Since the death of his daughter in a prison in the County of San Diego in 2019, Paloma Serna has been a frank critic of the Sheriff’s office. She organized press demonstrations and conferences and regularly addresses the Citizens’ Council which investigates deaths in detention.
Friday, she was back in the detention and return to Las Colinas in Santee, the county prison for women and the place where Elisa Serna died. But this time, the mother who became activist was there to thank, not criticize, the management of the Sheriff’s office.
For several months, the members of Saving Lives in Custody California, a non -profit Serna created to help families cross the test of losing a loved one in prison, met Dustin Lopez, the deputy chief in charge of prison operations and Michael Rand, who heads the Sheriff’s relaxation office.
From these meetings came the idea of a celebration of Mother’s Day.
Held Friday and open to all the women in the prison, the event was organized on the theme “Celebrant Hope”. In addition to a live group, actor and cake, the festivities included an address of the motivating lecturer and former detainee of Las Colinas Vanessa Rojas.
Before the event, Serna said that the objective was to make sure that women in police custody know the resources available both in prison and after their release to help break the cycle of imprisonment.
“It’s about helping them stay outside the prison, so saving lives,” she said. “We are going to go with resources and if it goes well, we will return it next year.”
Lopez said the sheriff’s office and save custody in California share the same objectives when it comes to helping women in LaS Colinas, especially those with children.
“Even if they are behind these walls at the moment, they are part of our society,” he said. “They will leave these walls, they will reintegrate with their families and it is extremely important.”
Serna said that the Sheriff’s Office did not impose any restriction on what it could say to women or during a press conference before the event which included banners and panels with the names of four deceased women in Las Colinas in the past three years.
The families of two of these deceased women – Vianna Granillo and Roselee Bartolacci – have filed prosecution against the county.
Elisa Serna died in her cell almost six years ago. She was found on the ground in a puddle of her own urine in the same position she landed when a nurse and her assistant watched her fall but left her alone.
The SERNA family continued and settled their trial with the county last July for $ 15 million, the largest payment ever made for a death in detention of the county of San Diego. Serna used part of the pursuit to start the defense group for non -profit defenders.
The legal regulations have asked Sheriff Kelly Martinez to strengthen the policy of verifying the security of its prisons for people under medical observation and to conduct a “training on compassion” and other reparation studies for employees.
Serna said that she does not enter prison to defend on behalf of her deceased daughter.
“I will wear my life saved as a police custody, but I will not go there and I will say that I am the mother of Elisa Serna who died,” she said. “We are just there for them, to try to enlighten their day.”
Yusef Miller, the executive director of Saving Lives in Asty Custody California, said that meetings with Lopez and Rand had been productive.
He said discussions have included ideas on additional data that the sheriff’s office could collect and means to improve mental and spiritual health services.
Miller also said that he had been impressed to learn about the services that Las Colinas provides to promote links between incarcerated women and their families. He also credited the sheriff’s office for adopting his recommendation to add a link to the department’s website on the back -to -school services where family members can check when a loved one is imprisoned.
“It was born to just talk,” said Miller. “He was not born out of protest, rallying, walking, legislation. It was born to talk about each other, and this is the cycle we want.”
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
