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Extraído del Informe Consolidado
Esta investigación fue publicada originalmente como parte de un informe consolidado más amplio que contiene múltiples investigaciones. Consulte el PDF consolidado para ver el documento completo.
⚠️ Aviso de traducción: Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 8 findings
F1
Page 307
To hold initial interviews to identify a group of qualified and appropriate candidate audit firms so they can be subsequently considered, as needed, for possible audit projects in support of Investigation Committees that require certain professional expertise.
F2
Page 307
To advise and assist each Investigation Committee that does require the use of an audit firm in the preparation of a statement of project objectives, to be used by the candidate audit firms for developing project proposals.
F3
Page 307
To assist Investigation Committees by recommending, arranging, and participating in interviews with those audit firms determined to be best suited for use in a particular Investigation.
F4
Page 307
To assist the Investigation Committees in reviewing and approving the project proposals subsequently received from audit firms.
F5
Page 307
To assist the Investigation Committees in the process of getting approval of audit contracts by the Civil Grand Jury, by the County Counsel, and by the Supervising Judge.
F6
Page 307
To assist the Investigation Committees in monitoring the progress of audit firms in carrying out project plans, and to assist in resolving any problems in achieving correct and complete project results.
F7
Page 307
To approve billings from contracted audit firms as received and as consistent with project progress.
F8
Page 307
To update the Audit Committee section of the Civil Grand Jury Administrative Manual as appropriate based on the Jury’s experience. 2006-2007 County of Los Angeles Civil Grand Jury 263 REPORT OF THE CITIZEN COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE OF THE 2006-2007 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Citizen Complaints Committee is a Standing Committee of the County of Los Angeles Civil Grand Jury, and one which is mandated by State Law. Its primary and essential function is to responsibly provide, in strictest confidence, unbiased, independent evaluations regarding complaints submitted by individuals with respect to County and City Governments, Agencies and Special Districts within the County of Los Angeles over which the Grand Jury has oversight jurisdiction, and to recommend appropriate actions to be taken by the entire Grand Jury and ultimately by the concerned recipients of its Final Report. Such oversight jurisdiction, however, does not include reviews of Judicial performance, Court actions (Civil or Criminal in nature), pending litigation, Federal or State functions, actions or personnel, or out- of-State matters. Procedurally, during the period of its tenure, the Citizen Complaints Committee evaluates each individual complaint and determines whether any one of the following actions should be undertaken, namely: 1) That no action be taken; 2) That there is no Jurisdiction over the Complaint subject-matter; 3) That there be a referral of the Complaint to an appropriate committee for further investigation and recommendations; or 4) To undertake some other appropriate disposition of the Complaint. Once the Citizen Complaints Committee as such has recommended a specific disposition of a particular Complaint, each case was then submitted to the entire Grand Jury for its review, evaluation and vote as to whether the Committee’s preliminary recommendation should be approved, amended as appropriate, referred back to Committee, or to otherwise determine that some alternative course of action should be pursued. At the conclusion of the Citizen Complaints Committee’s activities during the term of its existence, a Final Report is prepared, summarizing the cumulative results of its assigned responsibilities, which Final Report delineates the methodology utilized, and is herewith submitted. 2006-2007 County of Los Angeles Civil Grand Jury 264 METHODOLOGY FOR PROCESSING CITIZEN COMPLAINTS
Recommendations 7
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R1Page 293From many of the Complaints received, it appears that many of the general public, including those in prison, have some serious misconceptions as to the nature of the role that the Civil Grand Jury can lawfully undertake regarding their Complaints. The best example of an unrealistic request, (probably prompted by fictionalized television crime dramas), is where the Civil Grand Jury is called upon to convene formal hearings, subpoena witnesses, take sworn testimony, and conduct what is tantamount to pre-trial discovery activities, all of which is apparently designed to help make the case for the Complainant in proving his allegations, whatever they might be. The recommendation, therefore, would be to provide sufficiently clear written information to a potential complainant as to just what the Civil Grand Jury can do, and in general what it cannot do.
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R2Page 293Another common misconception is based upon the belief that the Civil Grand can somehow overturn allegedly wrongful convictions or penalty assessments of one sort or another, discipline State Prison officials and personnel, or to otherwise intervene in pending civil and/or criminal litigation which may not be going particularly well for the complainant. 2006-2007 County of Los Angeles Civil Grand Jury 266
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R3Page 293While complainants are constitutionally entitled to petition their government for redress and relief in appropriate cases, the Civil Grand Jury is legally unable to conduct itself in the sometimes bizarre manners requested, nor does it have the resources nor the mandate to do so.
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R4Page 293To preclude many inappropriate complaint submissions by those who utilize the current Citizen Complaint form, the recommendation is to have imprinted at the top of the face thereof, in bold type, something more definitive than “Please Review Complaint Guidelines”; that such language should plainly spell out that the Civil Grand Jury has no jurisdiction nor authority over issues involving California State entities, Federal agencies, Judges and other judicial officers, nor over past or pending Court cases, either civil or criminal in nature. Such notifications in bold type may not entirely stem the flow of non-jurisdictional matters, but might well serve to reduce inappropriate submissions to the Civil Grand Jury; that further, from a humanitarian standpoint, such information might very well preclude individuals from seeking personally unattainable expectations.
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R5Page 293In developing the Options utilizations in corresponding with complainants, as outlined above, with particular reference to complaints dealing with out-of-state matters, it is recommended that an additional Option be added to the list, which essentially would read: “The subject-matter of your Complaint appears to involve either individuals or entities who are neither under the control of nor in the service of the County of Los Angeles, and we are therefore unable to take nor recommend any action in your case”.
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R6Page 293Having had the benefit of an enlightening presentation to the entire Civil Grand Jury by the Los Angeles County Department Of Ombudsman, a recommendation is made that the services provided by that entity should be considered by Citizen Complaints Committees in appropriate matters.
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R7Page 294Predicated upon a citizen’s complaint, a Committee investigation was undertaken regarding the manner in which illegal aliens were being processed by law enforcement Departments in the County. The Committee ascertained that on January 25, 2005, the County Board Of Supervisors had approved the entry into a Memorandum Of Understanding with the United States Department Of Homeland Security to perform certain immigration law enforcement functions, on a pilot program basis. It was further determined by the Committee’s investigation that since that Program appeared to be successfully functioning at this time, a recommendation is made that said pilot Program as outlined in said Memorandum Of Understanding be authorized to be continued on a permanent basis. 2006-2007 County of Los Angeles Civil Grand Jury 267 CONTINUITY COMMITTEE REPORT The Continuity Committee serves as a bridge between all Civil Grand Juries, prior, current and future ones. It is concerned with informing the current Civil Grand Jury of investigation reports done by prior juries, following up on the reports of last year’s Civil Grand Jury, and maintaining a continuous record of the successive Juries’ reports. • The Committee reviewed all of the reports published by the five preceding juries. This provided • An awareness of investigations recently completed to assist the current jury in avoiding unneeded duplications • An awareness of areas of the County or the Cities that had not been investigated recently • An appreciation of the style and content of reports The Committee also initiated two new efforts for Continuity Committees: • A review of responses from governmental entities after the 90 day period has elapsed. A letter was sent to those who did not respond reminding them of their legal responsibility. • A separate review of those responses received where specific commitments were made. A letter was sent to each such responder asking for a status of the commitments. The Continuity Committee developed a manual to assist future Civil Grand Juries. This document includes a spread sheet outlining each investigation from the prior five years, organized by general administrative area, and indicating the main thrust of the investigation and the basic response received. Another spread sheet lists all investigative reports from the preceding Civil Grand Jury and identifies each in terms of whether a response had been received or not, and whether a commitment to take certain actions was promised. The Continuity Committee serves to reinforce the role of the Civil Grand Jury, not only in preparing investigations and reports, but in ensuring that those reports are properly responded to, and that commitments made to the Board of Supervisors are met. 2006-2007 County of Los Angeles Civil Grand Jury 268 Purpose The Continuity Committee is a Standing Committee, created by each new Civil Grand Jury. Its functions are: