District Attorney’s Office to discuss criminal justice system at Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - During the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday, a consultant hired by the district attorney’s office revealed his findings on public safety protocols within the county.

“Yeah the main topic is we’re trying to figure out … now we have a South County Jail we also just built the north county jail … we’re trying to make sure that we have the right people in jail … Make sure they are there for the right amount of time," said 5th district supervisor Steve Lavagnino of Santa Barbara County.

The discussion included everything from crime rates to jail population.

“In the county more recently the crime has been increasing 2019 ... 2020 crime has been up … at the same time though the criminal justice system population has been declining. The number of people and probation has been declining … the number of people in jail has been declining. I’m looking at painting a picture of what’s happening in the county," said Mike Wilson of MW Consulting.

And it’s all in an effort to figure out how to make the local criminal justice system better for the entire community.

“The idea is to improve public safety and to try to do that in an efficient manner … that’s what I was looking at who’s in jail why are they there … And how can we improve the system," said Wilson.

“But we also have to look at balance … there’s a lot of people committing low level crimes … are we taking them off the street and putting them in jail … are we keeping them there too long … so we really have to do this balance of making sure people are accountable," said Lavagnino.

Another goal is to upgrade digital evidence with officer body cameras and cell phone footage.

“The idea is to improve public safety … both the sheriffs office have both of established dashboards and I know those are publicly available and it’s a unique thing to have counties that put in data online in that manner," said Wilson.

In the end, the District Attorney’s Office hopes to create more transparency in the county’s overall criminal justice system.

"Improving the system making sure … we have the right people at the right time for as long as they need to be there," said Lavagnino.

The project is funded by a Bureau of Justice Assistance grant.

The board consists of Supervisors Das Williams, Gregg Hart, Joan Hartmann, Bob Nelson and Steve Lavagino. 

Supervisor Nelson is the chair, and Supervisor Hartmann is the vice chair.

For more information, go to www.countyofsb.org/bos.