Last fiscal year there were 78 escapes or attempted escapes,
compared with 102 in ’03-’04
Morgan Hill – Though it may seem like escapes at the William F. James Boys Ranch are worse than ever, the Santa Clara County Probation Department says the escape rates have dropped dramatically during the first half of this year – about 25 fewer than last year.
“When I first got here in September, there were 50 (escapes) in a quarter, sometimes 20 in a month,” said Sheila Mitchell, the recently-hired chief probation officer for Santa Clara County. “The trend is definitely downward.”
The ranch tracks escapes on a fiscal year beginning on July 1. Last fiscal year ending June 30, 2005, there were 78 escapes or attempted escapes at the ranch – seven inmates are still at large.
Two inmates tried to escape the ranch in July but were apprehended before they left the grounds. In 2001-02, there were 98 escapes or attempted escapes; 99 in 2002-03; and 102 in 2003-04.
County Supervisor Don Gage, who said he would make security at the ranch his “personal concern” after a flurry of escapes in January and February, said last week with all the attention the ranch is receiving, the public might not realize how much escapes have decreased.
“The numbers went down significantly, and they are even going down more, now that Sheila (Mitchell) has taken over,” he said.
Bill Fu, a public information officer at the Santa Clara County Probation Department, said new security measures appear to be working at the ranch, noting there were 60 escapes from July 1, 2004 to Jan. 15 2005, but only 20 since then.
“Since we instituted extended security measures at the ranch beginning Jan. 16, there have been 20 escapes and attempted escapes,” he said. “The first four escapes of the calendar year, which occurred on Jan. 12, are included in the 60 escapes beginning July 1, 2004. Those four (escapes) are essentially what triggered the extended security measures.”
The department has reached an agreement with the Sheriff’s Office to have deputies stationed on the ranch, as well as an agreement to notify the Morgan Hill Police Department within 10 minutes of an escape. Currently, Fu said, with deputies on site, the notification of an escape is “instantaneous.”
The number of staff at the ranch has been increased. Fu said the ranch has always complied with mandated ratios of one staff member for each 15 inmates during waking hours and one to 30 during the “graveyard” shift. Two additional staff members have been added during waking hours, and now all ranch supervisors and managers are on-call 24 hours a day.
Despite the expanded security, the attention of the community – the surrounding residential neighborhood in particular – has turned to the ranch, with each escape and escape attempt increases public scrutiny.
The additional concern about escapes has come, in part, because residential neighbors have reported inmates running through their backyards in some cases. They are concerned about the safety of their families.
Cumming said he believes it is “generally true” ranch escapees do not want to stay in the area or cause trouble after they escape.
“I believe they do want to get out of town, most notably to San Jose, or a few to Gilroy,” he said. “I don’t want to scare people or minimize the situation either. Sometimes, when people are trying to escape, someone could get in their way, someone could be carjacked … It’s a remote possibility.”
Cumming said he had talked to people in the neighborhood who were worried and scared, some with young children who play in the yards.
“We’re going to make sure MHPD is vigilant and that we are notified (of an escape),” he said. “Overall, the neighborhood is quite safe. Some of these kids are tough kids. Although ‘so far so good,’ that’s not a reason to relax our vigilance.”
The boys ranch houses 15- to 18-year-old boys, in an attempt to rehabilitate them, and the inmates attend high school classes at Blue Ridge High School on the property.
Younger male offenders and girls are confined at the Murial Wright Residential Center at the top of Bernal Road in southwest San Jose, near Santa Teresa Park and IBM.
Until June 30, 2004, the Morgan Hill site housed the Harold Holden Ranch and James F. Boys Ranch. At that time, the younger boys were moved to the Murial Wright center at the top of Bernal Road in southwest San Jose, also near Santa Teresa Park and IBM.
Youths sentenced to the ranch through the juvenile court system typically commit less serious offenses than those sentenced to the California Youth Authority facility in San Jose.
Youths are sentenced to CYA for felonies and crimes involving violence.
