Good morning, everyone.

We'll get started shortly.

We're just working out some kinks.

Are we good?

Oh, we're good.

Okay.

All right.

Good morning, everyone.

I'm going to call this meeting to order.

Thank you, everyone, for your patience.

Apologize for the delay.

There was a fire drill this morning.

I hear an echo.

Can we fix the audio?

Testing one two.

Okay.

Are we Tisa, am I hearing the echo just because your volumes up?

Do you guys hear the echo?

Give us a minute.

Sorry about that.

Welcome to the remix party, everybody.

Okay.

Is that better?

Yes.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you everyone for your patience.

We will now start the public protection committee meeting for Thursday, March 26th.

Can we please start with a roll call?

Supervisor Miley here.

Supervisor Marquez.

Present.

We have a quorum.

Thank you so much.

And if the clerk can please provide the announcement, how individuals can participate remotely or in person.

For in-person participation, the meeting site is open to the public.

If you'd like to speak on an item, fill out a speaker's card in the front of the room and hand it to the clerk for remote participation.

Follow the teleconferencing guidelines posted at www.acgo.org and use the raise your hand function.

Thank you, Tisa.

Before we get started, can we just make sure that the audio is clearly for those that are listening remotely?

Someone could give us a thumbs up that everything is coming through clearly.

Can you raise your hand online if you can hear us?

Yes.

Okay, great.

Good morning, everyone.

And happy women's history month.

Today we have two informational items.

The first one is going to be a Santa Rita Jail Women's Programming and Programming Pod presentation by Sergeant Priscilla Silva and Programs Director, Reentry and Supportive Services Unit with Alameda County Sheriff's Office.

It's the 2025 annual review of Alameda County District Attorney's Office presented by our district attorney, Ursula Jones Dixon.

And just wanted to give some opening remarks.

This is a follow-up to Sergeant Silva's presentation last year and an opportunity to hear progress on gender responsive services and uplifting women and public safety roles.

Our second presentation will highlight the district attorney's office 2025 annual review.

I look forward to hearing from the district attorney, Ursula Jones Dixon as she reflects on her first year since her appointment by the board.

Before we commence, I want to highlight an opportunity I had in January to attend a graduation at Santa Rita Jail with the women participating in the Freedom Breaders program.

I know many of the trainers are here today, the teachers.

Thank you for being here.

This program provides hands-on vocational skills.

I also spoke directly with the participants who shared how meaningful both the programming and the designated pod have been for their growth and stability.

With that said, we'll begin with item number one.

I'd like to welcome Sergeant Silva to come and provide her presentation and just thank her again for her leadership.

It's incredible what you've done over the past few years.

You presented here three years ago.

My advisor on public safety, Brenda Gomez was pinging me.

What are we doing for women?

And you admitted we weren't doing enough, and you've really changed that around in the last three years.

So I'm excited for the public to hear the amazing updates and the work you and your team are doing.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Um very, very happy to be here in Islam.

So thank you for uh having us.

Um, again, as you said, this is a continuance uh to give everybody an update on how we have done in 2025 and how we keep going in 2026.

So if we could go to the first slide, um, as you know, when I first took this position on as the re-entry and support services programs director, um I clearly knew that the first thing that we needed to do was focus on what we were offering our women's population at Santa Rita.

Um, so I took a survey in January 2025, and we provided that to the women's population at Santa Rita.

And that survey was conducted to better understand what these women wanted, what they needed, what they felt that they needed in order to succeed, not only in custody, but once they are released.

In front of you are the major survey summary results, basically saying the highest percentages of what they've said based on the summary.

44% said that they wanted something to do with entrepreneurship and creating or being a part of a small business.

35% said that they wanted something regarding culinary arts and hospitality services.

30% said they wanted something regarding cosmetology and music production, and 29% that they wanted and requested some type of first aid CPR certification.

Before we went into any planning, we needed to recognize some of the barriers that the women population were facing while in our custody.

And the first thing that we recognized was the amount of time that they actually stay at Santa Rita.

And for the women's population, it is an average of three days.

That is 72 hours.

And how do we continue programming the way that we were of three to six months of programming and education and meet the needs of what the women were asking?

So we knew that we had to shorten the programs and the education and the semesters in order for these women to get as much information and training as possible before they are released.

The second barrier that the women expressed was their classification.

When people come into custody at Santa Rita, they're classified due to their criminal history, due to their in-custody history, um, and due to their past and due to their mental health as they come into the jail.

And the classifications often didn't allow them to have all the programming that we provided at Santa Rita.

That has dramatically changed since.

One of the things I had to look at as a programs director is how do we get every single classification within the women's per population to participate in these programs.

So we offered mixed classification courses, which has never been done at Santa Rita Jail.

And that took a lot of time and trust and trust building with the population at Santa Rita.

We had to have interviews.

We had to have them sign waivers of behavior and etiquette while they're in class and constantly check in with them with their determination and dedication of continuing to attend these programs that we were offering.

The third thing that was a barrier was women were experiencing some mental health issues that they had already come into the jail with, or just by being in custody, they were experiencing stress, anxiety, um, not feeling safe and feeling it was difficult to focus on some of the programs that we were offering.

So we had to start including mental health in a lot of the programs and education services that we were offering at the jail.

In order to do that, I had to meet with our partners and create some of the partnerships we currently had.

And currently five key schools are contracted educational provider, and they've done a phenomenal job showing up and answering to the barriers and the needs of what the women have wanted.

We've partnered with Chabot College, and recently we just introduced Las Pacitas College to our jail for the first time ever.

And this started in 2026.

And I have uh Tracy Peterson here from Las Pacitas that will go into more depth about that program.

We partnered with the Airmark Food Company, who is already contracted service with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office at Santa Rita Jail and asked them what they could provide our population due to the women's wants.

And then, of course, we looked to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office Regional Training Center to see if any of the instructors that we had there could provide some of the needs that the women were asking for.

The first thing I looked at were our educational partners, which is currently five key school, Las Pacitas, and Chabot College.

The fact that our women can actually enroll in college, complete courses, and walk out of the jail with a college ID to continue their education and walk in and immediately get enrolled to further their education is something that has been unheard of.

However, we've actually been able to give them a college ID card, which means the world to them as they are released.

So it is constantly provided for them once they complete a college course.

And then we put that ID card in their personal property.

So upon release, they have that in their in their possession.

One of the needs again was something regarding music.

And so we partnered with five keys, and they were able to bring on Julia Art School of Music from New York.

Juilliard has visited our jail six times since I've become a programs director.

In fact, today the men are graduating from their six week program as we speak.

Right now, music that they've been composing for six weeks is now being played live in San Francisco.

And they are in a room right now graduating.

They just sent me a photo of their certificates.

And they are seeing their music being performed across the country.

So we celebrate them and we celebrate every woman that's been a part of Music Heals Us, Music for the Future, and Together We Climb.

Their music has been played all over the country.

And last year in February, five of our women were highlighted, and a concert was played in New York with all of their composed music.

They received a copy of their composition, and it's currently in their personal property.

So something they can share with their family.

And again, something that they've asked to do and learn and to watch them learn about music notes and how to create music and how to record it has been phenomenal, as well as the therapeutic aspect of what was integrated into this program and music heals you.

And that's what we have seen.

To respond to their wants of cosmetology, five keys came to me and they presented me with Freedom Braiders.

Freedom Braiders has been a part of our programming with women, and it is one of the most highlighted programs that we have.

This is the largest mixed classification course we have offered at Santa Rita Jail with over at least 30 in attendance, which has been unheard of.

And I want to introduce Joanna to come up here and she could tell you about the program.

Next Monday, they will be back again with over 15 instructors with over 42 women that are going to be attending the workshop come Monday.

Sergeant Silva, is that going to be your largest cohort?

That will be as of now.

That will be our our longest or our largest workshop in a one-day workshop that Joanna's been graciously being able to provide us.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Hello, everyone.

Good afternoon.

My name is Joanna Hernandez.

And I'm the founder of Freedom Breeders alongside with my daughter.

Both my daughter and I started this program in San Francisco County jail.

And we did a cohort there and the program went well.

But part of my work, I'm the director of strategic partnership with San Francisco Pre-Trial.

I'm sorry, I don't want to interrupt you, but I believe our sheriff is leaving.

She has to go.

Okay, well, before you have before you leave, just want to publicly thank you.

None of this would be possible without your support and trust in Sergeant Silva.

So just thank you for being courageous and taking a risk.

I've personally met the women that have benefited for this program.

So just thank you for the work that you're doing.

It's tremendous.

Just wanted to say that before you leave.

Sorry to interrupt.

Okay.

Thank you.

So through through my job, I was able to go on a trip to the Sojourner to the Past, and I had the privilege of meeting the assistant sheriff and share about Freedom Breeders.

One of the braiders that came with me on that trip was actually someone who spent a lot of time in Santa Rita jail.

She was a youth offender.

And she said, I want to figure out how we can bring Santa Rita jail.

She introduced me to Sergeant Silva after multiple meetings and compromising the type of combs and the type of jail we could bring in.

We were able to come in and provide uh not just the art of braiding.

Um, I want people to understand that Freedom Breeders is not just about braiding, it's about teaching life skills.

It's about changing uh the way people think about the art of braiding, but providing people the skill set so that we can break cycles to economically driven crimes, because that's what we're about because the investment in braiding can be just under $10.

Some jail and some comb can help you stay alive and free.

Um, being able to walk in a facility with formerly incarcerated braiders have been very big to us, um, and being treated in a way that we can come in there and do the work that we're doing.

And I just want to give a shout out to Sergeant Silva for giving us that space, giving us our classroom, and letting us take the women out of their jail pods for just those two hours and go into a beauty shop where women can feel seen and heard and feel good because when women, you know, people in general, when people look good, they do good and they feel good, and that's what we do in those two hours.

I do a part of my presentation, and Sergeant Silver, you didn't know this, but I brought a special guest on my behalf who got out of Santa Rita jail and who's doing an amazing who was a two-time winner right now in the Bay Area uh for braiding, and she got out of Santa Rita jail a couple months ago.

So, Kennedy.

Oh wow, got the trophies, congratulations.

Welcome.

Would you like to say some words?

Uh yeah, okay, take your time.

Um, Joannaway, she's coming back up.

Can you also explain?

I remember when I attended the graduation.

There's also a writing component to your work.

Can you explain the prompts and uh the support that's given to the women in terms of being able to express their thoughts and feelings?

Yes.

So a lot of our work comes through our cognitive behavior um curriculum, but also through our trainings through the alive and free curriculum through Dr.

Marshall.

Um, I'm one of his certified instructors, and we bring a lot of the live and free curriculum.

We do journal prompts.

Um, we go so deep as women writing their obituaries and writing their own stories.

We write a letter to our 15-year-old self.

Um, we're writing letters of forgiveness for uh uh to our children who we left behind.

Um, I'm someone who's also formerly incarcerated, and so those journal props and the writings are what helped me survive and be where I am today.

So we we we get in there, we cry, we cry, we get deep into our stories, we do our storytelling, then we get up, we stretch it out, and then we start healing through braids, one braid at a time.

And I think that's the most powerful thing about this project is that you can be able to dig deep of what's happening inside, but also has something physical that you can let it out.

And so that's something really big that we do.

Thank you for sharing that.

Welcome.

Good morning, everyone.

Uh my name is Kennedy.

Um, I'm a former um student at Santa Rita.

Um, so working with the Freedom Braiders inside of Santa Rita jail was a powerful reminder that even in the most restrictive environment, um, community and resilience can flourish.

What began as a simple act of braiding hair became something much deeper, a space where women could reconnect with their identity, share their stories, and uplift one another.

Through each braid, there was trust, care, and quite exchange of strength.

The women or we women um created a sisterhood that pushed back against isolation, reminding each other that they were more than um that we were more than our circumstances in that space.

Empowerment wasn't abstract, it was tangible and very accessible, woven with every conversation, every laugh and every moment of vulnerability with our journal prompts, Joanna.

Um the Freedom Braiders show that healing and solidarity um doesn't require like the perfect conditions and environments, um, but just intention, combat compassion and the willingness to see and support one another.

Um, so once again, thank you, Sergeant Silva um for the opportunity for allowing me to be in the Freedom Braiders.

And thank you, Freedom Braiders, um, for just bringing you know this uplifting experience into such a dark place.

Um, so without that, like, you know, I couldn't wouldn't be the woman that I am today.

And then once again, thank you, mom, you know, for all your hard work um and dedication, you know.

I really appreciate it.

Congratulations, Kennedy.

But before you walk away, you have to tell us how you earn those trophies.

Okay.

Um, so the first trophy I competed in Santa Rosa, I won third place.

Um, and then in brain creative braiding creative braiding, and then um the second one, I play second place.

Um at the Barber Battle in San Francisco, and then um today I brought my cousin, she's my model.

Beautiful.

And then this Sunday I'll be competing at the Freedom Braiders um second um annual expo.

Fantastic.

I'll be wearing first place.

That's right.

Okay.

I want to see you come back next week in public.

Comment and tell us congratulations, Kennedy.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Johnny.

Okay, Joanna threw me a curveball just now.

So I need to regather.

It's not every day as a police officer, you get to see this.

So thank you, Kennedy.

For uh validating everything we're trying to do.

So that's amazing.

And thank you, mom for being here.

Okay.

Um, so Freedom Breeders, phenomenal, phenomenal program.

And I'm we're so lucky to have them.

And I really want to thank all the instructors, their team, their heart, their passion into giving these women a fair shot.

And also, again, asking what the sheriff's office has been asking for, which is some therapeutic aspect, and it is clearly shown.

So I'm very, very proud and honored to have you as partners.

So thank you very much.

To respond to the women's need and want for some type of culinary or hospital hospitality services.

We partnered with Airmark Food Company and they have an into work program, which is phenomenal.

Um, these women not only had another mixed classification where they had a very difficult six weeks of a curriculum.

And one of the hardest tests to take within the Airmark into work program is the management certificate.

And I didn't believe it, but every single woman in attendance of this course took the management certificate.

And even to this day, even though we've offered it to men, they are the only cohort that has actually passed the management certificate with every applicant.

So right on women.

So these women, once they are released, they can take these certificates and they can gain scholarships and an immediate job with Airmark all over the state of California, if not further.

So again, this hopefully helps them when they get back out on their feet and securing a job is one of the hardest things to do after you have been incarcerated.

So I'm hoping these women take advantage of their hard work and their food certification and really take this opportunity to help them rehabilitate their life and move forward.

This was uh this first aid CPR certification.

We go through this as law enforcement every year.

We have to be certified in this every year.

And I I will be honest with you and say that I have taken this training for granted after watching these women complete this eight-hour course and to speak with them afterwards and say, Sergeant Silva, I know how to care for my kid if they choke.

I know how to take care of my elderly mother if she has a heart attack.

I know how to identify those symptoms, and I could be a better mom.

I could be a better sister.

I could be a better family member based off of my certification of what I've learned today.

So I want to thank the women of Santa Rita for checking me and um this important certification because yes, this is a part of our training, but I often take it for granted what those skills could mean for somebody who's not a law enforcement officer and how they could help people at home.

So uh they did a phenomenal job.

Everybody passed, and I was so happy that they provided the feedback of how they could help themselves and their families when they get released.

Recently, Doula, who um currently we work with roots right now, they had a program in which our women's population can get certified on how to become a doula, and it provides physical, emotional and informational support to individuals during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.

When I heard about this program, not only was I excited to give the women's population another course in which they could take and become certified and become a dual outside.

But what I really was intrigued about is that we currently do have women who have been pregnant who are pregnant that could use some of these services.

And if we could take the women who have been certified in this program and utilize them while they're in jail and provide support to some of the women who are staying with them, staying within the same pod, I think it will not only empower the women, but it will offer support within a pod amongst who they feel safe with.

So on March 9th, they completed their course, and it was the thing about this program that is very difficult is it was a four-day eight-hour course.

We have never had women attend eight-hour courses, and definitely not four consecutive days in a row.

And I will tell you this Las Pacitas is about to come up here, but Los Spacetis teaches Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for three and a half hours.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, these women were in class for three and a half hours.

thing about this program that is very difficult is it was a four-day eight hour course we have never had women attend eight hour courses and definitely not four consecutive days in a row and I will tell you this Las Basitas is about to come up here but Las Basitas teaches Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday for three and a half hours Tuesday Wednesday Thursday these women were in class for three and a half hours Friday Saturday Sunday Monday they were in this eight hour doula program followed by Tuesday Wednesday Thursday again of a three and a half hour program with Las Basitas this is a lot for the women that have been attending program this is a big ask from me and the instructors providing the service and I'm so proud of the 29 women who have literally survived those two weeks of not only getting up and showing up at eight o'clock in the morning but staying attentive and learning and paying attention and staying focused and motivated for all of that time.

So I'm extremely extremely proud of the women for sticking in with this course because it was a very long day with a lot of information being put at them and they completed it and they all received their certifications and I'm going to go ahead and bring up Tracy Peterson she's from Las Basitas College and Tracy came to me at the end of last year and Las Bacitas had a contract with the FCI and they had been providing this program to the women at FCI for a very long time and obviously FCI closed.

So we were able to contact and she said I would love to bring your program our program to Santa Rita jail and it was almost instantly absolutely one of my biggest goals when I became the program's director was to add another educational institution and we have successfully done so I'm going to introduce Tracy Peterson to come up and talk about their program and how it has impacted our female students.

Welcome Tracy Thank you my name is Tracy Peterson and I am the educational partnerships project manager at Las Pasitas College.

I'm very happy to be here today and I also just want to thank Sergeant Silva this wouldn't be possible without her we did serve at FCI Dublin for about four years before they were closed down and I'd like to say it was a smooth transition into Santa Rita jail but it took us about a year and a half after we got through everything and then we were able to come into Santa Rita and and get everything settled and we are now offering the customer service certificate of completion it's a non credit program where the women will earn a certificate at the end of it and the thing I love about this program usually this program can take between 12 to 18 weeks it was actually designed as a CTE program that can take over a year but this program that prepares you for the workplace in any type of business it is difficult sometimes for incarcerated people when they get out of prison to find jobs.

So this is something where they can learn how to start their own business.

The other noncredit business certificate that we offer is innovation entrepreneurship and small business management.

So the two of them together with the customer service and the innovation entrepreneurship and small business management they can start their own business or they can take over someone's business business and they have a start of an education to be able to lead them to a successful future where they can have make a livable wage and find some sustainability in the class they're learning about communication they're learning about attitude in the workplace decision making and problem solving team building time management and conflict resolution.

And of course we do offer them snacks that are approved by Sergeant Silva because it is a long time to be in a class so we're just we're really excited about that.

We also are planning on offering some recreational classes through um like maybe some soccer or you know basketball volleyball that would be able to get the students outside get them active organize some sports where they can play against teams with each other just to have fun get some exercise and I think the the other thing that we're really excited about is um I had had an introduction with a deputy district attorney Matt Gayedos and he is interested in collaborating with us we all had a meeting and he's interested for the students that have completed these courses he is he is willing to talk to their attorneys to see if there is a deal that can be made for them to possibly get an early release or something you know some kind of a deal with their probation or parole.

And so after the first cohort will graduate on April 10th and we will be we will start working on that right away and we are very excited about that and we are one of the first community colleges in the state of California to do that.

So yes, I've been able to go into that classroom, and I will tell you watching the women sit down and do mock interviews.

Um it's phenomenal.

I even sat down and uh they interviewed me.

Um, and it's it's just a great program.

And uh to see these women get into details that I could also help them while they're incarcerated, how to control their emotions, how to properly deal with conflict, these are all things that are helping them currently.

So that we don't have to necessarily wait for them to get out in order to practice this.

It is working and you see it every day.

Now that all the programs have been described, one of the things I really want to focus on is one of the struggles we had while continuing these programs, and it's specifically for the women who have been dedicated to these educational and vocational programs is they were constantly being put back into their pods where there was temptation to get involved in things that were not healthy.

Um, and it happens within the jail.

You have people that necessarily aren't focused on getting better or rehabilitating or um going to programs, taking advantage of resources.

Um they were, let's just say, tempting some of our women to do drugs, get into fights, um, violate some rules and regulations within the jail, which obviously was not good for the women, and they wanted a safe place where they could live with other women with a common goal.

This was very hard feat for me as a sergeant to create a programming pod that it's never existed at Santa Rita jail before.

And it's basically focusing on the environment and these women that are dedicating themselves and making it a priority to further their education, their mental health and the resources that are being offered to them, that they live in a safe environment where they are being supported by women in that living environment.

And I know Supervisor Marquez, I brought you into that women's programming pod, and I really didn't have to say anything.

They they told you how they felt.

Um, so I would like to talk about how they feel.

They wrote a letter to our command staff after uh living together for about six months.

Thanking the command staff and personally testifying to how they felt since they've been in the programming pod.

I'm not going to go through the entire letter, but some of the quotes that stuck out to me was I feel safe living in this pod, and I'm no longer being tempted by negative influences.

This program is vital to achieving my goals.

Now I have a safe place to continue my education, and this can be an example of to my children.

There is a sense of community, and it has encouraged me and helped my mental health.

Currently, we have 22 females residing in the programming pod that are doing a phenomenal job.

Um, we have about eight more that are eligible and that are trying to get into that women's programming pod.

And since the establishment of the women's programming pod, I will definitely tell you that the relationships between the Sworn and these women have just it's it's been phenomenal to watch the way that the communication and the professionalism from both parties have have literally grown.

And I appreciate the Alameda County Sheriff's Office for being willing to allow the space and I appreciate the women being very determined to follow all rules and regulations to not give up this safe place and to give that up for something else.

So it really takes dedication between both parties to make this very successful.

And I'm so glad that it has been successful and that this is the way that the women feel.

That is about it.

If if that is not enough, but that is it, and I'm open to any questions anybody may have.

Yeah, thank you so much, Sergeant Silva.

Let's give her a huge round of applause here.

It's incredible work on behalf of um women in our care at Santa Rita jail.

Supervisor Miley, do you have any clarifying questions or feedback?

Sure.

Thank you, Sergeant, for the presentation.

Very, very impressive.

Um the programs have been in place for a year.

The women's programming pod or just the programs in itself.

The programs in itself started January 2025.

I became the sergeant in November 2024 when I came to this public protection meeting, and I realized that not a lot of programs were being offered to females.

Okay.

So yeah, um, I appreciate you describing the programs that have been established.

Do you have any baseline data on the number of participants like demographics?

Um, and then are we establishing any tracking data post-release?

So we're post or we are tracking data while they're in custody.

It becomes very difficult after release to track the data.

Again, you know, I I had um Joanna tell me she has six of the females that have passed the program.

The only way I'm able to get that information is if that is provided to me by the education institution and or the CBO that are the community-based organization we're working with.

Um so I love hearing success stories about that.

As far as stats within the jail, yes.

Um, we average about 80 to 90 females in custody at all times at Santa Rita, obviously that fluctuates.

And I will tell you about 50% of that do not end up staying at Santa Rita for more than three days.

So the population, so for like right now, we have 101 currently incarcerated women at Santa Rita jail, and we have 42 attending a workshop on Monday.

So those with the numbers constantly changing, I could tell you the percentages for every program during the time that we were there.

Um, but I will say it's it's more of a population that we've ever had.

Do we um have any data on their background, new education, you know, um ethnicity.

I'm just trying to get a sense of baseline where we're starting, where we're going, and just trying to get a sense if there's any um any lessons learned from the data that we could utilize both you know to help people not get incarcerated, but then obviously once they are incarcerated to continue through the program.

I can start uh recording those demographics for you.

The one thing that I'm I've been focused on as far as demographics are their classifications and to make sure that every classification within the women's population um is being offered these programs, which is we can which can be very difficult.

Um, for instance, our therapeutic housing inmates, for the first time ever, we had Freedom Breeders uh put on a specific class for our therapeutic housing inmates because they have different needs.

Um, so that is my main goal is to make sure that every woman that comes into custody have access to the programs regardless of their classification classification, mental health status, criminal history.

And that's why we started adding mixed classifications.

Um, is because regardless of their classification, regardless of their history, where they're coming from, their race, their age, they're all coming together to take on advantage of the opportunities that we are providing them.

Yeah, and I got the sense what you just described was a heavy lift.

And so it's very impressive that you did that in the women's uh program prod.

That is, you know, that's extraordinary.

Um, so I can mention you on that.

And the the Freedom Breaters, when they were talking, it just kind of reminded me of like um like a 12-step program and the Serenity Prayer and this, that, and the other.

Um, so um it's it's it's very impressive work.

So I just want to try to get, you know, uh the kind of the data and where and how it's progressing and and if we can kind of track that over the years, yeah, that'd be great.

But this is phenomenal.

Thank you, sir.

Um, thank you, Supervisor Miley, for your um excellent observations, which I agree with.

Um, so a request for next year is if we could please have a timeline.

I think it's important to document when you came to PPC and we called you out on what are we doing for women?

You're like, we need to do more.

You're relatively new in the position when the program's launched, um, the the evolution of bringing in more programming.

And then I understand that the pod unit that started this past summer.

So we haven't even reached the one-year mark yet.

Is that correct?

Not yet, man.

Okay, that's fantastic.

So, yeah, I for me um documentation is important, data is important as well as the timelines.

But again, uh congratulations, just it's commendable and not just uh uh your passion and your willingness to believe in this woman, but to see their sincere appreciation for you was incredible.

They love Sergeant Silva.

Um, and to see the diversity of the women, age, ethnic group, I'm sure socioeconomic backgrounds as well, and to see them share that space and build community was remarkable.

So just it's a testament to um your belief in them and that they know that someone has their back.

So it's incredible.

Um I'm just gonna make a brief statement.

Um, Supervisor Miley asked some of the questions I had as well, but I think it's important that the public know that last May our board adopted an ordinance to implement the principles of the United Nations convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.

It states that for justice impacted women, it must be a goal of the county to provide assistance and opportunities to women and girls impacted by the criminal justice system.

The county must continue to support ways to provide employment opportunities for formally incarcerated women and remove barriers to high quality jobs.

So you indeed are doing that along with your team with the program that you're providing.

So thank you for uplifting those values and um also just interested in the future, having more data and metrics regarding recidivism, employment opportunities and stability post release.

And um, we talked about the freedom braiders and the culinary certification program that lasts um, I just want to know people that are released and do secure employment.

Are we tracking, you know, six, 12 months out?

Are they still in those positions?

Just a way to kind of identify those metrics to um validate the work that you're doing and the investments that we're making and to basically see what more we can do.

Um, do you have any other final thoughts in terms of like the housing pod, any other suggestions, any support you need from us to expand or um continue the approach that you've been able to implement?

I think the overall goal is to continue the consistency of what we're offering in addition to growing the programming pod to possibly more than one pod.

Um, and secondly, uh while working with my partners, funding is always an issue.

Um, I'm lucky enough to where uh the funding that we did have within the sheriff's office.

I believe we used wisely to spread out between programs.

Um, however, I'm even more gracious that they've been able to find their own funding to come back.

Uh, I wouldn't have had Julie Art here as many times.

Freedom Breeders wouldn't have been there as many times uh if they didn't have funding.

Um, and Tracy, did you kind of want to share the sorry?

I was really nervous before, but um, our funding does end July 31st of this year.

So while we just got the program started, we are going to be able to run two more cohorts, and our next cohort will be for the men.

Um, and we'll do one more cohort for the summer, and then our funding will end.

And I am looking everywhere.

I'm reaching out to as many connections and contacts as I can to see if we can get continued funding, grant any grant funding.

Um, we will we will work however we can to keep this program going, but um, it's it's super important for us to be able to keep this program going.

We know the difference it can make.

Um, also we do track data at Las Basitas and at Chabot because their student ID number tracks um everything.

It tracks all the demographics, it also tracks what classes they take.

We do have some um some tracking of employment and things like that, because that's just part of what the state chancellor's office asks us to track.

And I also just wanted to say one more thing.

The student ID card is not just a student ID card for them.

It also is a bus pass for anywhere in the Tribe Valley.

It also opens all of the resources that we have at our colleges, which are amazing.

So just wanted to say that.

What's the current funding for the program?

It's rising scholars.

What's the amount though of the funding?

Um, we got uh 328,000 way back in 2022, and we are on a no-cost extension right now because of FCI closing.

Okay.

Thank you.

Uh, we did not apply to the 2025-28 because we didn't have um any place to go.

Okay, understood.

And I just wanted to add that Freedom Braiders is actually we we got a little chunk just to do the end of the year, I mean the end of the month women's celebration on Monday where we're bringing raiders from all over.

But we are a non-funded program.

The monies that we've been able to secure or from like braiding brands, jails who like sponsor the corehords, et cetera.

But the one that we did do was sponsored by uh five key schooling programs where they were able to draw money from their ADA.

But programs like this cannot exist.

We don't have the funds.

All of our braiders are all volunteers.

Um and they're entrepreneurs themselves.

If they don't braid, they don't get paid.

They don't have sick time, they don't have PTO time.

So having these volunteer braiders is essential for me to find the funding to pay these braiders to come in to provide this um very important programming.

So we are looking in ways to um get make Freedom Braiders sustainable, but actually a staple program to do the post-relief services.

Like Sergeant Silva mentioned, we have six women who got out out of the six women, three are African American, uh, two are Latina and one is Caucasian.

Um, I'm proud to even say that um Kennedy just got employed with five key school and programs where she's going to be an ambassador there.

She actually just got two jobs.

I'm like, she got two jobs.

And our goal of Freedom Breeders, it doesn't end at the gate.

We're gonna continue to work with these women.

She's making money on the side braiding, and she has a job.

So we want to make sure that we're doing retention.

We're gonna help them find employment, we're gonna help them find housing with the minimal resources.

We know that everybody's facing budget cuts right now, and we understand that.

But we need to find the funds to fund critical to fund critical programs like Freedom Breeders so it can be sustainable and we can reduce those recidivism rates, and we can also look at ways to keeping women alive and free.

Thank you.

Um, my last question question for you, Sergeant Silva is do you have um former graduates of these programs come back to Santa Rita jail and speak to the women that are currently there just so they can see and hear firsthand from someone who's successfully transitioned out.

Yes.

So uh we we have them in the queue, but it hasn't happened yet.

So, for instance, one of the women that completed our error mark food certification has become an instructor and they want her to come back and instruct, which I'm allowing.

However, I have been grieved several times by the male population that I'm giving the females everything.

So I have to share the wealth, and I've had to offer the Airmark program to the males only, and we don't allow obviously female instructors to come in who were previously incarcerated to teach males.

So once we put on the cohort again for Airmark, we'll able to have them come back.

Um, if Freedom Breeders comes back and they have uh previous students and they would like them to come to Santa Rita, I think it would be phenomenal to have them come back.

We just haven't crossed that bridge yet.

Thank you so much.

We're now oh, go ahead.

Our under sheriff has a comment, and then Tisa, we're gonna get ready for public comment on this item, but we're gonna do one minute because we're really behind in schedule.

Go ahead.

And I'll keep my comments brief.

And I'm not sure if the sheriff had anything to say before she took off.

I just want to thank Sergeant Silva.

Um, her team is extraordinary and they've been doing great work at Santa Rita when Sheriff Sanchez was commander Sanchez at the jail.

Uh, she recognized that the female population did not have enough services and really wanted to work hard to not just bring um sort of um, you know, just guesswork, you know, really making sure that we're bringing programs in that will be foundational to really provide these sort of um life experiences for folks to walk out of Santa Rita jail with a skill set that they could use to actually get employment and not return.

Um, you know, putting Kelly Gloss up there as our sort of uh re-entry director of services there, and that really helped, you know, uh solidify the programming there so that they we were doing things that were evidence-based, things that were really having the impact that we wanted to see that would provide those recidivism results that we really wanted to look for.

Um, and just some of the stuff that Sergeant Silva touched on, I really wanted to emphasize like the things that are happening at Santa Jr.

That's happening at the jail.

Like this is huge, mixing populations, mixing classifications, running a pod where the doors are open 24-7.

Those are things that our staff have really had to get behind and be supportive of, and they have been, and it's been really extraordinary to watch.

Um, and um Sergeant Silva has the support of her commands to have to put these things into place.

So I just want to give them kudos as well for thinking outside the box, really being innovative, really thinking about ways that we could have an influence and an impact uh in a positive way on the folks that live in our facility in their lives.

So thank you.

Well said, Under Sheriff, thank you for your leadership and I'm glad we got to give the sheriff some love before she went off to her next commitment.

But again, thank you so much, Sergeant Silva.

Look forward to attending future graduations and meeting more of the women that are choosing to invest in themselves.

And thank you for creating that opportunity.

We're now gonna go to public comment.

We're gonna just do one minute.

We will take public comment at the end of informational item two.

So right now is just public comment on the presentation we just heard.

So do we have any speakers?

Norma Arrozco and Reefilway, Tanisha, and then John Jones the third.

None on one.

Um, I'm gonna just for the next minute, accept public comment on this item.

If you don't raise your hand or submit a speaker card, then we're gonna close public comment on this item, but welcome.

Go ahead.

Thank you, Norma with the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.

And I just want to share that for the reasons you've heard and more, programming is essential.

And I really applaud the efforts that have been made.

But no amount of programming is gonna make Santa Rita jail safe.

You cannot program if you are dead.

Over 70 people have died in Santa Rita jail in the last decade, including Kayona Farr, who died this month after spending only three days inside of Santa Rita jail.

If we truly want to support women, we must invest in programs like these outside of Santa Rita jail.

We must give women the opportunity for diversion and treatment.

Mental health, true treatment, true wellness and healing happens outside of a jail cell with community with resources and in safe environments.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

I want to uplift the programs that were shared today, and particularly the work of the Freedom Breeders.

I heard that there was a question of whether or not they'd be able to return the good work that they're doing.

Um and I've heard no reason that they should not.

And so I want to shout out the work of the folks that were doing that and also mom who's in the room because we know that real community safety is when we have people in our lives that are there to support us.

And as Norma mentioned, that's work that can also happen at home and ideally before people get to a place of being in custody as Santa Rita jail.

Thank you.

Good morning, Tanisha Cannon with Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.

All of us are none.

Uh, I want to thank Sergeant Silva for recognizing the need for the women's programming and implementing it in such a short time.

These are all great programs, and I love to see sisters like Kennedy empowered, recognized, and given the opportunity in the platform, and sisters like Joanna who are offering these programs that are culturally responsive and holistic.

We heard during the presentation that the average woman in Santa Rita spends 72 hours in custody.

What I wonder is why do our tax dollars pay for the processing and the incarceration for three days?

How can we think about diversion?

We also talked about the UN and how we are supporting that work.

Could we reimagine and can we make a goal of the county to provide these opportunities before women are impacted?

I know that our former DA Pamela Price used to use a quote uh from Desmond Tutu that was before we start pulling people out of the river.

Maybe we should go to the top to see why they're falling in.

Thank you.

Uh good morning.

I just want to offer my sincere appreciation and respect for everybody that's involved.

And it's important because for me, as a formerly incarcerated male, I knew for a fact I could depend on women to carry through my incarceration.

My mother, my sister, my aunties, my partners.

Many women don't have that because women are the backbone, but who is there for them?

So I just want to say I appreciate this, and it's important for us to always be mindful of the reality of the complexities as it relates to people who are serving time inside our jails because it's not a monolith.

And I just want to add, just as an aside to take the politics out of it, I want to offer my appreciation for everybody in the sheriff's office, because law enforcement, as we know, is historically a male-dominated industry.

And even though everyone involved, not even though we know everyone involved is obviously competent.

But for me and Sergeant Sub in particular, just to hear your passion was palpable.

You believe in people, and we need people to believe in people.

So I just want to say I thank you all for the work that you're doing.

And let's continue with.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Tisa, do we have any more public comments?

Yes.

Brianna, you're on the line.

Hi, uh, yes, my name is Brianna Reggles.

I'm a freedom braider, and I'm just here to advocate for programs that center women, especially those who are often overlooked.

And with Freedom Breeders, uh, creating that safe space for space for growth and healing.

Thank you.

Maya.

Yes, hi, good morning.

I am also with Freedom Breeders.

Funding is very important for programs like Freedom Breeders to create more opportunities for women impacted by carceration to heal mentally, spiritually, to learn vocational skills to be successful in society and creating a path that leads to their economic independence, just that financial stability of when individual individuals are released.

So funding in the long in the long term, that long haul can help reduce recidivism rates in society, which is very important.

Thank you.

We have no more speakers for it one.

Thank you.

I have a couple of comments.

I know supervisors supervisor Miley has a couple comments.

After we make these comments, we're going to take a three-minute recess.

Wanna um take a photo with the amazing people that are here today before they have to leave before we get to item number two.

So if you could just bear with us a few minutes, Supervisor Miley.

Yes.

Thank you, Chair Marquez.

Um let's see here.

Yeah, I definitely want to uh co-sign uh the chair and the under sheriff uh for their remarks about the sheriff's department.

Um it's that's tremendous work, like I said, heavy left, and we're you know, we definitely stand behind you.

Um secondly, I want to say, yeah, this is women's month, so maybe that's why this item's here before us.

You know, my mom's passed away, but I have a significant other.

I have a daughter, I have a daughter in law, I have a granddaughter.

You know, women are important to me.

And I do believe in upstream prevention.

We need prevention intervention as well as you know, obviously, we need to deal with um enforcement if necessary.

So the more we can do upstream, the better.

Um the program of Freedom Breaders and others, these programs that are existing in the jail.

If you need additional support and work, um, you know, I'll rely on the chair uh of the public protection committee.

She knows I I got her back, and she often pulls me into helping with funding.

So if uh if we need that, I would depend on her office work with the sheriff's department to see what we can figure out to support uh these programs.

So thank you.

Uh thank you, Supervisor Miley, for your comments.

Um, this information was invaluable in terms of what's working, what's not, and absolutely agree with the comments with respect to diversion.

And I know that is a priority with respect to reimagined adult justice initiative as well as CARES First Joe's last.

So we are still working in partnership on those initiatives as well.

Um so thank you, everyone, for your engagement and continue to track these meetings because we are closely monitoring all those initiatives and more to come.

But for now, I do want to be respectful of the time.

We have one more presentation, but would like to take a three minute recess and then we will resume in three minutes.

Thank you, uh we're gonna get started in thirty seconds.

So if you guys would like to sit down or go out to the lobby.

Okay, uh, we're gonna resume the public protection meeting.

If we could please start with a roll call.

Supervisor Miley.

Supervisor Marquez.

Present.

We have a quorum.

Okay, thank you so much, everyone, for your patience.

I'd like to now introduce the second informational item on our agenda today.

This is the 2025 annual review of Alameda County's uh district attorney's office.

We are pleased to welcome District Attorney Ursula Jones Dixon.

Her presentation today is an opportunity to learn more about some key priorities I outlined during the appointment process, including advancing the reimagined adult justice initiative, building trust and supporting immigrant and refugee communities, and continuing the care first jails last approach and how these priorities have translated into action over the past years.

Thank you for being here today.

And I'd like to welcome our district attorney and thank you for your patience.

We will take public comment on this item one minute at the end of the presentation.

So if you'd like to fill out a speaker card or raise your hand, please do so.

Thank you and welcome.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

Sorry, I have the worst allergies, so if you guys can't hear me, although I'm getting a little feedback, let me know.

All right.

Um, I appreciate the opportunity to present to you today.

Um, we're gonna start off with just I think what how we center ourselves, protect, empower, restore, and supporting survivors across Alameda County.

I am asking both the chair and supervisor Miley to give me a little leeway.

I know we went a little long, and I'm hoping to get through these slides as quickly as possible.

I don't want to keep people too long, but I do think there's a lot of information here we need to unpack.

Um there we go.

So our mission statement is to ethically prosecute those who commit crimes, uphold the rights of victims, and provide them with compassionate support, protect the communities that we serve.

In addition to that, to collaborate with justice and community partners and foster policies that prioritize public safety and restore public trust.

Um, we do so in collaboration with our justice partners.

And we also um reinforce innovative programs that provide opportunities for rehabilitation and reintegration and to enhance the lives of the residents of Alameda County.

The district attorney's office represents the people of the state of California ethically, professionally, and with integrity in criminal, civil as well as juvenile matters.

And the DA's office always pursues the truth, demonstrates commitment to fair and equitable justice for all, and ensures that victims of crime are treated with respect, dignity, and empathy.

Now, the DA's office also has certain legal mandates, and people oftentimes talk about what the DA does.

The government code section tells us what we're required to do.

That's government code section 26500.

And in that section, the district attorney is the public prosecutor, except as otherwise provided by law, and the public prosecutor shall attend the courts and within his or her discretion shall initiate and conduct on behalf of the people all prosecutions for public offenses.

Now I want to talk a little bit about the California Victims Bill of Rights.

In the California Constitution, we call it Marcy's Law.

There are 17 enumerated rights for victims.

We are required to adhere to those.

I think that's important because I think that we oftentimes talk about constitutional rights as if they only belong to one side of the equation.

Both people who are charged with crimes and people who are victims of crimes have constitutional rights in California.

California victims of crimes are largely dependent upon the proper functioning of government, upon the criminal justice system and upon the expeditious enforcement of the rights of victims of crime described herein, in order to protect the public safety and secure justice when the public safety has been compromised by criminal activity.

All right, this is it's meaty, but I think it's important because I think we need to know where these obligations come.

The people of the state of California find and declare that criminal activity has a serious impact on the citizens of California.

I left a meeting with a victim before I came here this morning, which kind of flipped my presentation a little bit.

She lost her son to a shooting while he was at work.

And she was there to remind me of his name.

I think we oftentimes think of our process by way of the people or the state of California versus the person who's charged, and the victim's name is not often mentioned.

And so I came here with a little bit of a heavy heart because I think that it's important for us to create balance in this process.

The way we do that is we have a conversation about the fact that there are rights on both sides.

Victims of crime are entitled to have the criminal justice system view criminal acts as serious threats to the safety and welfare of people of California.

And the enactment of comprehensive provisions and laws ensuring a bill of rights for victims, including safeguards in the criminal justice system, fully protecting those rights.

I think that it is our mandate at the DA's office to make sure that those rights are protected.

That doesn't mean that victims are the ones who make a call on what gets charged.

It doesn't mean that victims have the right to tell us how to resolve cases.

In fact, sometimes victims leave our system feeling like they were harmed on the front end on the back because they didn't get exactly what they wanted.

But the rights of victims in number three pervade the criminal justice system.

These rights include personally held and enforceable rights described in paragraph one through 17 of subdivision B.

So those are those 17 enumerated rights.

These rights encompass the expectation shared with all of the people of California that persons who commit felonious acts causing injury to innocent victims will be appropriately and thoroughly investigated, appropriately detained in custody, brought before the courts of California, even if arrested outside of the state, tried by the courts in a timely manner, sentenced and sufficiently punished so that the public safety is protected and encouraged as a goal of highest importance.

Victims of crime have a collectively shared right to expect that persons convicted of committing criminal acts are punished in both the manner and the length of sentence imposed by the courts of the state of California.

This is an interesting one only because there have been many changes over the last decade about sentencing.

I had to have a conversation this morning with the mother who lost her son, that although the sentence says this, it is this person is not actually going to get this time because the law has changed as it relates to parole.

But in court, which is where I left before I came here, the law states that here's the sentence.

And I think victims come to expect a certain thing from our system and we continue to move the goalposts, which could creates confusion for victims and creates tension between I think victims' families and the person accused of the crime.

I think that healing is the ultimate goal for all parties involved, but it does make it difficult when everybody knows that the goalpost is moving.

This right includes a right to expect that the punitive and deterrent effect of custodial sentences imposed by the court will not be undercut or diminished by the granting of rights and privileges to prisoners that are not required by any provision of the United States Constitution over allow laws of the state to be granted to any person incarcerated.

The sixth victims of crime are entitled to finality in their criminal cases.

Lengthy appeals and other post-judgment proceedings that challenge criminal convictions, frequent and difficult parole hearings that threaten to release criminal offenders, and the ongoing threat that the sentences of criminal wrongdoers will be reduced, prolong the suffering of crime victims for many years after the crimes themselves have been perpetuated.

The prolonged suffering of crime victims and their families must come to an end.

Again, this these aren't my words.

This is in the California state constitution.

So I'm just telling you what I'm mandated to do.

Number seven, finally, the people find and declare that the right of public safety extends to public and private primary, elementary, junior high, and senior high school, and community college, California State University, University of California, private college, and university campuses.

So those are just some of the enumerated rights in the California state constitution.

I want to talk a little bit about rebuilding community trust and serving survivors.

We've advanced gun violence prevention efforts over the last year.

We have a gun violence grant, as well as there is a pilot program that we're working with.

There are four counties in California that are working to help DAs file gun violence restraining orders.

They were the only parties really that weren't able to do that for a period of time, but there is a pilot that is moving through our office and three other counties.

We've also protected survivor resources against devastating cuts.

Although we just lost a battle a couple of weeks ago, our trauma recovery center was funded, and that grant was lost.

The trauma recovery center is where victims of crime can go to the family justice center to be provided with therapeutic interventions.

And that grant has disappeared, and we see that happening more and more.

So we are finding ways to try to, you know, better create an ecosystem that funds victims' needs outside of grants.

We've done it for many years through grants, but grants are drying up for us.

Was that a federal grant?

That grant is a that is a federal grant, the TRC pass through.

It's a pass through.

So we'll talk about that in a bit.

Increased transparency and community engagement.

We are trying to be in the community as much as possible.

Talking, I mean, this is an amazing community.

We're almost 1.7 strong.

Um, but we're huge.

This is a large community and making our way throughout the community, talking about uh victims' rights as well as the DA's job to make sure that our system is fair and impartial, is quite a haul.

But we enjoy doing it every day.

Oh sorry.

All right, so we're gonna talk about referrals, just to explain what a referral is.

A referral is when a police report is brought to the DA's office for our review.

The way the system works, I think most people know, but I don't want to take anything for granted.

The police department is oftentimes not involved in investigations.

The investigation comes to us from a police department by way of police report generally.

That report is reviewed for charging, and if we can prove that case beyond a reasonable doubt based upon what we see in front of us, we charge that case.

So we look at the number of referrals that were reviewed.

These are only in custody referrals.

The numbers in 2025 were 12,962 for misdemeanors and 5,856 for felonies.

Those numbers are up quite a bit.

I mean, I have to say, when we walked into the door, we had so many cases, a backlog of cases that had not been charged.

It seemed clear to me that police agencies had just kind of stopped bringing the cases over because they had just disappeared into the abyss.

We have consistently been working out of that backlog.

We found thousands of cases that had not been processed, but because we have put the folks in place to be able to review and charge those cases.

Not every case that comes to us is charged.

If we can't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, we don't charge it.

And oftentimes we give what we call an alternative action to a case.

That can be a diversion case, um, it could be a deferred entry of judgment, things of that nature.

So looking at the misdemeanor referrals in the first 10 months, um, February 18th through December 18th, 2022 to 2025, the numbers have gone up significantly.

Um, felony referrals, the same.

I think that's important because I look at the police reports given an alternative action.

You see that each time that we're reviewing those cases, oftentimes they can't get charged.

That's the bottom number there.

We can't prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, or there is an alternative action as well.

We also look at the gun cases that come our way.

These are total number of gun charge referrals in custody only.

Each referral may include one or more criminal charges that is a gun case.

And so we are seeing the number of illegal gun charges presented and reviewed go up significantly between 2023 and 2025.

And that's kind of a standalone, we call it a one-stop shop where victims could go into that space and look for services or at least be referred to services that would help them as victims of crime.

On average, we provide a total of 39 services to each victim between 2022 and 2025.

Most services provided are mandated by Marcy's Law and the California Constitution.

You can look at the numbers there in 2025.

We got up to 7,646 new victims and clients receiving services.

That doesn't even include the ones who have continued to receive services.

And of course, we offer services to all crime types, and those are just some of the types of crimes that you see there at the bottom that we handle.

Building a stronger DA's office.

Everybody in that command staff has over 25 years of experience in this county as a prosecutor.

And so I think it's just important to know how the system works so that we can move cases through it.

Whether that means they go to trial, whether that means it's a plea bargain, whether it means there's a preliminary hearing.

Looking at those theft-related property crimes, we're also just looking at the total number of theft-related property crimes filed.

And in 2025, those numbers have gone up significantly to the tune of 27.5% compared to 2024.

And stolen property recovered over a million dollars between January of 25 and December of 25.

The work ahead.

Our priorities are to expand survivor services capacity, increase our coordination with new and existing family justice center partner agencies, strengthen our outreach, improve access to supportive services for victims of crime, and what should be there is seek funding because we we realize that we are losing funding at a high rate for services for victims of crime.

Also to reduce the trial backlog of cases involving deaths.

So survivors and loved ones have to wait generally years for answers, yet death case backlog continues to age because the trials require the most resource-intensive preparation.

And so our total pending death cases right now are in the dark blue.

That's 322 cases that involve a death that are waiting to go to trial.

Total homicide or murder cases, 187s, are 262 waiting to go to trial, and total pending manslaughter cases are 60.

I mean, do you have the date on the oldest case?

How far back are we talking?

I do not it really depends.

Like we also have cases.

There's one right now that is about uh 15 or 18 years old that will be retried.

So no, I don't.

But I would tell you that having come from the bench, there are only so many courts that can hear these cases.

And they take a lot of resources and time.

Each case that we try, every case has to have a pathologist tell us how the victim died.

It costs us between 10,000 and 30,000 to pay a pathologist to come here from wherever they are in the country, because for a period of time the county didn't have in-house pathologists to come to us to try that case.

So even from a budget perspective, we are making these the priority.

But um, it's a big budget hit for us, but I think that the victims deserve to have some closure in these cases.

We work alongside community leaders to strengthen safety, build trust and promote accountability through fair, consistent decisions.

Our engagement helps us hear community safety concerns.

We do a lot of listening in the community to what people are concerned about as it relates to public safety.

And also, I think their concerns about a holistic system to address that.

We approve transparency and communication with local leaders, better meet the needs of survivors.

And we're launching our quarterly reports to highlight the work that we've done over the last year.

And if you want to take a look at that, there's a scan there as well.

If anybody wants to check it out.

So there are many places that were touching Alameda County.

But I I want to talk very much today, or I did want to, about our obligation by way of statute and mandate to serve victims of crime and to keep them at the center of everything that we do.

We're doing that.

We're recalibrating the office to do that, also knowing that this is a holistic system that allows us to look more broadly at how we find ourselves moving people away from this system.

Um I'm an old teacher.

And so for me, this is you know, not the DA talking, but Ursula talking.

When we invest more money in early childhood education, we have less involvement on the back end.

When we invest more money in families on the front end, having been a judge in a dependency or CPS court for many years, we have better results on the back end.

When we get to this point, the DA's job is pretty specific.

And so any questions from you all, I'm here to answer.

Thank you so much for your presentation.

Supervisor Miley looks ready.

Wow.

Um this is tremendous.

Um, you know, just what you said at the end.

I mean, we it's we invest resources on the front end, and we expect less you know that's suppression, and less that the DA will have to do on the back end.

And then if you have to do it, what I what I have confidence in you about is you're looking at it in a balanced fashion.

You and your staff.

Um the victims bill of rights, just having you point that out to us and go through it as carefully as you did.

I think it's just a phenomenal because that that um Article One, Section 28, I guess, number four.

The rights of victims also include broader shared collective rights that are held in common with all the people of the state of California and that are enforceable through the enactment of laws and through good faith efforts and actions of California's elected, appointed and publicly employed officials.

I don't know if everybody always gets that.

And I'm glad and I'm glad you went through this, because you know justice is delayed, as you said, it's justice denied, and victims need to understand that you know society is going to stand up for them, but we need to put resources in the front end so that people never get involved in the criminal justice system.

And if they do, they have pro appropriate people that are gonna look at that and determine what is the you know the appropriate course of action to pursue.

I have you know, I have a lot of confidence in once again in you and your staff.

Um, anything that you know we can do to continue to be supportive of your efforts, I definitely want to have us uh do that because um you know I've said it before, none of us are perfect, none of us are perfect, all of us have made mistakes.

Um the question is, you know, what have we done with that, and how have we been able to respond to that?

What kind of resources and nurturing have we had to help support us?

And then if we have gotten in trouble, how do we get out of that?

You know, we just saw the the program, the sheriff's department presented to us, which is tremendous.

So I just think we need to have the right people in the right positions doing the right thing, and I think you're approaching it extremely extremely well.

And once again, I know it's just not you, but it's you and your staff.

And as um one former elected official used to say, the fish rots from the head down.

Um, and I'm not gonna say who said it, and I'm not gonna point out any elected officials, but clearly you're doing the you know the the work.

Uh, I think it's important that the people want you to do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I think it's important to remember that the criminal justice system is the ecosystem, right?

And we're all working on our pieces to make sure that they're right.

Because when they are, when people get to this point, when we get it in this country, I'm not gonna say this state, but this country that we have to invest on the front end, we have less engagement on the back end, at least as an ecosystem, we want that ecosystem to work the way it's supposed to work, and sometimes that means that there are opportunities for us um to figure out how to move people away from this system, right?

Sometimes it means that we've gotten past that or now, but it doesn't mean that redemption doesn't come on the back end.

What I cannot ignore is that the state specifically has mandated us to do certain things by way of victims.

Yeah, we don't talk about it.

Yeah, yeah, right.

And so of recent, with all of the conversation about the Epstein files and a bunch of other things that are happening.

It is it is um uncomfortable to talk about victims of crime, but uh I'm at the top of that that chain, that food chain.

We're gonna say it out loud so that we have an ecosystem that is accountable to both sides of the House.

Yeah, and just a couple other quick things with the indulgence of the chair.

Um DA Dickson, uh you're a mother and a you know and a wife, right?

Yeah, and we know you're a female and you're um a person of color, and we know that you understand these things, and we also know that you're gonna, regardless of whether a person's status, whether they're law enforcement, whether they're rich, poor, black, white, yellow, whatever, you're going to dispense justice accordingly.

Am I right about that?

I mean, I have to.

Yeah.

And that is, I think we have to be um responsible to all of the people in our county to do a fair and impartial.

There are many times in my life, I've one is so something so badly that felt like something was just wrong, and you wanted to get after something because it was wrong, but there was no foundational way to get there, right?

Sometimes for judges, the goal is to be fair and impartial.

I brought that to this space as well.

There are often times that I sit down with victims, although I'm respecting their rights under the constitution.

They are angry because they can't have what they want.

And it doesn't necessarily make them whole, but it makes them feel like the process is responding to their needs.

And we oftentimes don't have the answer that helps because when you're the victim of a crime or you lose somebody close to you, there's nothing that really resolves that pain, right?

When you are somebody who loses somebody to the system who's doing some time, it doesn't resolve the pain.

So we have to be about the letter of the law.

I have to be about being fair and impartial, as as my son would say, anybody can get it.

And I have to do that because if not, then it becomes a problem that you're favoring one way or the other.

Yeah.

So I think it's really important for the DA to move in that space.

And as you said, we want to make sure the public continues to have confidence in our district attorney.

Yeah.

So I this is I really appreciate that you're having this report to us today in your presentation.

It's really powerful.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Supervisor Miley, for your comments and questions.

I'd like to have some follow-up questions with respect to the presentation.

On page nine, it referenced advanced gun violence prevention efforts.

I understand that the county received Cal violence intervention programming grant.

Can you clarify how the various county departments are working together and what is the specific role that DA's office?

So I'm told that it's unusual for the DA to receive this money, but we specifically are looking to reinvest in the young women's empowerment program.

And that program works collaboratively with Alameda County departments and community-based organizations to recruit, assess and engage approximately 25 young people a year for a multi-week young women's empowerment program for young people who are at high risk of being victimized by gun violence and exploitation.

And so we were able to kind of piggyback on that ground.

We've done the DA's office, has done that before.

It used to be called the Young Women's Saturday program, and then it went to the young women's empowerment program.

And we just didn't have the funding for it.

So now we're building out that curriculum specifically for that.

We were happy to be able to get that funding, again, because generally it does not go to DA's offices, but this work, um, you know, there was a time where young women who were exploited were also charged for that, right?

So at that time that it made more sense that that money would come our way if it were existing, but now that's not the case.

And so we want to make sure that we're steering young women away from exploitation and gun violence.

And I think it's important for us to work in the spaces that we're comfortable in, the trafficking space has been one that the Alameda County DA's office has been in for a long time.

And whatever we can do to prevent, we will do with the funds that we have.

Okay, thank you.

And from past reports we've had at this committee, we know that the um increased gun violence and um challenges are primarily North County, Oakland centric, and then followed by Hayward.

So will these programs make sure that we're also geographically diverse in terms of being able to provide support to women in the world.

Okay, perfect.

And then you highlighted in increased support.

I think you listed like 39 different services for victims.

Can you walk us through specific services your office provides and um which are those are most utilized by the victims?

So a lot of the services are just engaging the victim witness advocates.

The advocates helped usher people through whatever their journey is with the criminal justice system as victims.

Our victim witness advocates are largely funded by Grant as well, which is a scary thought.

So it may be just receiving as to be called and or to create a statement to be heard in court because victims have a right to be heard in court.

It could be therapeutic intervention, which will be dealing with that issue soon.

It could be um just coming to the Family Justice Center and speaking with someone around filling out an application for uh VCB benefits, maybe lost a loved one, and you can get money from the state for the funeral.

Like there are many, many uh opportunities to help victims.

We've been trying to identify all of them, and we can't.

I mean, there's so many ways that our victim witness advocates engage, but in addition to that, I think for me, and this has been what I've been saying, like I get a lot of heat from the people who work with me, but I spend a lot of time speaking directly to victims' families.

That's not generally the case for the DA, but I think it's important that I think that's a service as well.

I want you to be able to come in and ask questions.

Um, I was on the phone last night doing that for about an hour and kind of um trying to find a way to gear people in the direction so they don't feel lost in the system.

Because even with the Family Justice Center, although most of those services can be accessed there, people walk in and they've been wounded.

And they want to feel like they have some support in this process.

So there are many services.

Um, some of them are in house.

There is uh Oakland Police Department officers in Family Justice Center.

Sometimes people come in and want to know how to fill out a restraining order application, all kinds of things.

So do we track services that people refuse to accept or just deny the meeting assistance?

Are we tracking that as well?

I doubt it.

Okay.

I mean, I because oftentimes each person's it's not a monolith, right?

So each person's needs are different.

So they come in and you figure out what services they need.

Um it is one of the reasons why the Family Justice Center is such a jewel in the county because it does give them a place to start.

And sometimes you may find yourself at you know, other referrals, but it gives you a great place to start to get there.

We don't track what people don't want.

I feel like it's kind of a privacy issue too.

Um, because they may not be ready, they may come back for it later.

Okay.

And then for cases involving death, um you said uh one case specifically, how long they've been waiting waiting, but what's the average and then what type of services are provided to the families during that period?

I couldn't tell you the average.

It really, it literally depends.

For example, there are many cases where um we have defense attorneys in our county who try certain levels of cases.

The higher levels of murders, they're fewer of those lawyers.

And so sometimes those cases are set back to back to back for trial.

Um, there's one of our best um cap attorneys, county attorneys, when it's a conflict from the public defender's office, his name is in for the bench, and everybody thinks he'd be a great judge, but we're all holding our breath because that will create this this kind of avalanche of cases that he can't handle that are waiting to go out to trial.

So I can't tell you the average, it depends.

Oftentimes it's the defense attorney asking for continuance, us asking for continuance, families wanting um, you know, other evidence coming in, all kinds of things.

It really depends.

Um, the case that, and not every case goes to trial.

Let me just back up.

Okay.

Almost most cases don't go to trial.

Most cases are resolved by way of plea bargaining.

So for us to have that many murders sitting is kind of a big deal because we we have a county that has a lot of um has in the past had a lot of violent crime, and it takes a while to get through those cases for trial.

Um, but I would just say there's no average in the amount of time it really depends on the case and the attorneys and um if they want to go to trial sooner or later.

Okay, thank you so much for the presentation.

We're now gonna go to public comments, one minute for individuals in person or remote, and we'll leave that open for about another minute, and then we'll close public comment on informational item number two.

Madeline Stacy, Michelle Monterosa, refill way.

Welcome.

And when you come up, you could adjust the mic for your comfort level.

But if it's green, that means it's on.

Hello, Madeline Stacy, long time Alameda County resident.

Um, speaking from the presentation, Miss Dixon just gave the mission statement of the district attorney's office.

The top two items are to ethically prosecute those who commit crimes, uphold the rights of victims.

We heard a lot about victims, and provide them with compassionate support and protect the communities we serve.

That's this county's community.

The second one, collaborate with justice and community partners and foster policies that prioritize public safety and restore public trust.

That brings to my many concerns, but with my one few seconds left, I'll just say I'll mention a victim's name, Stephen Taylor.

If we're restoring public trust, how is the office serving victims and the survivors of police violence and abuse of power from police officers?

My time's up, but I had more to say, but yeah, Stephen Taylor.

Hi.

Um my question is um, thank you for this presentation, but I really want to know as Maddie had previously mentioned that families impacted by police finance are oftentimes seen as survivors or crime victims.

Um would love to know a little bit of how this office um is looking to apply resources to families who oftentimes aren't seen as uh crime survivors as well.

So, what are the resources and implementation and uh family liaison who is constantly there to support uh families who um fortunately have never been seen or considered um crime survivors also?

So we'd love to know a little bit what the office is actively doing or is planning to implement um in the near future.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone.

My name is Aces Hart Bell, and I just had a simple question for y'all.

So, why have all the petitions your office filed to prosecute children as adults then filed in cases of non-white children?

Why is that Maria Sabata, Derek B.

Tanisha Cannon?

Hi.

My name's Mina.

I'm a resident here.

Uh, resentencing is a legal mandate under penal code, code 1170.

Why has the office stopped all prosecutor initiated resentencing?

Why did the office stop resentencing review for cases identified as discriminating against black and Jewish jurors by a court county judge?

What is the daily cost to keep individuals incarcerated instead of resentencing and releasing them?

What is the office's response to the February 2026 report by US UC Berkeley Law Criminal Criminal Law and Justice Center study, which found that the prosecutor initiated resentencing in Alameda County, reduced 165 individual sentences, saving 2,792 years of incarceration and millions million annually?

Despite success in reducing long sentences for low risk individuals, the specialized unit was disbanded and pending cases withdrawn in early 2025.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

Like you, supervisors Marquez and Miley, data is also important to me, my family, and my community as an advocate of data-driven public safety strategies.

I would like to know why the DA's office removed the public data dashboard that the IT staff had been developing prior to DA Dixon's appointment.

I also want to know given the notable racial disparities in DA Dixon's office's enforcement of Prop 36, Proposition 36, and the ongoing lack of diversity in juries.

What efforts will the DAA's office make to publicly release requested data and reports beyond today's general review, particularly given the legally mandated data collection and publication requirements?

We have several outstanding requests made under the California Public Records Act.

Thank you.

My name is Derek Benson.

I work with families impacted by police violence across Alameda County.

I want to put this on record.

So my question is this.

Why did the district attorney's office dismiss the remaining off police accountability cases, including cases like Jason Fletcher and Officer Tran?

And what does that mean for families like Steven Taylor's, whose case was ultimately ultimately dismissed after more than five years?

Because those victims, because those families are victims too.

And when a case is dismissed after that length of time and there is no finality, only prolonged suffering.

If these cases are no longer being pursued, what pathways exist today for holding law enforcement accountable in Alameda County?

And who is responsible for ensuring that victims of police violence are actually being served?

I'm asking this committee to ensure that question is answered.

Thank you.

Norma Arrozco, John Jones III, Kathleen Tal Rico.

Good afternoon.

My name is Maria Sopeda, and I too was an early childhood educator.

I live in District 3, and I am a staff member of Urban Peace Movement.

And I'm here to address item number two.

We are deeply disappointed that the current DA's office refuses to meet with us, members of our partner orgs, like the Alameda County District Attorney Accountability Table and the community members that she is accountable to.

Prior district attorneys, Nancy O'Malley and Pamela Price both regularly met with us.

We engaged in constructive conversations about moving forward to better protect our youth and the system and discuss diversion options that can reduce the numbers of incarcerated youth in the county.

Why won't you?

DA Jones Dixon ignored and then refused our invitation to join a recent public forum at which 100 community members engaged in honest and open dialogue with public defender Brendan Woods and probation department chief Brian Ford.

If transparency and community engagement matter, why won't you show up to speak with your constituents?

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Tanisha Cannon.

We heard a lot of the DA's role is about following the constitution.

This is the same constitution that codified slavery and still does today.

The constitution that limited democratic participation for people who look like me and DA Dixon.

We're not just here to listen to the 2025 overview because we have our own.

There's been an increase in charging cheap misdemeanors, Prop 36 racial disparities, opposition and mental health diversion, objecting to motion a trial with the black client to increase the diversity to include at least one black juror.

Since the appointment of the Ursula Dixon, we've seen a rollback on hard fought progress.

We cannot say we're committed to equity while these decisions are being made.

What are the justices?

Who are the justice partners that the DA is collaborating with?

Because I'm here with seven, a coalition compromised of more than seven justice partners who have questions and want to meet with you.

We want answers.

Why are we rolling back programs that are proven to reduce harm?

Why are we returning the policies we know increase incarceration?

What accountability exists when decisions are made that are directly harming our communities?

When dealing with Stephen Taylor's family, was the bill of victim rights taken into consideration.

Good afternoon, Kate Tellerico.

I'm a reporter with the San Francisco Chronicle.

Um, I want to thank the DA's office for putting together this report.

Uh, it's very important for the public to see data, um, especially data on the referrals at your office reviews and charges, and I appreciated the breakdown on the gun charges, the property crimes that were in this report.

Um I in November submitted a public records request to the DA's office looking for information exactly like this, but regarding sex trafficking cases, specifically around penal code 647B and 266H.

The request has been delayed uh by several months by your office.

I really appreciate the transparency and data that you've reported here today, and I hope for an opportunity to follow up and get further data like this pertaining to trafficking.

Thank you.

Hello, Supervisor Miley, and the last presentation, you started off questions asking about demographics, and I agree demographical data is crucial when assessing success, failures, or shortfalls, but the demographic of the individual doing the charging is not what we need.

We need the demographic of the people being charged.

There's much evidence around the racism that exists within the system.

There are great injustices within our system.

Under DA Jones Dixon, the work to review and reconsider death sentences has completely stopped.

These are death sentences that are tainted by blatant racism, anti-semitism, and homophobia in the DA's office.

The DA is wasting resources, fighting to keep people sentenced to death and sentenced to death unjustly.

We call on her to put the people of Alameda County first into stand for justice to end the death penalty in Alameda County and correct the racism of the past.

Our county has voted against the death penalty.

Our state has a moratorium on executions.

So why are you filing death eligible cases?

Why aren't you resentencing the existing death cases in the country?

And will you commit to never seeking the death penalty?

Uh, for the record, John Jones III.

I want to begin by also uh extending my appreciation to DA Jones Dixon and to your team.

This is women's month uh women's month in March, which to me is interesting because it's should be every month.

I think we know that.

But again, for anyone who know me, I'm always uh being real particular when it comes to historical context and institutional memory.

So again, I recall reading at one point that 95% of all the district attorneys in this country were white.

79% were white men.

You might ask me why, what does that mean?

What's the relevance?

Well, for me, no matter what one may think, and we know clearly our DA is a black woman.

Misogyny and racism is deeply embedded in every institution in our society.

So for me, it's always important for me to always begin from a place of grace.

And I, you know, this note, it was something that the DA said in particular resonated with me uh about victims for sure and about front-end treatment.

So at the end of the day, I just want to always encourage us to really think about what does prevention look like so that way we're not caught up in a system that's just punitive.

So I want to thank you all for this presentation.

And thank you.

Simone, you're on the line.

We're on item two.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Simone Renee.

I'm an Oakland resident, and I'm a staff member of Urban Peace Movement.

I am here to address item number two.

We are calling for Madam DA Dixon to establish an open dialogue with community members to seek solutions that will reduce youth incarceration.

We ask that you talk to us.

We are calling the DA to halt youth transfers to adult criminal justice system, which dramatically increases their exposure to adult violence, increases suicide risk and other short, short and long-term harms.

The adult system is not suited for young people for our youth and youth transfers to the adult system.

Lastly, we ask that you resume resentencing for incarcerated people who have served long-term sentences and deserve the right to return to their families and communities, both prior DAs allocated resources in their office to focus on resentencing.

We urge Madam DA Jones Dixon to do the same.

Resentencing saves millions, carries low risk, reunites families, and strengthens communities.

Thank you for your time.

John, you're on the line.

We're on item two.

Hi, this is John Lindsay Poland of American Friends Service Committee.

I really appreciate Supervisor Marcus in the past has asked questions that people put into public comment.

And I hope you've taken note of each of the questions because there are so many really clear questions for the DA.

And since the DA has not agreed to meet with many of these community groups, this is the forum in which those questions can be addressed.

And I will add that there is nothing in the written report about a program that the DA runs, which is the CARES Navigation Center, very important one for diversion.

It would be important to get data on the use of that.

And finally, um the DA's office is the only county agency that is implicated in care first programs that has not yet submitted its uh plan to the ad hoc committee on uh cares first.

So we urge the DA to submit the plan as has been requested several times over recent months.

Thanks.

No more speakers for item two.

Yeah.

I like to call the DA back up.

I know she was listening attentively to the question.

So if there's any information you'd like to report back, some there were some general themes.

Sure.

So back to where we started, not everybody's happy, even victims' families when we handle cases, but what we ethically have to do is only prosecute cases that we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

And I don't um get into the habit of talking about named cases.

But what I can tell you is this.

If we can't prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt, we cannot put it forward.

And I think there are um the same rights that extend to every victim.

Name victim with a charge case.

That is every person gets the same treatment.

We've met with all of the cases that we discussed here today.

We've met with those families.

We've sat with those families, and they may not be happy about how we proceed, but we give them the respect to go through that process.

As it relates to the organizations that are here, um, several organizations that are here, our offices have many community meetings, but I can't be at every one, as we know.

Um, and actually am carving out time today to make sure that I'm here for this one.

I think that it is important to understand that when victims' rights have been ignored for two years straight, where victims call me on a regular basis and victims' family members saying we got no notice of resentencing, which they have a right to, no notice of parole hearings, which they have a right to, no notice of cases resolving or cases resolving and then three months later being resentenced without any information being provided to the victim.

We need to slow that process down and make sure we're adhering to those rights.

In addition to that, we have done some resentencing.

I don't need to make public every case that I touch, even in juvenile court, but we are doing that, but we're doing it the way it should be done.

As it relates to juvenile cases, the DA's office cannot charge any case as an adult case.

That would be a direct file.

That is no longer the law.

What we have asked, and actually what Ms.

The last administration asked, and I don't know why that's not coming up.

There were several petitions filed under the last administration to ask the court to review whether or not this was a case that should be handled in juvenile court or adult court.

The reason is because that requires a process by which you ask for a social study report and experts to weigh in as to whether or not this specific minor child, whomever, um, can be rehabilitated in the juvenile system.

So that is a question I think is a valid question to ask of the court, having been in that seat as a judge.

Instead of telling parents who are the victims of these crimes, their child being murdered, that because this has happened, there's no way that we're going to ask anyone to even look at the details.

Not one case since I've been in the seat has gone to adult court, not one.

But do I think it's appropriate to bring to victims' families information that we get from the social studies report that we give from experts that we give from probation?

Absolutely, I think that's important to do so that we can make informed decisions about how we move forward.

Um as it relates to there was another question.

The dashboard, like the metrics.

So the data dashboard that was up when we came up there, um, we are in the process.

Our our computer system was never created for data.

It was a homemade system that has been created many years ago and has been improved upon, approved improved upon.

We are even finding today there are asterisk on some of the data that I gave you because it was only pulling from in custody cases and not out of custody cases.

We've hired multiple um coders to try to pull that information from our system.

We don't have five million dollars to buy another system that tracks that and creates it.

And to piggyback on that as it relates to CPRA requests, because that system is so flawed, it takes us much longer to get that information.

So to your point, um, when some of the statistics that were here today, the young woman from I think the Chronicle, we are we have a whole crew of four paralegals and a lawyer working on CPRA requests and asking the coders that work for Miss Lewis to pull that information.

It's not immediate.

We don't just pick up a computer and type in something and pull out data.

It doesn't work that way.

So we have been trying to make sure as we come back in, we stabilize.

And I think that the stabilization also includes making sure that all rights, everybody's rights were adhered to.

And what I'll take umbrage with is that victims, um, no matter who they're a victim of, have not gotten the same information, the same treatment as enumerated under the California Constitution.

I make sure of it.

So was there anything else you have based on that?

The other thing, just an update.

I should have asked this earlier because I was also curious with respect to the CARES CARES First Jails Last Umitiative and diversion and navigation center.

Like if you could just briefly, how many do we have?

How are those services working?

If you could just kind of give an overview, and that also ties into the reimagined adult justice.

There's a lot of overlap with those two initiatives.

So anything you want to share on that?

Sure.

The gentleman who just called in about the um documentation that should have been provided.

We did.

LD and I were just having that conversation last week.

That documentation has been provided.

Secondarily, just to be clear to the cares first.

Okay, just want to be clear.

Thank you.

Navigation.

Okay.

And we are now working on building a secondary navigation center that also includes um the ability for some temporary housing.

Like we're working to expand the services to the community.

That requires some more money, some more negotiations, some building of relationships because some of the relationships were not left great.

So we're dealing with other uh providers to do that.

Um, I don't have any numbers.

I don't know if LD has any stats you want to share today.

And then with your quarterly report, is it gonna be like the same template of information, or were the information vary if the public's just curious, kind of it will vary.

Okay.

Perfect.

L D, did you want to add anything?

Welcome.

Um, so uh when we came back into the office, as I'm sure you were aware, the CARES Navigation Center was not functioning at all.

There were zero referrals.

And so we have quadrupled our partners into the navigation center.

We're averaging six or seven different law enforcement partners now utilizing the center on a monthly basis.

We've been serving approximately 16 to 20 clients a month in our CARES one location.

And so our numbers have increased significantly across the quarters.

Um, our second navigation center, uh, we're starting with the mobile team that's going to go live with the mobile team starting April 1st.

Um, actually, it's interesting, we're actually doing site visits this afternoon when I leave here with our funder to both locations.

Um, one at an existing expanded location that La Familia has in Hayward and the second location on Market Street here in Oakland.

So these are existing locations that have been there for some time.

And then we are in fact working on an expansion that we hope will include some housing that we're hoping to happen in the third quarter of this year with CARES one.

And so that work is growing very rapidly, and we're hoping to see the numbers expand over the course of this year.

So we were able to pull some stats regarding the average time for our death cases.

That includes the manslaughters as well as the murders.

It takes about an average, which is I hate averages because that can be from you know 15 years down to very briefly, but two years, nine months for a case to make its way through the system.

There is a DA accountability table meeting that LD has been at monthly.

I've been at once or twice, and LD has been at monthly with some of the organizations that are here today.

And then the TRC funding loss is what we were talking about earlier.

That's the trauma recovery center.

That funding loss is recent.

That was in the last week and a half, two weeks that we found out that we lost those funds.

Also feel like nothing is a zero sum game.

Like we have to look at this holistically.

And I cannot ignore what I'm required to do by way of victims by doing what people think is right otherwise.

I cannot move forward on cases that I know I can't prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

When I have cases where attorneys take the stand and say that they can't testify because of their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, that's a hard case to move forward on.

So when we're not doing the things that DAs are required to do ethically, like give information to the defense, um, we can't move forward on those cases.

And it is unfortunate.

But when you are when you are in an office with people who know how to do the job, and you can right size that you can start making sure that the training is there so that we don't make those mistakes, you see less of those issues on the back end.

I think I got about everything.

Thank you.

Um, Supervisor Miley.

Thank you, Chair Marques for uh this gen item and asking the questions and things.

I just want to um say that I appreciate the folks who spoke in your advocacy and your concerns.

Um appreciate the fact the DA responded.

Uh and I and I'm confident the DA's office is open to trying to continue to work with all segments of our society and continue to build um trust.

Once again, um it it doesn't matter uh whether someone um uh is a sworn officer.

If that person commits a crime, then the DA will hold that person accountable.

I'm confident of that.

Um, and I'm confident of a lot of confidence in this DA.

Reasonable people will disagree, but have a lot of confidence in her, obviously, because I was one of the board members who appointed her, and we've added a number of folks.

Um, I do agree, you know, um the criminal justice system historically uh has been biased and racist and this and the other.

Um that variable inspector is always there.

So I think that's why, you know, in my mind, um, we have a DA that I think I can trust.

Um I I have DAs that I trust in the Bay Area, like Brooke Jenkins as well as Dinah Becton, uh, all African American women.

Um so I have that sense of trust.

Others might not, but I I hope that the DA will be able to gain your your trust in your confidence uh because we do feel b we've earnestly believe that yes, there needs to be more resources that go into upstream prevention, make our neighbors resilient, this, that, and the other.

But if people mess up for some reason or another, there needs to be a way of assuring that there's accountability and what that accountability should be has to be determined, uh, depending on the severity of what happened in their circumstance around that.

I don't want to tie the DA's hands when it comes to tools.

I appreciate the fact that she's looking at enhancements again.

I personally don't mind the death penalty if it if it's warranted.

So, you know, that's me, but I can't have that level of trust if I don't have that level of trust in the person and the people who are supposed to be executing it.

And in Albany County, I think we've got we've got that.

And I also think we've got that in the number of DAs throughout the Bay Area, of which I'm very much value.

So I just wanted to state that for the record.

Yeah.

Thank you.

I'll I'll close out too.

I want to appreciate the public for their engagement, um, our presenters today as well, and just to echo that um we have a lot of work ahead of us, but this board is committed to the initiatives of reimagined adult justice, cares first, jails last.

Yesterday we not was it Tuesday, sorry, it's Thursday.

Tuesday, we approved a contract for Epic, which we've needed in this county for decades.

So continue to monitor um our social media with regard to updates to advance the work that we've committed to doing.

Um, also want to let the public know that our next meeting will be Thursday, April 23rd at 1030.

This is also two informational items.

This is something we've been closely tracking related to some of the comments made earlier today.

We're going to get an update on medical quality assurance monitoring at Santa Rita Jail and the procurement timeline for comprehensive medical services at Santa Rita Jail.

So just know that this committee is working hard and diligently to make sure that we could advance improvements throughout our entire county, but specifically at Santa Rita Jail.

So before we um adjourn this meeting, we do have public comment on non agenda items.

So if you would like to speak on an item that wasn't on the agenda, you will have one minute.

I just wanted to correct the record and say that the DA has not responded or met with us since August of 2025.

I have no speakers for public comment.

Thank you, everyone.

This meeting is adjourned.

Thank you.

Yes, sir.