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Extracted from Consolidated Report

This investigation was originally published as part of a larger consolidated report containing multiple investigations. View the consolidated PDF for the complete document.

Los Angeles County Grand Jury • 2023-2024

Investigative Committee Reports

Published: August 30, 2023 2 pages

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⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.

⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.

Findings 1 findings

connecting County departments with arts organizations and individual artists and creating fluid mechanisms and equitable standards of practice for departments to contract with and pay for arts services; 2) developing training for County staff on the policy and providing limited project-based consultations to guide how departments can work with and engage artists and arts organizations; 3) collecting data, monitoring, and evaluating new and expanded program activities that are launched by long-term Cultural Policy implementation and publishing outcomes and findings to support public transparency; 4) encouraging County departments to apply for funding from the Productivity Investment Fund to support arts-based projects and interventions that address Board and Department Priorities; 5) launching and managing projects that recognize artists, culture bearers, and cultural organizations and celebrate cultural heritage and artistic expression of diverse communities as a regular part of the County’s annual Heritage Month celebrations to increase visibility, combat cultural erasure, advance narrative change, and recognize contributions of communities of color. This strategy provides the Department of Arts and Culture with the staffing and resources needed to take the next step in policy implementation to realize the vision of the BOS. 14.5 There has been some meaningful incorporation of the policy, but wide-spread investment into it by many other Departments has not yet happened. Under-support and inaction are largely caused by an unfamiliarity on how to engage with the policy’s directives. Structural silos create communication barriers between Departments and DA&C. DA&C provides leadership, accountability across County departments and agencies to support implementation and ensure arts and culture are utilized appropriately, but without additional staff, they can only do so much. 14.6 Before a Creative Strategist is embedded, there is an intensive exploratory period. Interested Departments work closely with DA&C during this time. The cross-sector division facilitates inter-departmental relations, reference guides and opportunities but 345 does so on a project-by-project basis. The initial “six-ish month process” used during the pilot phase does not provide not enough time to prepare before an artist is embedded with their host department. DA&C reports this process being pushed to a year or more. 14.7 There is currently no infrastructure in place to support the work for cross-sector engagement/Creative Strategists. DA&C is resource-poor. Internal programming needs to be solidified, sustainable, and customizable. Unless funding is found for additional staff, resources will continue to be drafted as one-off projects. The unintended consequence is continued under-support of the Countywide Cultural Policy, and specifically the Creative Strategists, by DA&C and the County at large. When Departments do contact DA&C for guidance on cross-sector engagement, DA&C has reported feeling deficient in their ability to help. There are currently two members assigned to this division who are working at capacity with no room for expansion. 14.8 The DA&C is under-supporting Countywide Cultural Policy Item 2: Advance arts and culture in every sector of civic life. This is not due to negligence or intent by the department, but because the Creative Strategist program is still operating under a COVID- informed budget model. Strategy 15 of the Strategic Plan informs BOS and CEO how a fully funded program would operate in advancement of the policy guidelines. 14.9 The County’s high-priority initiatives have taken precedence in the Annual Fiscal Year Budget Plan over DA&C’s requests. To truly embrace the Countywide Cultural Policy, Departments must internalize the unique role a Creative Strategists can play to address areas of high need. The possibilities for creative problem-solving are endless. There is not a question of either/or, and CEO should not have to, for example, weigh “the arts” against Care First Jail Last diversion initiatives. Strategists can be utilized in tandem with other methods of engagement. 14.10 Cross-sector work left behind after a Strategist’s residency are considered “legacy frameworks” and “legacy toolkits”. They are meant to act as a guide for future Strategists, as well used by in-house project coordinators. The frameworks and toolkits are much more cost effective and require minimal administrative preparation because the program infrastructure has already been created. 14.11 The DA&C needs an entrepreneurial pivot. The success of the cross-sector/Creative Strategist program depends on connecting with diversified funding sources, especially with looming contingencies overhanging the County budget. This will allow the Department room to identify long-term program goals. 14.12 The DA&C needs an entrepreneurial pivot. The success of the Department depends on connecting with diversified funding sources, especially with looming contingencies overhanging the County budget. This will allow the Department room to identify long-term goals. 14.13 DA&C cannot fully monitor the ongoing use of a toolkit or guide left as an artist’s legacy guide post-residency. Legacy kits are created with the expectation that new processes for administering specific, non-arts government functions are in place. Thus, the process remains embedded long after a Strategist’s engagement. This assumes a Department understands how to administer and interact according to the framework unaided. Currently, 346 guidance and support is available, but offered in a limited capacity. Project continuity is a crucial component to maintain. 14.14 There is a well-documented wealth of creative capital to draw upon from the local arts ecology. The County contains more working artists than any other county in the United States. Most of these are found in the entertainment sector. Historically, DA&C and LACAC have minimal engagement with the film and television industry. 14.15 The DA&C needs an entrepreneurial pivot. Additional funding and revenue streams need to be secured before big ideas can take place. 14.16 Many County Departments hire consultants to evaluate an area of interest and provide action-item recommendations. This is done with intent to identify and include consideration for diversity, equity and inclusion.

Recommendations 14

R1

1 BOS direct DCFS to review data collection procedures when processing children new to the system to include orphan status, allowing DCFS to establish whether or not a child is a true orphan or if there are known relatives for placement.
R2

1 Ensure LAPD, LBPD, other local municipal law enforcement agencies and campus police agencies and other local law enforcement agencies enforce electric scooters prohibition against riding on sidewalk, helmet requirements, and speed limits.
R3

1 All schools should investigate and consider purchasing and installing cellphone lockers in their classrooms as many students abuse the use of cellphones in the classrooms.
R4

1 DCR should offer more transparent information and educational opportunities for SEP applicants from the time they apply.
R5

1 BOS should collect data about how many participants used the income for job training, education and childcare at the end of the program. Any future programs similar to BREATHE that the BOS chooses for their own policy reasons should be part of any success metrics by which to analyze such programs, if any
R6

1 In the interest of local health and the City’s and County’s reputation as a worldwide tourist destination, the Creek’s soft bottom segment must be abated to prevent it from becoming a breeding ground for the primary vectors for transmission of West Nile or Dengue Fever. BOS coordinate clean up, and vector control against predicted dengue fever.
R7

1 DME should eliminate the critical issues which are preventing achievement of full accreditation by the National Board of Medical Examiners, including: i. 90% of the autopsy reports completed in ninety days or less. ii. 90% of the autopsies and exams performed within seventy-two hours. iii. DME needs to promptly submit the latest DME’s Annual Report for 2023.
R8

2. LAC and LA City Park Departments should consider issuing bonds and measures for park acquisition and development like the Land and Water Conservation Funds, which was established in 1964 at no cost to the taxpayer, the Outdoors Equity Program, Los Angeles County Measure A, and the California Parks, Environment, Energy, and Water Bond Measure, to help areas that are park-poor.
R10

1 The DPH should evaluate the current system for capturing visits to the WBCs (REDcap) to see if the system is appropriate and can be improved, or if it needs to be replaced.
R11

1 LASD has tested a new App relating to traffic stops for drivers. This App is called “SafeStop”. A recommendation is made for LASD and LAPD to advertise on their websites this App to enable drivers in LA County to add it to their cell phones. The App will assist drivers to have a dialogue with the officers or deputies who initiated the stop, thus alleviate potential adverse situations.
R12

1 The LAPD and the LASD should use training officers who have a more inclusive attitude toward other ethnic minorities and dissuade patrol training officers from passing on outdated and racially bias procedures. a. LAPD should source creative strategies and anti-racist curriculum for training officers. b. LASD should source creative strategies and anti-racist curriculum for training officers.
R13

1a Increase the number of EV Charging Stations at all large parking facilities that currently have less that ten percent of their total parking spaces set up as EV charging stations.
R14

1 (a) BOS direct CEO to find funding to meet the staffing needs of the DA&C.
R15

1 County should draft an ordinance for retrofitting soft-story first floor buildings.

Conclusions 2

CL1

Compton Creek was scratched out of the flood plain to make a drainage channel cutting toward the main channel of the Los Angeles River. (See photo Compton Creek, circa 1940.) Since then, it has been a drainage canal for heavy industry discharging waste into the river system. A major problem for Compton Creek, and the nearby residents, is that at the final mile-long sector before joining the Los Angeles River is soft bottom. It has been allowed to become overgrown with vegetation, which slows the flow the pollutants, which can seep down into the water table. Cleaning up ceased when the homeless made encampments in this stretch and scared off volunteers who used to annually pick up trash collected in the swampy vegetation. The flow of wastewater and pollutants often does not flow at all. It is time to address this issue before the world comes to visit Los Angeles for the Olympics. The red flag is raised, and the threat of Dengue Fever is very real in our region. Having an eight-mile- long vector generator of disease agents emanating from Compton Creek (and spreading throughout the County) makes this a group effort rather than a local one. Compton Creek has been neglected far too long – out of sight so out of mind, from most of the County’s residents. 146
CL2

It is not a stretch to assert that much of American History has been a struggle for equity, diversity and inclusion.162 The Revolution was fought for the idea that it was unfair and unjust to be ruled by a King. But it was only unfair for certain property-owning men. In 1861, the country was torn in two over the disagreement on whether human beings could be considered property.163 Women could not vote until a little more than a century ago.164 “Secret societies” terrorized and murdered black Americans openly, while stigmatizing Roman Catholics and Jews.165 Segregation was practiced in the South; redlining was practiced nationwide.166 United States citizens were sent to 162 Library of Congress. American Revolutionary War. 2024. https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united- states-history-primary-source-timeline/american-revolution-1763-1783/overview/ (Accessed on May 7, 2024) 163 Britannica. American Civil War. 2024. https://www.britannica.com/event/American-Civil-War 164 US Constitution. Amendment 19. https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-19/ 165 WBUR. The History of White Supremacist Groups in the US. August 16, 2017. https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/08/16/history-white-supremacist-groups-us 166 Tracy Jan. Washington Post. Redlining Was Banned 50 Years Ago. It’s Still Hurting Minorities Today. March 28, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/28/redlining-was-banned-50-years-ago-its-still- hurting-minorities-today/ (Accessed on May 7, 2024) 342 internment camps during World War II.167 To this day, Black people, Jews and women remain stigmatized by the vestiges of once having been property, or quasi-property, on top of race, gender or religious prejudices. Native Americans were dispossessed of their lands and rounded up on reservations.168 These are just a few examples from history. America is not always a nice place. Yet, members of this Committee as part of the Civil Grand Jury and as private citizens of LA County insist with pride that it is, “self-evident that all men are created equal,” and our government is formed to “secure the blessings of liberty.”169 Given this history, it seems radical that BOS chose to integrate the ideals– equity, diversity and inclusion – into every aspect of civic life through by unanimously-approved policy. Simply: stop fighting people, embrace our self-evident ideals. The Creative Strategist program was designed to put “words into actionable plans.”170 Is it the answer to every problem? No. It can be a bulwark against a belief that pursuing equity is a fool’s errand. A counter to those who believe that inclusion is an affront to some subjectively determined, arbitrary claim about “individual freedom.” It is a dose of reality for those who believe diversity is so scary that the fight to defeat Hitler is ignored or forgotten by some Americans now marching while chanting Nazi slogans like, blood and soil.171 Shake it up. The Department of Arts and Culture needs to be fully and adequately staffed to integrate the County’s Cultural Policy ideals into every aspect of civic life. The beauty? A full integration of artists working cross-sector should not even be a fight. This is the County’s unanimously approved policy after all. Departments countywide need to fully embrace this policy now more than ever. 167 National Archives. Lessons. Japanese Relocation. 2024. https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/japanese- relocation (Accessed on May 7, 2024) See also: The Japanese American Museum in Little Tokyo has an amazing exhibit, Ireichō, that has close ties to a former Creative Strategist. Our Committee encourages anyone to please give this it a visit and honor our Japanese neighbors: https://www.janm.org/exhibits/ireicho 168 National Library of Congress. Materials. Immigration. Native Americans. 2024. https://www.loc.gov/classroom- materials/immigration/native-american/ 169 National Archives. Constitution. July 4, 1776. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript 170 Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Policy Manual, 3.180 https://www.lacountyarts.org/sites/default/files/cultural_policy_final.pdf, Exhibit 1; Countywide Cultural Policy Strategic Plan https://www.lacountyarts.org/sites/default/files/documents/pdfs/cultural-policy-strategic-plan_7-1- f.pdf (Accessed on May 7, 2024) 171 US Holocaust Museum. Origins of Neo-Nazi and White Supremacist Terms and Symbols. Glossary. 2024. https://www.ushmm.org/antisemitism/what-is-antisemitism/origins-of-neo-nazi-and-white-supremacist-terms-and- symbols (Accessed on May 7, 2024) 343 344

Commendations 5

CM1

The MMD Committee would like to thank all of the individuals at UCLA Police Department, El Camino Community College, Cal/State/Los Angeles, Commuter Services/Transportation Department, Deputies at Los Angeles South West College, Compton Community College, the Sheriff at Los Angeles City College and West Los Angeles College, the Transportation Department of the City of Glendale, City of Inglewood and the City of Long Beach for taking the time to speak with the MMD Committee. Your input in this investigation was important to us. 48
CM2

We would like to give our thanks to Damian Martin, Esq. a Cannabis Attorney whose input assisted the Committee with focus and direction throughout our investigation. We would also like to thank Tatyana Brenner, Esq., another Cannabis Attorney, for her insight, and also our appreciation to the forthright responses and valuable information from dispensary owners Whitney Beatty, Timeka Drew and Carlos Zepeda. We would also like to give our thanks and appreciation to all the various individuals who took time from their busy schedules to speak candidly with us and provided valuable information for our investigation. 88
CM3

A “SHOUT-OUT!” to Manager Estela Inouye and her tireless band of workers in the Office of Decedent Affairs for making one sacrifice after another after another to produce an uplifting outcome in the Memorial Ceremony. The Committee strongly commend the Office of Decedent Affairs for their many years of doing “the heavy lifting” to provide a respectful, dignified, and meaningful Burial Service to send-off those souls amongst us, who don’t have any family or friends to do so for them. ODA intervenes to be “the last resort” in giving these forgotten and overlooked and ignored folks a decent ‘good- bye’. And “Good-bye is the saddest word you can say. In particular, may our Committee’s total appreciation be bestowed upon Mrs. Estella Inouye and Ms. Angela Baca-Cooper for their many, many and long, long hours of sacrifice? Kudos to you all! 173
CM4

The Law Enforcement Use of Force Involving Racial Bias Committee would like to commend the Burbank Police Department. Our team visited this law enforcement agency in August 2023. The department is an impressive and efficiently run agency. They are a community-based bureau who 251 has a good relationship with its citizens. They have routinely scheduled training for their officers, including de-escalation and Use of Force which their police officers utilize proficiently, thereby alleviating potential assault issues in the department. The officers have a strong relationship with the residents and businesses in the community. Additionally, the Burbank Police Department has a clean and efficiently run jail system. The Law Enforcement Use of Force Involving Racial Bias Committee would like to commend LAPD Office of The Inspector General for their tireless efforts to be transparent and help us source information about the department including assisting our efforts to acquire ride alongs, training academy access, and introduction to various command officers as well as statistical information about the LAPD. We would like to extend special thanks to the main person in the office who helped us tremendously. Without mentioning names. You know who you are. The Law Enforcement Use of Force Involving Racial Bias Committee would like to commend a member who had to resign for reasons outside our control. This juror performed exceptionally in the gathering of information and the writing of this investigative report; their contributions to this exceptional report are monumental and made this report possible. 252
CM5

The ISD’s EV CIT should be commended for their achievement creating EVCS access countywide using limited resources. They were able to triple the number of EVCS installed for the same yearly budget they were allotted. As a result, of their diligence and proactive measures secured additional state and Federal Grants for EV Charging.156 We would like to offer our highest praise and commendation to Minh Le, head of the Energy Environmental Services Division and head the EV Charging Infrastructure for LAC. Director Minh Le has always been very responsive to all our phone calls, interviews and questions. He and his team have worked tirelessly to populate the County with high quality charging stations. The County has given him a limited budget to do this work. Because of the diligence and hard work of himself and his team, he has tripled the number of charging stations because, in addition to his budgeted funds, he has applied for and successfully received additional money from state and federal grants to install more charging stations. In addition, Minh Le and his team has recently signed a $17M agreement for LAC for thirty six buildings to have solar energy panels to reduce energy costs. The County will buy electricity from the solar company installer which will cost less than if purchased from Southern California Edison.157 It has been a privilege and an honor to have met and spent time with such a high quality individual. Thank you Minh Le for all you have done and continue to do in behalf of the fellow citizens of the County. 156 Interview with CIT Management of ISD and Staff on March 1, 2024 157 Interview with the CIT Manager of ISD 288