Enhancements Needed for Public Safety, Marin County, CA, Grand Jury Says

Jun. 26—Several public safety agencies in Marin County need more assistance in carrying out their duties, the Marin County Civil Grand Jury says in a new report.

The shortcomings include an underused sobriety site for officers to take intoxicated people, and the lack of an adequate backup for the county's fire dispatch center, according to the jury.

"The grand jury investigated whether Marin expects too much of first responders and whether the county does enough to support first responders and those struggling with these growing social issues," the report says.

The Marin County Board of Supervisors, the San Rafael City Council, the Novato Fire Protection District and the Marin Healthcare District have 90 days from the report date to respond to its recommendations.

Supervisor Mary Sackett, the president of the county board, said it will discuss actions when it reviews the report on Sept. 16.

The jury focused heavily on emergency cases that could be managed without police. It seeks more alternatives for first responders in handling mental health crises and nonviolent drug or alcohol intoxication cases without having to take people to the jail or a hospital.

The report highlights the Marin County Mobile Crisis Response Team and the Specialized Assistance for Everyone teams of San Rafael and Novato. The teams intervene in mental health emergencies.

"SAFE team members dress in street clothes, carry granola bars rather than guns, and respond to individuals needing crisis counseling, shelter, transportation, or minor medical care," the report stated.

The report said the Mobile Crisis Response Team received more than 3,000 calls in 2024 and 2,852 to date this year.

The jury lauded the work last year of the San Rafael SAFE team. The report said the team worked on 8% of calls that would have been handled by San Rafael police officers. The team works on an $700,000 annual contract, jurors reported. Novato's SAFE team began operating in April.

"Sending in the SAFE team rather than San Rafael police officers resulted in 68 emergency department diversions, 42 jail diversions, and 103 ambulance diversions," the report stated.

Jurors want San Rafael city officials and Novato fire district officials to provide more funding for their SAFE programs.

San Rafael Mayor Kate Colin said the council committed nearly $3 million in one-time federal relief funds to pilot its SAFE program over three years.

"Now in its second year, SAFE has proven highly effective, but it's clear that long-term sustainability must come from the county, which can access insurance reimbursements and dedicated behavioral health funding streams that cities cannot," she said.

Sackett said the county allocated $2.4 million to fund round-the-clock mobile crisis response services.

"We are committed to developing sustainable solutions that uphold the health and safety of our communities," she said.

Sustainability was also an issue when the jury addressed the county's emergency operations center at Los Gamos Drive in San Rafael. It serves fire agencies across the county.

The county upgraded the center in July, but the staff lacks technical support in the event that a disaster disrupts the dispatchers' service, the jury reported.

Jurors called for the county to purchase a new mobile communications van that can accommodate dispatchers to provide backup for the emergency operations center.

"The nearly $2 million cost is significantly less than the cost of building an alternate site," the report said.

Marin County Fire Department Chief Jason Weber said that in the event of a system failure, 911 calls will still be answered by their respective law enforcement centers that transfer fire and medical calls to the county fire staff.

"The report underscores our ongoing effects to enhance our backup systems and forge valuable partnerships to further strengthen our operations," he said.

Regarding police interactions with intoxicated people, jurors want more officers to bring them to the Helen Vine Recovery Center on Smith Ranch Road in San Rafael.

"Diverting the publicly intoxicated allows law enforcement to focus on more serious crimes," the jury stated.

The jury said officers are dropping off fewer people at the detox center under the belief there are no beds available there. Between July 2024 and March, only 16 day beds were used for police dropoffs, according to a county report.

Teresa Bowman, co-founder of the 26-year-old Helen Vine center, said its services were originally funded by police agencies across the county.

Bowman recalled that people detained for public intoxication were placed at Helen Vine and given four to six hours to become sober. She said that the financial support eventually ran out.

"So there was nothing to pay for them and they weren't sure who was going to pay for it," Bowman said about law enforcement agencies. "So it just kind of went away."

She added that the service's funding was recently restored from the county. The center now has four beds available in rotation every four to six hours.

The center also has new staffers who connect with law enforcement agencies. Past visitors are also contacted by the staff to inquire if they seek treatment or detox services.

Chris Kughn, chief executive officer of Buckelew Programs, the Helen Vine center's parent organization, said his staff is doing more to inform law enforcement agencies about its services.

" Marin is a small enough community where we can be in good communications with the various agencies, and that's really what is essentially here," he said.

The grand jury also wants the Marin County Police Chiefs Association to advise law enforcement agencies to use the Helen Vince facility for intoxicated detainees.

Fairfax police Chief Rico Tabaranza, the president of the association, said it will continue promoting the use of the Helen Vine center as an option for officers.

"We agree that Helen Vine is the preferred choice, but oftentimes circumstances prevent that from occurring out of law enforcement's control," he said Friday.

The grand jury report, titled "Marin County First Responders: Supporting Those Who Support Us," is online at marincounty.gov/node/22996.

© 2025 The Marin Independent Journal (Novato, Calif.). Visit www.marinij.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.