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47 <br /> Detention Center Staffing Analysis Orange County, INC <br /> (5.5) Assignment Strategies of Sheriff Personnel <br /> The OCSO and County have adopted a few personnel strategies that do not facilitate <br /> effective Detention Center staffing. These include: <br /> • Lateral transfers from other law enforcement agencies to the OCSO deputy ranks <br /> are frequently assigned to the Detention Center as an interim step for several days <br /> extending possibly beyond a month to learn jail operations and interface with <br /> detainees to gain experience communicating with an arrestee population. This is <br /> not a practical use of deputized lateral staff as: <br /> - Laterals are not sufficiently trained in detention operations to be of <br /> significant value to Detention Officers. <br /> - Given the short stay of laterals before deploying to Patrol, there is really no <br /> formal jail FTO training or particular assignment strategy for them. <br /> - Lack of training, therefore, increases Detention Center operational risk. <br /> Current indirect supervision operations do not facilitate frequent contact with detainees <br /> to facilitate better communication and other soft skills. Laterals must work adjacent to <br /> detention officers as they generally do not lack correction officer certification and cannot <br /> be counted against minimum staffing levels. <br /> Another challenge noted with current operational approaches in the jail includes: <br /> • Authorized Detention Officer positions that are approved for transition to a OCSO <br /> field deputy position are left vacant during the period from BLET (academy) <br /> training through the FTO program. This allows the employee to return to the <br /> Detention Center in the event becoming a Deputy is not practical (due to desire, <br /> program failure, etc.). This results in a long-standing several month D.O. vacancy <br /> that impacts Detention Center staffing operations. <br /> While this approach may be perceived as employee-friendly and progressive, it <br /> typically is only effective in larger jails that have the capacity to absorb a staffing <br /> loss. In smaller jails, such as OCDC, the margins between minimum staffing and <br /> desired staffing levels are too narrow to effectively implement this kind of"position <br /> held open" strategy. Because of the important staffing impact on the Detention <br /> Center, this protocol should be discontinued. In sum, if Detention Officers wish to <br /> become OCSO deputies and fail regardless of reason, they will need to re-apply to <br /> Orange County for any vacant Detention Officer position. <br /> Matrix Consulting Group <br />