Gage calls for fence and GPS system after four more teens escape
Saturday
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will consider an interior fence topped with razor wire to prevent teens escaping from the William F. James Boys Ranch. During this morning’s meeting, Supervisor Don Gage also will push for a GPS system in which the teens would wear ankle bracelets.
The latest action comes after the escape Saturday afternoon of four teens from the county Probation Department facility in northeast Morgan Hill.
Two were found soon after, and two others were still at large at press-time Monday night.
Gage has made the ranch escapes a personal crusade, telling ranch staff to notify him immediately of any escape attempt, day or night.
“I’m not stopping until we have zero escapes,” he said Monday. “With the bracelets, we’re looking at a single (supplier) source and have a company in mind that best fits our needs. We could have them in 30 days or so.”
Gage said the fence, which would be 4,900 linear feet with razor wire on top and a cement base, would take longer to put in place because the county would have to solicit bids. The county is pursuing both options.
Gage did not have a cost estimate for the fence Monday.
The initial cost of the GPS system and bracelets has been estimated at between $276,000 – $400,000.
The ranch and the Santa Clara County Probation Department that runs it have come under increased scrutiny recently as neighbors voice demands that steps be taken to reduce or eliminate escapes.
Since the beginning of this year, a total of 17 teens in seven separate incidents have escaped from the ranch.
Last week, there were three escape attempts in three days. Of the 17 boys who have run away this year, six have not been caught: two from an escape Thursday, one from a Wednesday attempt, two from the incident Saturday and one from a January escape.
On Saturday at approximately 5:25pm, four youths aged 16, 17, 18 and 18 ran from the ranch during a supervised basketball game. They ran up the hill heading east. Two of the boys (16 and 18) were apprehended by Sheriff’s Office deputies.
“We were notified immediately,” Morgan Hill Police Lt. Joe Sampson said Monday of Saturday’s escape. “We were contacted according to the protocol. We had four units on duty, and they all went out to assist in the search.”
According Bill Fu, the Probation Department’s public information officer, there were 113 escapes at the ranch between July 2003 and August 2004. Forty-three percent of those, or 49 escapes, took place during the hours between 6pm and 5:59 am; 35 percent, or 39 escapes, were attempted between 1pm and 5:59pm; and 22 percent, or 25 escapes, took place between 6am and 12:59pm.
Of the most recent attempts, the Tuesday incident occurred at 11:25am, the Wednesday incident happened at 2:38am and the Thursday escape took place at 1:57am.
Fu said due to the recent spate of escapes, the Probation Department is considering even more security measures. On Thursday two additional probation security staff were added to the graveyard shift. Also, the Sheriff’s Office has assigned a graveyard shift deputy (a K-9 unit) for security.
Another deputy remains on duty in the ranch area most of the time during the day.
Ranch neighbor Greg Claytor applauded Gage’s backing of an interior fence.
Claytor said he will attend this morning’s meeting in support of the fence and proposed GPS system.
“I’m going to ask the board to fully support Don,” Claytor said.
Neighbors have discussed the possibility of a fence around the facility, which is located on Malaguerra Avenue, a wooded, rural area adjacent to Anderson Lake County Park. There is a creekbed around the facility and an unlocked gate across the drive.
In the past, neighbors have told the department they did not want a fence because it would give the appearance the facility is a prison. The recent escapes have caused the county and neighbors to reconsider.
Fu said a fence is possible.
“According to the Board of Corrections Guideline, Title 15, a minimum security facility cannot be locked,” he said. “It doesn’t say a fence is not allowed.”
Gage said he learned Monday that even a fence may be locked as long as the teens can safely get out of the dormitory in the event of an emergency. He said the no-lock rule is from the state Fire Marshal’s Office.
Gage speculated that the reason for the spike in the number of escapes could be increased gang activity at the facility.
“The majority of the juveniles there are gang members,” he said. “The more you have there, well it’s a logical deduction to think there are more gang members. One of the boys who escaped last week, he was there since January and was within a week of being released. I think he attempted to escape because he was afraid of something.
“Now he’s serving a longer sentence, and he’s serving it at Juvenile Hall instead of the ranch. We all know there’s bad blood between the Norteños and the Sureños; anything that happens on the streets carries into all the facilities, into the ranch, into Juvenile Hall, into the prisons.”
Sampson said he doesn’t know much about what is happening inside the ranch, but he did say there are things “in general brewing on the street.”
“We’re going through a clump of escapes, but we have seen that before,” he said. “Part of it could have to do with the weather … In the past, we haven’t kept statistics on the escapes, but in talking to the dispatchers who have been in the department for a while, they don’t see this as a huge increase in the number overall. The public and the media are more aware of them now, attention is more focused on the ranch.”
The William F. James Boys Ranch is a minimum-security residential facility providing treatment and educational services for male offenders.
Educational, vocational, medical, mental health and aftercare services are provided based on individual assessment and case management needs. Teens aged 14-18 are sentenced to 120-day terms.
At 10am today, county supervisors will discuss enhanced security at the ranch. The meeting will be held at the county Government Center, 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at md****@*************es.com or phoning (408)779-4106, ext. 202
