamsters Local 856