After probe, Contra Costa County sheriff denies claims of mistreatment at jail

A view of the outside of the West County Detention Jail Facility in Richmond, Calif., on Thursday, September 3, 2015. A view of the outside of the West County Detention Jail Facility in Richmond, Calif., on Thursday, September 3, 2015. Photo: Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle 2015 Photo: Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle 2015 Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close After probe, Contra Costa County sheriff denies claims of mistreatment at jail 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office has completed an investigation of its own practices and announced Friday that it prevented no immigration detainees from using the bathroom and did not confine inmates to cells for 23 hours at a time.

The allegations came from several of the 38 women detained at the West Contra Costa County jail in Richmond by federal immigration officials, including Dianny Patricia Menendez, who in October told The Chronicle she would rather be deported than suffer the jail’s distressing conditions. In September, 27 women signed a letter documenting their complaints.

The Sheriff’s Office has a $6 million-a-year contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to run the immigration detention center at the jail.

“Nearly all of the complaints were unfounded and unsubstantiated,” Sheriff David Livingston said in a statement, noting that investigators with the department interviewed 110 witnesses, using translators when necessary or listening to recordings. They also watched “hundreds of hours” of video surveillance and looked at logbooks, computer entries “and other evidence.”

Livingston’s office did find that one staff member had used profanity and said that employees could do a better job of replacing detainees’ room keys “when they are lost or damaged.”

However, “claims of being ‘locked down’ for 23 hours a day were false,” the statement said. “The most time any ICE detainee was confined to their dormitory room was 1 hour and 24 minutes” for facility counts or “administrative reasons.”

In fact, the sheriff’s statement said, “the detainees have keys to their rooms and free use of common restroom facilities.”

Yet, some women in the jail told The Chronicle they were forced to urinate and defecate in plastic bags because their cells had no toilets, and their requests to leave their cells to use the bathroom were ignored.

“Regarding the use of ‘red’ biohazard bags for toilet needs, there was no evidence that any detainee was forced to use the bags in that manner,” the Sheriff’s Office reported. “In very few cases detainees did use the bags for that purpose in violation of policy.”

After The Chronicle published its first story, inmates said conditions grew worse.

In response, Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, asked state Attorney General Xavier Becerra to investigate.

On Dec. 4, Becerra said his office would look into the allegations of mistreatment at the jail. He has until March 2019 to report to state lawmakers.

At the same time, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., wrote to Thomas Homan, acting director of ICE, and asked him to investigate.

Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s Office said it is investigating itself.

Also unfounded were two complaints about health care being withheld, the sheriff said, but added that Contra Costa Health Services will review them.

“Consistent with independent ICE inspections, we found that the alleged policy violations were largely unfounded,” Livingston said. “Many detainees told us they are well treated at the West County Detention Facility.”

Menendez, meanwhile, was deported to her native Honduras on Oct. 31.

Nanette Asimov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nasimov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NanetteAsimov