The announcement this week by Sheriff Lee Baca that he agrees with and intends to implement all 63 recommendations laid out in a new report by the Citizens' Commission on Jail Violence is welcome news. At a press conference Wednesday, Baca said of the recommendations, “I couldn’t have written them better myself,” continuing that by implementing them, “we will be a stronger and safer jail.”
Gang-like cliques of sheriff's deputies operating with impunity inside L.A. County jails. Department top brass encouraging a culture of violence and brutality against inmates. And a sheriff with his head in the sand.
The ACLU of Southern California and the ACLU National Prison Project today released a disturbing new report on the Los Angeles County Jail that documents numerous, serious allegations of physical abuse and retaliation at the hands of sheriff’s deputies. As part of its official, court-appointed monitoring role in the jails, the ACLU has received more than 70 complaints over a five-month period in 2010 from prisoners who describe a climate of fear and brutality.
Sheriff Lee Baca unveiled this giant robot-like device at a news conference last week, noting the "The Assault Intervention Device appears uniquely suited to address some of the more difficult inmate violence issues," since it will "allow us to quickly intervene without having to enter the area and without incapacitating or injuring either combatant."
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