10:45am | Los Angeles County Jail, once infamously referred to as the biggest known jail in the world by its own sheriff department, is struggling to avoid controversy as the probe into its inmate abuse via deputies continues.
What quietly started in April of 2010 when L.A. prosecutors filed charges against three deputies eventually blew up into a full-blown scandal questioning the entire operation of the facility, also known as Twin Towers: accounts of fabricated incidents justifying inmate abuse leading to a FBI investigation, the death of a 20-year-old inmate after deputies failed to move him after a judge’s order, and increased cases of fraud by deputies.
In late September and early October of last year, it appeared the Fall of Rome was the appropriate analogy to confer onto Twin Towers. Sworn testimonies from three volunteers accounted severe abuse by the jail’s deputies, leading the ACLU to call for the jail’s top brass, Sheriff Lee Baca, to resign. The aiding of drug smuggling by the jail’s own deputies and the admission from a rookie deputy that he was forced to beat a mentally-ill inmate were icing on the cake. The FBI was so leery of the department’s behavior that they did not even include Baca on a sting in which they snuck a cellphone to a FBI informant acting as an inmate — which Baca was seemingly more bothered by the informant getting paid rather than the allegations being set forth against the jail.
Within a few weeks, the controversy caused the L.A. Board of Supervisors to create a committee to examine the violence within Twin Towers.
That committee, the Los Angeles County Citizens’ Commission on Jail Violence (CCJV), took a huge step forward as it has recently launched a public website, hired an Executive Director, brought a General Counsel on board, and approved a timeline that provides for a process to include public hearings and the issuance of a public report later this year.
In addition to the Commission’s Executive Director and General Counsel, a team of 15 pro-bono lawyers from several local law firms have agreed to serve as Deputy General Counsel, in a model similar to that of the Christopher Commission, and will be heading investigatory teams. Complete background information on the CCJV Commissioners and staff is available on the Commission website.
This past week, Commissioners and staff have begun visits to County jail facilities, which will continue into March. Additionally, and at the direction of the full Commission, a sub-committee is creating a process for community engagement and public outreach. Anyone interested in attending or learning more about the Commission’s upcoming meetings or these community forum events can “subscribe” to the Commission’s website for updates.