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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 • 2016-2017

Make Invsetments that Transform Lives

Published: June 05, 2017 13 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.

Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F6, F7, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12, F13

Findings 6 findings

The Civil Service Commission is the appellate body for County employees who have received disciplinary actions. The CSC is a County Charter-mandated independent commission and serves as a quasi-judicial appellate body for classified employees who received a formal hearing and have been disciplined.8 The disciplined employee may file an objection with the CSC. In 2014 (the last year that figures were available), the CSC sustained 56% of the LACPD’s decisions, sustained in-part 31% of the decisions and did not sustain 13% of the decisions.9

Disciplined employees of the LACPD have the assistance of an advocate, an attorney who works with AFSCME 685, the union representing the Los Angeles County Deputy Probation Officers. This advocate represents LACPD employees in 80% of the disciplinary proceedings.10 The CGJ was interested in the promotional practices within the LACPD. The 6 Los Angeles County Probation Department-News Room-Media Information website, Jan. 10, 2017. County of Los Angeles Probation Department, Juvenile - # of Youth on Active Probation Supervision by Age (Snapshot Data – as of October 3, 2016). County of Los Angeles Civil Service Commission 2014 Annual Report. Ibid. Meeting at AFSCME 685, Dec. 12, 2016, 3701 Wilshire Blvd., #501. 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 165 advocate confirmed that “all other things being equal, promotions are based primarily on seniority and that this is a long-time understanding with the County.”

In a meeting with staff from the offices of two members of the Board of Supervisors, the CGJ was told that there was a recent motion passed by the BOS to determine if a formal Probation Oversight Commission should be established. The BOS hired Resource Development Associates (RDA) to conduct an assessment of best practices in criminal and juvenile justice and the optimal organizational structure. This would include a potential split between youth and adults and how to best serve the Transitional Aged Youth (ages 18-24) population. (The RDA report will not be completed prior to the publication of this CGJ Final Report.) 11 Additional findings from this meeting were: a. Diversion programs for youth are a major focus. These programs are to help youth avoid a life of crime and to avoid going to jail when a minor crime is committed. b. It is believed that new progressive leadership is needed in the LACPD and the newly appointed executives are the right people to implement necessary changes. c. The current promotional policy within the LACPD is based on seniority. The BOS are looking into this policy; however, there is a concern about keeping turnover to a minimum. d. The Alternate Public Defender’s Office now represents juveniles in court when there is a conflict of interest with the Public Defender’s Office.12 e. As of May 2016 solitary confinement was eliminated in juvenile detention facilities.13 f. A redesigned juvenile facility, Camp Kilpatrick, is scheduled to be re-opened in April

In an interview with a senior official at the LACPD the CGJ learned of changes the LACPD feels will benefit the juvenile offenders it serves. This official feels that treating the youth in custody with respect is of the utmost importance.

As part of the CGJ’s mandate to inspect detention facilities within Los Angeles County each year, members of the CGJ visited all the juvenile camps and halls within the County. These inspections revealed the low number of detainees and empty areas in all the facilities. The CGJ was informed of the change from a philosophy of punishment to one of rehabilitation. Retraining will need to be implemented to bring all employees up to date on these changes. Most camps are in remote areas of the County. It is very important that juvenile offenders be able to keep in contact with their families and vice versa. This will keep the families bonded so there will be mutual support upon the release of the juvenile offender. The CGJ witnessed improvements within these facilities. During the unannounced CGJ visits to these camps and halls, members witnessed many positive activities. While we noted that some of the facilities are old and in need of repair or replacement, the educational programs at the halls and camps were functioning very well with dedicated staffs. Many of the staff members have been on the job for quite a few years and are dedicated to helping these youth succeed. In talking to several officers at the facilities we found that while many are long-term employees, working between 20-30 years, there has been a frequent turnover in LACPD leadership in the last several years. In the last 10 years, there have been five Chief Officers of the LACPD. V

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Recommendations 4

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The County Board of Supervisors should insure the LACPD includes a new promotional process that removes the seniority-based promotion system in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the AFSCME Local 685, upon the expiration of the current MOU. Interview at LACPD headquarters, 9150 Imperial Highway, Downey, CA, on Feb. 2, 2017. 166 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT
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The County Board of Supervisors should task the LACPD to identify excess capacity that may be used to house the homeless.
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The LACPD, in conjunction with the other county partners, such as the Metropolitan Transit Authority, should develop a transportation plan to transport families from central locations within the city to the various halls and camps VI REQUIRED RESPONSES: California Penal Code Sections 933(c) and 933.05 require a written response to all recommendations contained in this report. Such responses shall be made no later than ninety (90) days after the Civil Grand Jury publishes its report (files it with the Clerk of the Court). Responses shall be made in accord with Penal Code Sections 933.05 (a) and (b). All responses to the recommendations of the 2016-2017 Civil Grand Jury must be submitted on or before September 30, 2017, to: Presiding Judge Los Angeles County Superior Court Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center 210 West Temple Street Eleventh Floor-Room 11-506 Los Angeles, CA 90012 Responses required from: Responding Agency Recommendations Findings Los Angeles County Probation Dept. 14.1, 14.2, 14.3 14. County of Los Angeles Board of 14.1, 14.2 Supervisors VII ACRONYMS AFSCME American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees BOS Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors CBOs Community-based organizations CGJ 2016-2017 Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury CSC Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission DOJ U.S. Department of Justice. LACPD Los Angeles County Probation Department RDA Resource Development Associates 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 167 VIII COMMITTEE MEMBERS Gloria Garfinkel Chair Hilda Dallal Ronnie Dann-Honor 168 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 15 Exhibit 1 County of Los Angeles Probation LACPD Juvenile - # of Youth on Active Probation Supervision by Age (Snapshot Data – as of October 3, 2016) Youth by Age # of <11 12-14 15-17 18-20 21-23 24> Supervision Youth Field 6,080 15 524 3,497 1,788 147 109 Placement 957 0 68 725 163 1 0 Camp 568 0 26 355 170 15 2 Hall 693* Total 8,208 15 618 4,577 2,121 163 111 Percentage of Youth 0% 8% 60% 28% 2% 1% * Breakdown by age not available at time of report. Definitions: Field: Youth is receiving probation supervision in the community Placement: Youth is in placement with a group home, foster home or relative/non-relative Camp: A Probation LACPD-run facility for secure confinement Hall: A Probation LACPD-run facility that is a holding facility Juvenile - # of Youth on Active Probation Supervision by Supervisorial District Supervisorial % of District Youth District 1 21% District 2 31% District 3 10% District 4 20% District 5 17% Other ** 1% Total 100% ** Other = Youth resides out of County 15 County of Los Angeles Probation Department, Juvenile - # of Youth on Active Probation Supervision by Age (Snapshot Data – as of October 3, 2016), provided by the LACPD. 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 169 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK. 170 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT THE SUSTAINABILITY PRINCIPLE IN GOVERNANCE Douglas Benedict Chair Gerard Duiker Henry C. Guerrero THE SUSTAINABILITY PRINCIPAL IN GOVERNANCE This investigation endorses the 2016-2021 County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors Strategic Goal II.3: “Make Environmental Sustainability Our Daily Reality: ….Envision and implement a comprehensive and integrated approach to improving the environmental, economic, and social well-being of our communities now and into the future.” I SUMMARY For this report sustainability is defined as the planned balancing of critical resource consumption with assured, long-term resource supplies. In the best case, this commitment is captured in wide-scope, documented Sustainability Plans with metrics defined to measure success. Achieving sustainability for the region requires that all of our local governmental functions embrace the sustainability principle. Some consequences that have arisen from violations of the sustainability principle are identified in this report: climate change, potable water shortages, and environmental pollution. The County of Los Angeles Chief Sustainability Officer (CountyCSO) and the City of Los Angeles Chief Sustainability Officer (CityCSO) are in unique positions to lead the effort to bring the principle to all governmental entities within the County of Los Angeles. They can provide consistency across the County in this effort. II BACKGROUND Defining Sustainability The concept of sustainability is straightforward: consume fewer critical resources than can assuredly be supplied in the future.1 Critical resources are those that are required to sustain the Earth’s biosphere.  A life sustaining atmosphere  Potable water  Survivable weather  Food  Energy  Raw Materials  Cultures  Economies  Sustainable population levels 1 https://www.mcgill.ca/sustainability/files/sustainability/what-is-sustainability.pdf 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 171 Sustainability for these items must be achieved over the entire Earth.2 Governments are the logical mechanisms for managing sustainability.3 Overconsumption of a critical resource by one generation wills a critical resource shortage to following generations. Failure to practice sustainability may do harm to future generations.4 Each level of government is responsible for assuring the balance of consumption/production for its governed entity. Local sustainability is guided by Federal and State goals and policies. Sustainability as a Principle in Governance Sustainability as a principle in governance means that each governing entity, including the County of Los Angeles and the municipalities and agencies with governing responsibilities within the County, should consider the sustainability consequences for all the actions it takes.5 As an example, consider the long-term drought that threatens Los Angeles County’s water supply. A set of water use restrictions was formulated by water agencies and passed on to water consumers.6 The restrictions were largely followed and water use was reduced by about 20%.7 This was effective in making the available water supply sufficient for critical needs. The water agencies’ actions and the public’s cooperative response reduced consumption and balanced water demand and supply, a positive example of the sustainability principle in governance. Governing entities can directly implement this principle by the actions they take. For example, if a police department needs to purchase a fleet of cars, they could decide that electric cars would be a more sustainable choice than gasoline-powered cars. Federal Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards encourage similar sustainability for the individual or business purchaser of cars. Current Sustainability Issues While a sustainability principle of governance would apply to all critical resources, at this moment there are three especially critical issues.8,9,10 2 https://www.the balance.com Sustainability Resources and Information 3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_Development_Goals 4 https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=820 5 www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/the-role-of-government-in_b_4759621.html 6 www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/.../emergency_regulation.shtml 7 http://www.drought.ca.gov/ 8 www.globalstewards.org/issues.htm 9 www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-g-california-drought-map-htmlstory.html 10 https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/los-angeles-area-environmental-enforceme... 172 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT Climate Change/Global Warming Climate change (or global warming), caused by accumulating human-caused greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, is the most threatening sustainability issue worldwide. This has been agreed to by the United Nations.11 The US military has stated that climate change is the most likely future cause of security threats to the United States.12 Global average temperature has risen in 16 of the last 17 years.13 According to the science, limiting climate change to a tolerable level requires a drastic reduction of manmade greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide and methane, in the atmosphere.14 15 There is an excess of these pollutants arising from the production and use of fossil fuels. Our ecological system can absorb and process a limited amount of carbon dioxide before its concentration becomes problematic.16 The effects of climate change are expected to be more severe than our recent experiences.17 Some effects are already present or can be predicted: sea level rise, longer and hotter summers, spreading of tropical weather areas, more and hotter forest fires, and Arctic/Antarctic/Greenland ice melting, etc.18 The sustainability principle applied to climate change requires a reduction in the amount of fossil fuels burned, in the amount of methane (natural gas) produced, and in methane- producing agriculture. This implies the adoption of more sustainable sources of energy and food.19 20 Long-Term Drought in Southern California The potential for long-term drought is a sustainability issue for Southern California. Historically, this has been dealt with by a program of “water sharing,” with Northern California sharing its relative water abundance with Southern California and Owens Valley 11 UN Document: Sustainable Development – http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change-2 12 “Military experts say climate change poses ‘significant risk’ to security”, the Guardian – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/14/military-experts-say-climate-change-poses-significant- risks-to-security 13 “U.S. scientists officially declare 2016 the hottest year on record. That makes three in a row.”, Chris Mooney, The Washington Post, January 18, 2017. 14 “Climate Change Solutions for Healthcare Professionals to Promote”, - http://www.climate –change- emergency-medical-response.org/climate-change-solutions-for-healthcare-professionals-to-promote 15 “10 Solutions for Climate Change”, Scientific American – https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/10- solutions-for-climate-change 16 Climate Change: What Everyone Should Know. Joseph Romm, Oxford University Press, 2016 17 Ibid 18 UN Document: Sustainable Development – http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change-2 19 Note: The reductions could partially be achieved by conservation measures (e.g. - increasing the efficiency of transport systems) which are almost always more economical than finding and adopting revolutionary technological solutions. 20 www.davidsuzuki.org/what-you-can-do/top-10-ways-you-can-stop-climate-change/ 2016-2017 LOS ANGELES COUNTY CIVIL GRAND JURY FINAL REPORT 173 sharing its Sierra runoff with the City of Los Angeles. Historical data has shown that ongoing water shortages can be expected in Southern California.21 There have been actions taken to mitigate these shortages. William Mulholland’s Los Angeles Aqueduct from the Owens Valley provided enough water to populate the San Fernando Valley and was an engineering “miracle” at the time it was created.22 The California Water System brings water from the confluence of the Sacramento/American and San Joaquin rivers to Southern California.23 Each of these projects has had negative environmental consequences. The LA Aqueduct has seriously dried out that environment. The California Water System threatens some endangered species and consumes large amount of electrical power.24 25 During the recent drought some water conservation methods have been applied: replacing lawns, using low-flow plumbing, and “waiting to flush”. These have been effective, saving about 20% over historical water usage without significantly affecting the quality of life.26 These methods could be extended with the following:  Gray Water reuse  “Toilet-to-Tap” Sewage Processing  Aquifer cleaning/recharging  Seawater to Potable Water Reverse Osmosis Plants27 At the time this was written, Northern and Central California had substantial drought relief.28 However, Southern California potable water shortages are historical and likely to worsen with global warming. Environmental Pollution The health impacts of environmental pollution are a sustainability issue. A separate investigation and report dealing with communities identified as environmental justice areas is contained in this CGJ Final Report.29 Sustainability Efforts within Los Angeles County The County of Los Angeles Civil Grand Jury (CGJ) has reviewed current examples of the sustainability principle in governance within the County.
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2 County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors 14.1, 14.2 VII ACRONYMS