Continuity Committee Responses

Recommendations 2

• R15

  Page 236
  DETENTION: ADULT FACILITIES INTRODUCTION The Los Angeles County Jail System houses over 19,000 inmates, making it the largest county jail complex in the country.1 In addition to the county system operated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, many cities throughout the county operate jails. This report discusses several issues affecting jail and detention facilities generally and the condition of individual adult detention facilities specifically. There are a total of 115 active adult jail and detention facilities in Los Angeles County. The 2012-2013 Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury (Grand Jury) inspected 74. By definition, a jail is typically a local detention facility designed for either temporary housing of a detainee or for a misdemeanant sentenced for up to one year of confinement. A prison typically refers to confinement facilities operated by the state or federal government for felons sentenced to more than one year of confinement. The Grand Jury also visited all Juvenile Halls and Camps operated by the Los Angeles County Probation Department. A
• R16

  Page 251
  DETENTION: JUVENILE FACILITIES INTRODUCTION Each year, the Los Angeles County Civil Grand Jury (Grand Jury) is charged with the task of inspecting Los Angeles County juvenile probation halls (Halls) and juvenile probation camps (Camps), all of which are operated by the County Probation Department (Probation).1 Few County departments have faced the same level of scrutiny or the re-organization that Probation has within the past few years. The Grand Jury learned of changes in overall department leader- ship, Camp supervisory personnel, therapeutic approaches, youth-staff interactions, educational programs and training of personnel. On a fundamental level, there has been a shift in attitude for many in the Department. Probation has had to question the role of incarceration as it applies to juveniles. As a result, many juveniles are now being diverted from Camps and treated instead within communities, as evidenced by the significant population drop in both Camps and Halls. Overall, the Grand Jury was witness to a shift from a focus on punishment to rehabilitation. This report outlines some of the broader issues observed as well as its findings of conditions at indvidual Halls and Camps.