After coming under sharp criticism over reportedly failing to prevent prisoner abuse in county jails, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca issued a statement last week defending the steps he has taken in response to the alleged abuses.
Baca said he immediately enacted a plan against reports of excessive force in his prisons, despite allegations in a blue-commission probe that Baca was out-of-touch and ignorant when the problems were initially brought to his attention.
According to his statement, Baca set up a “town hall-style” meeting with more than 100 inmates who voiced concerns over how they were treated behind bars.
“At the meeting, inmates were encouraged to express their concerns about excessive use of force, mistreatment and disrespect, and they were assured there would be no reprisals for their remarks,” Baca said.
Prisoners brought up issues ranging from time allotted for family visits to toiletry supplies. They also voiced problems of respect and seniority among inmates. According to Baca, fights among prisoners often stem from one inmate not showing proper respect to other inmates, which leads deputies to intervene. “This helps explain why a third of all deputy force used in the jails involves breaking up fights between inmates. Disrespectful conduct by deputies has also led to the use of force, and that is something we can’t tolerate,” Baca said. “Our core values prohibit disrespectful behavior toward all people.”
Blue-ribbon investigators found that the majority of deputies working in county jails were ethical and hard-working, but certain deputies were quick to use violence as a first resort in dealing with inmates. The report found evidence of deputies forcing inmates into strip searches as a means of embarrassment and harassment. Some deputies also let high-risk inmates mix with low-security inmates and did little to intervene when inmates brawled. The Los Angeles Times first reported the probe’s findings earlier this month.
In his statement, Baca said he conducted additional meetings with more than 100 deputies broken up into smaller groups.
Among the prison issues Baca has worked on solving, he said deputies admitted to using excessive force commonly with cases where a nurse had to administer medication to a prisoner who had to be called out of his or her cell. Prisoners are now required to stay in the cell during a “pill call.”
Deputies who do not have prior experience with mentally ill inmates are also no longer allowed to escort those prisoners after noted spikes in excessive force between non-experienced deputies and mentally ill patients.
A Commanders Management Task Force has also been formed to “expand dialogue” between inmates and deputies.
“These measures have resulted in a record low use of force in county jails in recent months,” he said.
The blue-ribbon commission’s investigative panel, which consisted of pro bono attorneys, sifted through 30,000 pages of documents and listened to hours of testimony from 150 witnesses, including supervising county sheriffs and Baca himself.
“We are still investigating whether these allegations are valid,” Baca said. “But I don’t need proof to seize the opportunity for instituting holistic reforms of our jail culture that will improve life for deputies, inmates, professional staff, managers and the hundreds of volunteers who help us on a daily basis.”