Two San Francisco County jails were placed on lockdown over the weekend due to increasing assaults on deputies and other staff by inmates at the facilities, officials said.
Since late March, seven jail employees have been injured in altercations with inmates they were assigned to supervise, said Tara Moriarty, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco Sheriff's Office.
“Some of these assaults resulted in serious injuries,” Moriarty said in a press release on Saturday. “The lockdown has come into effect to protect all who work, reside in or visit our prisons.”
The closure, which is expected to end next week, means the cancellation of any visits and programs, leaving more than 1,100 inmates in the two Bay Area prisons confined to their cells.
The jails affected include the county's only women's facility located in San Bruno.
“We are actively investigating these incidents to ascertain their root causes and any possible connection,” Moriarty said. “It is essential that we identify and address the factors that contribute to these attacks to prevent them from occurring in the future.”
The San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs' Association, the union representing affected workers, urged local leaders to deploy the California National Guard to make up for staffing shortages in county jails and bolster security.
“Recent events, including an alarming increase in inmate fighting, attacks on inmates by other inmates, and injuries to civilian employees and sheriff’s deputies, highlight the urgent need for more staff and resources within the Sheriff’s Office,” union President Ken Lomba said in a statement. . Letter to officials including Mayor London Breed and San Francisco Board of Supervisors Chairman Aaron Peskin.
Assaults on representatives increased from 121 in 2022 to 216 in 2023, according to Lomba.
In the letter, Lomba points to a recent Washington State University study that showed higher rates of mental health problems and burnout among workers at the San Francisco Sheriff's Office, a problem the union said is exacerbated by overtime working to combat staffing shortages.
Nationally, a shortage of correctional officers has exacerbated concerns about the quality of life for both inmates and workers with the prison population increasing in some facilities while staffing numbers decrease.
Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom approved more than $1 billion in raises and benefits for California prison guards in response to similar concerns.
In recent weeks, some San Francisco County jails have failed to meet staffing minimums, with deputies as low as eight on some shifts, according to the union.
Moriarty said the association's request to call in the National Guard is “premature” and unnecessary, but he said the agency shares concerns about safety issues and will address them internally.
“We understand that DSA also links recent events to low levels of employment and has called for immediate hiring,” she said in an email on Sunday. “The National Guard is not the solution to staffing shortages. Al-Sherif continues his commitment to filling vacant positions, recruiting and hiring.
