Culture and Control: Understanding, Managing, and Controlling the Inmate Population in the Santa Ana City Jail

• NCJ Number: 149482
• Journal: American Jails Volume: 7 Issue: 4 Dated: (September-October 1993) Pages: 63- 66
• Author(s): G Garcia
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 4 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

In 1993, Santa Ana, California, opened the State's first direct-supervision, city-operated jail.

Abstract

Santa Ana has a multicultural population comprised of Hispanics, blacks, Vietnamese, Koreans, and Pacific Islanders. Many of these residents are illegal aliens who speak little or no English and who have preconceived notions of how the criminal justice system in the U.S. will operate. Santa Ana also has a rising gang and crime problem. The City has had the foresight, however, to require detention officers to be bilingual; the same criterion applies to all municipal police officers. The direct supervision approach taken at the county detention center will allow corrections officers to communicate with the inmates about their different cultures and customs, take appropriate steps in inmate orientation and classification, and act as good role models for minority inmates.