I attended a training on jail support that was hosted in collaboration with Decarcerate Sacramento, the Anti-Police-Terror Project (APTP), and Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ) Bay Area. The event was hybrid, with in-person locations in Sacramento and Oakland, along with a virtual option to attend. The training was a part of APTP’s 12th Annual Reclaim MLK’s Radical Legacy March & Week of Action (technically two weeks, according to APTP’s website).
https://www.antipoliceterrorproject.org/reclaim-mlk-2025
The training mainly focused on the three orgs’ collaborative efforts in providing mutual aid to people released from jail custody at the Santa Rita Jail at 5325 Broder Blvd, Dublin, CA 94568 and the Sacramento Downtown Jail at 651 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814.
General Notes - Notes I took during the training and later through additional research
- Jail Support: Material support and direct care for people leaving jail custody. This can include providing packaged food and water, warm clothing and survival supplies, use of a phone, charging bricks and cords, offering a rideshare or directions to public transit, knowledge of local support services, and informational/legal resources for people being released with nowhere to go and nobody to support them, and/or for friends/family visiting their loved ones in jail.
- Jail vs. Prison: These two types of correctional facilities differ mainly in the duration of one’s custody, purpose of one’s crime, and administration of the incarcerated population. Jails are local holding facilities for people awaiting trial or serving a sentence for a minor crime/misdemeanor (usually less than one year, on average a month or a few weeks). Prisons are state or federal facilities that hold inmates for long-term periods of time who have committed a felony (from a year to multiple decades).
- In some respects, the set-up for jail support seems similar to the Community Check-in Booth that’s been established in Stockton at 603 San Juan Avenue, which I was able to spend some time volunteering at on 1/19 to get a better sense of the process out there and what kinds of supports volunteers are providing.
- Like with legal observing of ICE, jail support is focused on community building by creating a welcoming space for people who are typically dehumanized (undocumented folks, incarcerated folks), providing resources and collecting important data in order to locate those who have been arrested or detained in order to notify emergency contacts, loved ones, and/or attorneys.
- According to the facilitators, a significant number of people are released after public transport hours, in the middle of the night, (usually around 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.) with no phone, food, money or transportation. Late-night releases can be extremely dangerous as one may have to walk a long distance from the county jail to access transportation, making them vulnerable to assault, murder, kidnapping or bad weather conditions. County jails commonly practice late-night releases due to overcrowding. Some counties have policies where one can request to be released in the morning or ask for resources like a bus pass, but sheriff departments don’t necessarily follow them and may ignore those requests. Most material support from the county, if any, usually just results in a phone call.
- Women being released at night, in particular, are at risk of being targeted and sexually assaulted in exchange for a ride. Or worse, such as kidnapping and murder. Addicts are also at risk of being targeted by drug pushers who camp nearby in the dark and prey on those in a vulnerable state. People who experience class-based disadvantages, are disproportionately targeted by law enforcement, are experiencing mental health issues, housing insecurity, and/or substance abuse, hold a higher risk of being harmed or causing harm to themselves or others when released late-at-night.
- According to research from the Harvard Kennedy School, “Within 185 of the 200 most populated cities in the United States, there are 141 jails. Of the 141 jails, 131 release during the late night and only 10 do not.” https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/wiener/programs/criminaljustice/research-publications/dispatches/perils-of-late-night-releases#:~:text=Even%20for%20people%20of%20means%2C%20late%2Dnight%20discharges,of%20being%20harmed%20or%20of%20causing%20harm.
- The importance of jail support relies upon replacing abandonment with presence when helping people who experience “incarceral neglect".
- Incarceral Neglect: Correctional facilities such as jails and prisons failing to provide for basic, constitutional and medical needs for those incarcerated, which can lead to harm, illness or death. A deliberate disregard from law enforcement/jail employees concerning issues documented by those incarcerated/formerly incarcerated and prison abolitionists involving poor sanitation, overcrowding, inadequate mental health services/nutrition, denied/delayed medical treatment or physical/sexual abuse committed by inmates or staff.
- According to a report by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), many people released from incarceration suffer from massive health problems, often caused or exacerbated while incarcerated. The formerly incarcerated are 13 times more likely to die prematurely compared to people who have never experienced jail/prison time. Incarcerated individuals are 1.5 times more likely to have diabetes, 10 times more likely to have hepatitis C, and up to 5 times as likely to be experiencing severe mental health issues. The leading causes of death for the formerly incarcerated are: drug overdose, cardiovascular disease, homicide, and suicide. The risk of a drug overdose/relapse is 40 times higher for formerly incarcerated within the span of two weeks after release compared to overdose rates within the general population. https://www.aamc.org/news/out-prison-struggling-stay-healthy
- The incarcerated/formerly incarcerated population in America is one of the most vulnerable populations. People who leave jail or prison often have no health insurance, little to no money, and little access to services they may need. When they are released, they often have few skills/resources necessary to navigate the health care system or to find work and housing. Incarcerated individuals may also deeply distrust and refuse medical care due to medical neglect while incarcerated.
- The formerly incarcerated are 10 times more likely to face homelessness than the general public. Up to 15% of incarcerated individuals experienced homelessness for at least a year before being incarcerated. Homelessness rates are especially high amongst: (1) people who have been incarcerated more than once; (2) people recently released from jail/prison; (3) people of color and women. Being homeless makes it more likely for the formerly incarcerated to be arrested and sent to prison/jail again due to anti-homeless policies and infrastructure. Public housing authorities and private property owners typically discriminate against the formerly incarcerated. Combined with affordable housing shortages and an influx of anti-homeless policies being aggressively enforced all around America, this makes the interconnection between unhoused and incarcerated populations more acute in recent years. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/housing.html#raceandgender
Crews
- This jail support system in Sacramento and in the Bay Area involves multiple crews performing specific tasks:
- On-Site Crew: Helps set up and break down tabling used to distribute material support and information; greet, listen to, and engage with people who are being released, visiting the jail, and/or just passing by; invite the formerly incarcerated to share their stories and engage in surveys to document current jail conditions; keep watch for cops and/or jail employees who will try to threaten volunteers and interfere in their work.
- Supply Crew: Pickup and drop off material items from community and local vendors (individuals, mutual aid groups, businesses, etc.); help track supply counts, organize storage spaces, and self-select which pickups to take based on inventory and volunteer capacity; communicate with individuals and organizations willing to offer supplies for distribution; organize supply drives and donations.
- Info Team: Create handouts and info materials for tabling; share supply needs and info on social media; review and compile data to document jail conditions and produce regular community reports.
- Decarcerate Sacramento specifically provides an Inside/Outside Jail Hotline which supports people in jail to document jail conditions along with medical advocacy, information sharing, and legal research.
- Coordination Team: Help setup and delegate tasks to On-Site Crew on the day of a shift; facilitate shift check-ins and debriefs; providing shadowing for first-time volunteers; document how many people were served, supplies that need to be restocked, etc.
Know Your Rights/Engaging with Cops
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This is basic KYR info, but felt it doesn’t hurt to mention it here. Always good to have a refresh with this kind of info.
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It is your right to table and leaflet on public property as long as you do not obstruct the right-of-way.
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Public Property: sidewalks, streets, parks, plazas, or outside government buildings
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Government Buildings: city hall, state capitol building, police or sheriff stations, courthouses, and jails
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Not on private property, unless you have been given explicit permission by the property owner (i.e. shopping malls).
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When engaging with jail employees and cops, be vague and repetitive in your response. Do not disclose info about jail support schedules, crews or procedures. If asked, say: “We’re volunteering our time to offer support to people being released.” If asked who you’re volunteering with, say: “We’re just informal volunteers.”
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You are under no obligation to speak to law enforcement. If they begin to harass/threaten, ask: “Am I being detained?” If you are being detained, say: “I am invoking my right to remain silent. I want a/my lawyer.” Say nothing else beyond this. Do not respond to anything law enforcement may ask you about.
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Cops must have reasonable suspicion in order to detain you. Cops must have probable cause in order to arrest you. “Suspicious” behaviors cops can use against you include: (1) answering questions, then suddenly stopping; (2) lying to the police (even when they lie to you); (3) resisting a “pat-down” or search; (4) running away.
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If detained, give your name and remain silent. Silence is within your legal right and does not make you look guilty, even if cops lie/threaten to you by saying it does.
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You have the right to observe and film officers as long as your are not “impeding their operation.”
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Collect officers’ names and badge numbers, vehicle numbers, and license plate numbers.
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While recording, regularly provide verbal updates.
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Focus filming on cops than on the targeted person(s). Let the targeted person know who you’re filming.
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Do not engage officers in any way that escalates the situation.
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Do not post to social media, particularly if it is an ICE encounter.
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If officers are not acting in accordance with their own policies, it’s within your rights to call it out (whether they care or not is another matter
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Rapid Response
- In terms of rapid response immediately after someone is arrested by police, APTP, SURJ and Decarcerate Sacramento’s methods involve reaching out to that person’s family, friends and community members to contact the arresting agency and/or booking agency to ask for their status and determine if they’ve been booked or released by checking the local county’s Inmate Locator online. If the person is booked into a jail, then volunteers will show up at that jail.
- To make this info more pertinent to San Joaquin, I’ll provide down below contact info involving San Joaquin’s jail system.
- The San Joaquin County Jail (or John Zunino Jail Complex) is located at 999 W Mathews Rd, French Camp, CA 95231 - phone # is (209) 468-4384. It operates under the supervision of the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office and houses up to 1,550 inmates.
- https://wic.sjgov.org/WhosInCustody/SearchByName (Who’s In Custody Inmate Locator for San Joaquin)
- You can call (209) 468-4562 to ask if someone is in custody in the county jail.
- San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office: 7000 Michael Canlis Blvd., French Camp, CA 95231- phone # (209) 468 - 4400 https://sjsheriff.org/
Final Thoughts: My interest in learning about jail support and more broadly about prison abolition stems from having experienced homelessness while living in the Bay Area from 2023 - 2024, in the months before learning about WCU. I was also dealing with substance abuse and severe mental health issues and while I was never arrested or incarcerated during that time, I always felt like I had a target on my back, never quite feeling comfortable in one spot for too long. It was an incredibly difficult and isolating time in my life, going from place to place (mainly spending my days in public libraries to have some sense of stability), noticing others in a similar situation as I was in (living out of their cars), but just keeping to myself largely during this time.
The interconnection between incarceration and homelessness has become a growing interest of mine and understanding/being better able to combat against prevailing narratives when it comes to how people generally perceive crime/criminals. A friend of mine was recently arrested and had to be in jail for a week back in November so that is also driving some of my interest into these topics. Most people who are arrested multiple times don’t pose a public safety risk. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, about 88% of people arrested and jailed multiple times were not arrested for a serious violent offense. The most frequent reasons for arrests typically concern lower-level offenses such as drug charges, DUIs, theft, violation of a court order, probation, parole, or perjury, traffic violations and simple battery and assault (usually defined as threatening someone with a weapon, trying to or actually punching or kicking someone, pushing someone, and/or grabbing someone’s clothing/unwanted physical contact). My friend specifically was arrested for a DUI. They’ve been struggling for a while and don’t fit the stereotypical media portrayal of someone who we might imagine to be incarcerated, someone who “deserves to be in jail,” and I believe that this is the case for the majority of people affected by criminalization policies in this country. When it comes to many issues, specifically prison abolition, homelessness and healthcare, to name a few, I believe that most people in America are in a much more precarious state than they want to admit. We are much closer to being arrested and jailed, becoming homeless, in experiencing mental/physical health problems that bankrupt and isolate us, than moving up into a higher class strata. https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/repeatarrests.html
Since WCU’s primary goal is politically activating and organizing working class people in San Joaquin County, I believe it’s important to also challenge common narratives that propel most people to gravitate towards carceral punishment as a form of public safety and deterrent towards violent crime, even though there is evidence to the contrary. Incarceration increases recidivism rates by eroding social bonds and economic opportunities for the formerly incarcerated, where they may feel compelled to commit criminal actions out of survival. While incarceration can remove violent individuals, more often than not the long-term effects have little to no effect on reducing crime rates, and in some instances, increases crime through the targeting and breakup of communities that are disproportionately surveilled and incarcerated such as Black and Hispanic communities. Carceral punishment also exacerbates worsening issues such as homelessness and drug addiction by criminalizing people rather than providing services that can actually help them. It’s accurate, I believe, to refer to America as having a “criminal punishment system” rather than a “criminal justice system” because the main tactic as it seems to be for all of the prevailing issues in our society is to punish rather than to rehabilitate/serve people through economic, racial, or health justice, etc. https://vera-institute.files.svdcdn.com/production/downloads/publications/for-the-record-prison-paradox_02.pdf?dm=1568745526
Given the recent mass shootings that occurred in Stockton, first on November 29, 2025 and on January 18, 2026 at the flea market on South El Dorado Street, most people including local politicians and law enforcement are naturally going to advocate/be more amenable towards a carceral method to combat violent crime. This puts us in a difficult rhetorical position at the moment without sounding “soft on crime” or being accused of ignoring the trauma of those who have lost loved ones from these shootings if we were to advocate more explicitly about criminal justice reform in some way. I do think, from a political education perspective, that it is important to consider how punitive measures are often framed as justice in this country because it informs how many people approach social issues and how they view specific marginalized groups as needing to be punished in some way. Framing carceral punishment and criminalization as a mentality that informs everything from ICE to American imperialism to anti-homeless policies, as something that extends beyond a supposed criminal deterrent and leads to dehumanization, is at least a starting point when brainstorming and discussing on how to present an alternative that actually supports communities. Something that we may need to wait on if we’re interested in talking about this in some form in the future through an article and/or public forum, but I felt compelled to offer commentary now given that the current political climate with ICE provides some momentum to maybe give us a wider reach.