Morning Report: El Cajon PD Stops Some Crisis Call Responses

A few months ago, the El Cajon Police Department quietly stopped responding to certain mental health calls.

The city’s police department in May stopped automatically sending officers when a person threatens to harm themselves and there’s no apparent crime or threat to others.

Our Lisa Halverstadt and Voice of San Diego intern Tessa Balc revealed that this has sometimes kept civilians from responding as well. They can’t show up if there are perceived safety concerns and officers won’t accompany them. This has sometimes left vulnerable callers and family members to handle a crisis on their own – and put crisis responders in challenging situations.

The rationale: El Cajon police point to a federal appeals court ruling they believe imperils the qualified immunity that protects officers from personal liability for their actions on the job. The ruling focused on a case involving someone who was only a danger to himself and died during an encounter with Las Vegas police.

While the Sacramento County sheriff made headlines for instituting a similar policy earlier this year, El Cajon is the only local police department to institute a similar policy.  

The reaction: County Supervisor Joel Anderson, county officials and advocates are raising concerns. They argue that El Cajon’s new policy puts its residents in danger. Anderson is urging the El Cajon City Council to hold a public discussion.

Read the full story.

The Learning Curve: Some Trump Cuts Restored

A relatively small portion of the money President Trump has been withholding from schools is now on its way to San Diego. 

Trump’s Education Department had planned to withhold roughly $50 million from San Diego County schools and another $10 million from Imperial County schools. Now, $14 million is being restored to San Diego schools. Meanwhile, Imperial is still set to get nothing. 

The big districts will benefit from this the most, writes our Jakob McWhinney. Most rural San Diego districts had virtually no money restored. 

And Mr. Barrera Goes to Washington: San Diego Unified Trustee Richard Barrera — who is also running for state superintendent — went to Washington to testify this week. Barrera testified in hearings that centered on a plan to create a national private school voucher system. Barrera has long advocated that putting more money into schools — rather than privatizing public education — is the way to make schools stronger. 

Read the full Learning Curve here. 

Dem Majority In, County Counsel Out

County supervisors gathered for a special closed-door meeting Wednesday to review County Counsel Claudia Silva’s performance. Hours later, the county abruptly announced Silva had retired.

As The Union-Tribune reports, the announcement came a few hours after county staff issued another special closed session agenda, this time to appoint an acting county counsel on Thursday.

Silva’s retirement followed the ushering in of a new Democratic majority on the county Board of Supervisors. The county issued notice of Wednesday’s closed session a day earlier, shortly after incoming Supervisor Paloma Aguirre was sworn in.

“After more than 31 years of distinguished service to public entities — including nearly nine years with the County of San Diego and the past three years as County Counsel — Claudia Silva has announced her retirement,” the county wrote in a statement issued hours after Wednesday’s closed-door meeting. “As she embarks on this well-earned next chapter, we thank her for her commitment and contributions.”

Silva is the latest top county lawyer to leave following the 2020 departure of longtime county counsel Thomas Montgomery. Two others held the post before Silva was appointed in July 2022.

The Union-Tribune reported last December that Silva received a significant retroactive pay hike after performance reviews. 

In Other News 

• SeaWorld is responding to allegations that the park’s fireworks shows are polluting Mission Bay. (Union-Tribune) 
• Speaking of Mission Bay, the San Diego City Council approved lease extensions with Campland on the Bay and Mission RV Resort. (Union-Tribune) 
• A DACA recipient is at risk of deportation after he accidentally crossed the border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. He is alleging that officers at the border asked for a bribe to allow him to enter the United States after he realized his mistake. (NBC 7) 

The Morning Report was written by Lisa Halverstadt, Will Huntsberry and Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña. It was edited by Andrea Sanchez-Villafaña. 

The post Morning Report: El Cajon PD Stops Some Crisis Call Responses appeared first on Voice of San Diego.