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The Board of Supervisors is planning to approve a $2.16 million contract with Uber Technologies Inc.
Riverside prisoner destination efforts, or riding programs, have been active for more than a decade, relying on taxis to transport freed detainees from Benoit detention center in Indio, Bird detention center in Murietta, Robert Presley prison, Robert Presley prison in Riverside, and the banned Smith Correctional Facility.
Under the Sheriff’s proposal on the board’s policy agenda on Tuesday, Uber will be recognized as a major out-of-hour ride service for released prisoners using Uber or “U4B” on their online dashboard under a contract that expired in February 2030.
“All county jail facilities are within walking distance of several residential communities and business centres,” according to a statement from the sheriff posted on the agenda. “Residents living near these areas will benefit from the transport efforts that are part of the county’s ongoing commitment to providing safe rides to evicted prisoners. The ride program will ensure that released prisoners are transported from the local community to their residences, thereby reducing the risk of lototering and criminal activity.”
Sheriff’s officials said that over the past two years, about 4,500 inmates have chosen to use the county-provided voucher program.
Taxi vouchers are being offered to poor inmates by prison staff when they are released from lockup outside normal business hours on buses and other public transport. The voucher was redeemed by the operator for cash to pay for the holder’s travel.
With an Uber agreement, inmates can request rides on the day of release or book a trip one month before the scheduled release.
According to the Sheriff’s department, the on-demand concept was distributed to 29 future vendors, of which two future vendors responded.
“Uber was considered the lowest and most responsive bidder to meet the payment options requirements and the correctional facility’s “scope of service requirements for transportation services,” the agency said.
Funds for the program will be drawn from the Sheriff’s annual operating budget.
The ride was implemented in June 2014 as a pilot project conceived by then-supervisor Jeff Stone.
Until the spring of 2022, the program was only available at Bird Detention Centre. However, the board voted in 2023 to expand its ride to four detention facilities.
When the ride began, some residents and employers of the Valley of France and Murietta complained that prisoners who were released from the Bird detention center at all times in the evening were doing lo near the property, sometimes behaving aggressively, committing crimes, mostly vandalism and theft.
Inmates are usually released without bond requirements if the county detention facility exceeds capacity. A 30-year-old federal court order requires that each detainee have an available bed or must be released to release an incoming criminal. Sheriff’s corrections officers are determined as to who will be released on a case-by-case basis.
Sheriff Chad Bianco told the board each year since being elected in 2018 that every lockup in the county is always at its maximum capacity. His predecessor, Sheriff Stan Sniff, sued the same burden.
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