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San Mateo County oversight panel debates digital‑mail policy as community urges return of physical mail
Summary
A sheriff's captain defended the county's 2021 digital‑mail system as a safety measure; residents and several commissioners pushed for more data or pilot options to restore physical mail, citing rehabilitation and mental‑health benefits. The commission took no formal vote and will revisit the topic.
Captain Bill Fogarty, of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, told the county civilian oversight commission that the office adopted a vendor‑scanned digital‑mail system in 2021 as part of a broader safety strategy intended to reduce fire and narcotics risks inside the jails. “There is pending litigation regarding this issue,” Fogarty said; he added that the system sends incoming mail to an outside vendor that scans material and makes a digital copy available on facility tablets, while originals are retained and mailed to people upon release.
The captain described layered safety measures: a negative‑airflow mail room, X‑ray screening, personal protective equipment for mail processors, an upgraded body scanner, a fentanyl‑detection canine named Farrow, and Narcan made available…
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