JOHN ‘GUNDO’ GUNDERSON: WORKPLACE CULTURE CAUSES JAIL WOES
Q:Rate ex-Sheriff Bill Gore and assess his legacy. What was his biggest accomplishment? What did he most neglect?
A:
I do not believe it is
proper for me or any other candidate to assess Sheriff Gore’s legacy. Unless the actions are willfully malicious, we should not judge another man until we’ve walked in his shoes. I imagine the wants and needs asked of a sheriff are endless, and I would like to think he did the best he could with the abilities he possessed, and I wish him a long and healthy retirement.
Q:
What are the three
largest issues that contribute to the high number of San Diego County jail deaths and what would you do to address them?
A:
Culture, culture,
culture. Based on the recent state audit, it seems obvious there is a general lack of caring about inmates among jail staff and department leadership, from medical staff failing to communicate to detention staff about an inmate’s suicidal risk factors, to deputies placing an inmate in a cell only to find that inmate unresponsive two minutes later and then waiting four minutes for medical personnel to arrive before anyone started CPR, to an assistant sheriff who readily acknowledges it is known that employees are not following policy.
I believe that all members of the jail staff begin their careers with the intention of providing excellent service and protecting all people in their custody, but somewhere along the line leadership is failing to ensure apathy does not set in, and that is costing people their lives. Not all deaths are avoidable, but we owe it to everyone in custody to provide them with the safest environment possible so they can focus on proving their innocence or paying their debt to society and rehabilitating themselves.
I would start by meeting with the jail staff employee groups to find out what resources they are lacking to be able to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. I would then work to provide the necessary equipment, policies and additional staff. Once the proper tools are present, I would set an expectation of excellence and accountability in order to develop a culture where employees thrive and are devoted to serving the public.
Q:
How would you rate
the Sheriff ’s Department efforts at recruitment and retention? Do you think the staff reflects the diversity of San Diego County and how do you think it should change?
A:
Recruitment is average and retention is subpar.
Depends on your definition of diversity, and thus far it seems to be relegated to only race and gender, but having a diverse workforce is so much more than that. The primary goal of diversity when hiring is to ensure inclusion and a variety of perspectives. Limiting ourselves to consider only race and gender is a disservice to our employees and the public we serve.
Instead, we should be looking to recruit employees from all walks of life, i.e., people who grew up poor, rich, in families with single parents, two parents, orphans, persons from other countries who have legally immigrated to the U.S., persons who have worked in food service, construction, accounting, etc. Diversity is about reflecting all of those in the community that we serve, not just trying to look like them.
As sheriff, I would change the hiring process to be
completely blind. For decades law enforcement agencies and the public have had a preconceived notion of what an officer should look like, e.g., short hair, no tattoos, no piercings, etc., and this has naturally led otherwise qualified candidates to not advance through the hiring process because of how they look.
I believe there is a whole section of our society who would make excellent peace officers but who never bother to apply because they feel their chosen appearances will automatically preclude them from getting hired. We should change that, and a process where looks are not a factor is the first step.
Q:
What would you do to protect inmates from this or the next pandemic and how would you try to prevent the spread of disease in jails?
A:
If the top public
health officials in the country cannot keep the spread of this pandemic out of the White House, I am not sure how we can reasonably expect a county sheriff to keep it out of a jail system. What a sheriff can do is ensure appropriate levels of medical personnel staffing, sanitation services and use of personal protective equipment. Diligence and detail are key, as is responding to all reported incidents of illness within the jail, as well as appropriate medical screening of incoming inmates.
Q:
Department data has
shown that San Diego County deputies are more likely to use force on people of color. What would you say to affected communities about this? What, if anything, would you do to address it?
A:
With rare and inexcusable exception, the use of force by deputies is predicated by the actions of the person against whom the force is used. When force is used inappropriately, that should be quickly acknowledged by the department, and punishment for those involved should be swift and just.
However, the vast majority of uses of force are found to be within policy, which means the civilian’s actions justified the level of force used. That is something that should also be acknowledged.
Ultimately, as with many social issues in life, it all comes down to communication. Absent the cases where the immediate use of force is obviously necessary, e.g., a domestic violence situation in progress, there are oftentimes I feel the use of force could have been avoided if we simply did a better job of explaining the circumstances to the civilians involved before taking action.
As a profession, we do an excellent job of teaching law enforcement officers to use force when necessary, but we have only truly begun teaching them to better communicate in the last decade or so. I would work with community groups and the training unit to better equip deputies with the cultural knowledge needed to be able to understand the perspectives of the civilians they are dealing with in order to communicate effectively to arrive at peaceful resolutions to incidents.