SPECIAL REPORT
THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS AND REHABILITATION’S
SUPERVISION OF PAROLEE PHILLIP GARRIDO

OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR
GENERAL
DAVID R. SHAW
INSPECTOR GENERAL
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
NOVEMBER 2009

Bureau of Criminal Investigations
Office of the Inspector General

Page 1

Executive Summary
On June 10, 1991, federal parolee Phillip Garrido and his wife Nancy allegedly
kidnapped 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard from South Lake Tahoe, California. Over the
course of the following 18 years, Garrido reportedly sexually assaulted Jaycee––fathering
two children––while holding her captive on the grounds of his residence in Antioch,
California. For many of those years, the California Department of Corrections and
Rehabilitation’s (department) parole division supervised Garrido. Despite numerous
clues and opportunities, the department, as well as federal and local law enforcement,
failed to detect Garrido’s criminal
Findings in Brief
conduct, resulting in the continued
confinement and victimization of Jaycee
The Office of the Inspector General finds that
and her two daughters. On August 26,
during the 10-year period the department
supervised parolee Garrido, the department:
2009, Garrido and his wife were finally
arrested for these heinous crimes, and
• Failed to adequately classify and supervise
Jaycee was reunited with her family.
Garrido.
•

Failed to obtain key information from
federal parole authorities.

•

Failed to properly supervise parole agents
responsible for Garrido.

•

Failed to use GPS information.

•

Provides the public a false sense of security
with a passive GPS monitoring program that
falls short of its potential, raising OIG’s
concerns about the department’s current and
future uses of GPS monitoring.

•

Ignored other opportunities to determine that
Garrido was violating the terms of his parole.

•

Failed to refer Garrido for mental health
assessment.

•

Failed to train parole agents to conduct parolee
home visits.

•

Missed opportunities to discover the existence
of Garrido’s three victims, including:
o

Failing to investigate clearly visible utility
wires running from Garrido’s house
towards the concealed compound.

o

Failing to investigate the presence of a 12year old female during a home visit.

o

Failing to talk to neighbors or local public
safety agencies.

o

Failing to act on information clearly
showing Garrido had violated his parole
terms.

Bureau of Criminal Investigations
Office of the Inspector General

In 1977, Garrido was convicted in state
and federal court for kidnapping and
repeatedly raping a 25-year-old female
victim. The federal court sentenced him
to 50 years for kidnapping while Nevada
imposed a five years to life term for
forcible rape. In January 1988, after
serving 11 years of his federal sentence,
the federal government paroled Garrido
and released him to Nevada authorities
to serve his state sentence. Seven months
later, Nevada paroled Garrido, returning
him to the jurisdiction of federal parole
authorities to serve the remainder of his
federal parole term. He resided at his
mother’s house in Antioch, California
throughout the terms of his federal and
state paroles. In March 1999, the federal
government discharged Garrido from
federal parole, returning him to the
jurisdiction of Nevada parole authorities.
In June 1999, under the terms of an
interstate parole compact, the
department assumed parole supervision
of Garrido on Nevada’s behalf because
Garrido resided in California.
On August 27, 2009, the day after the
arrest of Garrido and his wife, the
department held a press conference in
Page 2

which an official hailed the diligence of parole agents who had supervised Garrido. The
official also proclaimed that Garrido had complied with his parole conditions, never
receiving a violation. Other department officials have made similar public statements.
While it is true that Garrido’s California parole was never officially violated, our review
shows that Garrido committed numerous parole violations and that the department failed
to properly supervise Garrido and missed numerous opportunities to discover his victims.
The focus of this special report is limited to the department’s parole supervision of
Garrido. However, it should be noted that Garrido was on parole under the jurisdiction of
federal parole authorities from August 1988 to January 1999. During that time, Garrido
allegedly kidnapped Jaycee Dugard and sexually assaulted her, fathering two children.
Federal parole authorities also failed to detect Garrido’s criminal conduct and his victims.

Recommendations
In this special report, the Office of the Inspector General shines a public light on systemic
problems that transcend parolee Garrido’s case and jeopardize public safety. To address
the deficiencies identified in this special report, the department should take the following
actions:
Parole Supervision
•

Enforce appropriate standards for parole agents to properly supervise assigned
parolees and for parole supervisors to properly supervise parole agents.

•

Ensure that all sex offender parolees have been correctly assessed for their risks
to re-offend using the department’s revised assessment tool.

•

Require parole agents to obtain parole information from federal or other state
parole authorities when a parolee has been recently supervised by these entities.

•

Establish a mechanism to obtain and share information with local public safety
agencies.

GPS Monitoring
•

Develop and implement a comprehensive Global Positioning System (GPS)
monitoring policy.

•

Move all sex offender parolees to the active GPS monitoring program, or
significantly enhance the passive GPS monitoring program.

•

Require parole agents to fully use the capabilities of the GPS monitoring system,
such as establishing a zone to monitor parolees’ compliance with conditions of
parole that they not travel more than specified distances from their houses without
prior approval.

•

Require parole agents to investigate, resolve, and record the resolution to all GPS
system alerts.

Bureau of Criminal Investigations
Office of the Inspector General

Page 3

Training
•

Provide training to its parole agents and supervisors on:
o Using its GPS monitoring system to ensure that parolees comply with their
conditions of parole and taking appropriate actions to ensure that parole
agents use the system to enforce the conditions of parole.
o Properly classifying parolees, including serious sex offenders.
o Conducting a parolee home inspection, including search techniques on how to
be aware of clues to potential parole violations or other criminal behavior.
o Contacting neighbors to obtain collateral information on parolee behavior.
o Referring parolees to mental health assessment when appropriate.

•

Implement a field training officer program to provide on-the-job training to parole
agents after they complete the academy and have been assigned parole caseloads.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Response
The department agrees that it needs to improve its parole system, describes its efforts to
transform parole into a risk-based system of supervision, and makes reference to recent
legislation that will become effective January 25, 2010, which will enable the department
to reduce parole agent caseloads and supervisory span of control.

Bureau of Criminal Investigations
Office of the Inspector General

Page 4