Selection Process for Sheriff’s Department Inspector General Moves Forward


One of the most important recommendations of the Citizens’ Commission on Jail Violence was for the Board of Supervisors to create an independent Inspector General’s Office to provide comprehensive oversight and monitoring of the sheriff’s department and its jails.

The recruitment process, which has been on-going for several months, has identified a number of potential candidates and now, acting on a motion by Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Ridley-Thomas, the board has voted to create a vetting committee to review their qualifications. At the end of the review it will issue a recommendation to the Supervisors for their consideration.

The Vetting Committee will have representation from the citizens’ commission, the sheriff’s department, and the civil rights community. Also, given his background, expertise and current role as the Implementation Monitor, Richard Drooyan will serve as the facilitator, but not as a voting member.

Appointed to the committee will be: the Hon. Lourdes Baird and the Hon. Robert Bonner, both of whom were members of the jail violence commission; Assistant Sheriff Terri McDonald; John W. Mack, former president of the Urban League, and Samuel Paz, noted civil rights attorney.

The committee will have 30 days to make its evaluations and then submit a list of the most qualified candidates to the supervisors.

Are You Prepared for the Next Earthquake?

Although two decades have almost passed since the Northridge earthquake, the Los Angeles County Fire Department wants to make sure residents are prepared when the next big one strikes. To that end, the Los Angeles County Fire Department is holding free community emergency response team training (CERT) classes throughout the county to teach basic training in safety and lifesaving skills.

Because earthquakes strike without notice, it’s important for Southern California residents to know what to do when the ground starts shaking. The 6.7 magnitude Northridge quake lasted a matter of seconds but resulted in dozens of deaths, miles of damaged streets, flattened buildings and the collapse of freeways.  The 10-second temblor, which struck at 4:31 a.m., was triggered by a fault that squeezed the northern San Fernando Valley between two mountain ranges.  In fire department classes, participants learn CPR, bandaging techniques and basic first aid.

The next upcoming classes will run from September 28  to November.

September 28
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sorenson Park – Gymnasium
16801 East Ave P
Lake Los Angeles, CA

October 4
9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Claremont Colleges
CAMPUS SAFETY
150 Eighth Street.
Claremont, CA 91711

October 5
9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Cerritos Sheriff’s Station
Community Safety Center
18125 Bloomfield Ave
Cerritos, CA

October 5
9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
City of Lynwood Senior Center
11331 Ernestine Avenue
Lynwood, CA 90262

November 2
9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Artesia Park (Community Center)
18750 Clarkdale Ave,
Artesia, CA

Los Angeles County Fire is also spreading the word about earthquake preparedness via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages.  For additional earthquake safety tips from Los Angeles County Fire, or to sign up for the emergency response team training classes, visit their website at www.fire.lacounty.gov or call the LA. County Community Service Liaison Laura Walters (310) 217-7074.

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Here are county fire’s earthquake safety tips:

* Drop down onto your hands and knees before the earthquake knocks you down.

* Cover your head and neck – and your entire body if possible – under a sturdy table or desk.

* If there is no shelter nearby, only then should you get down near an interior wall or low-lying furniture that won’t fall on you, and cover your head and neck with your arms and hands.

* Hold onto your shelter until the shaking stops.  Be prepared to move with your shelter if the shaking shifts it around.

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Supervisors Ridley-Thomas and Molina Call for Citizens Oversight Commission for Sheriff’s Department


In a swift response to notice that the U.S. Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into whether Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies have abused inmates, Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Gloria Molina are calling for the creation of a permanent citizen’s oversight commission.

The latest probe into the county jails, which will focus specifically on the treatment of mentally ill inmates, significantly expands the federal government’s ongoing investigations into the jails. A criminal investigation into allegations of excessive force and other wrongdoing has been underway since 2011. Similar concerns about use of force and abuse by jail deputies are also the centerpiece of the civil probe.

“The seriousness of this new investigation and the allegations of abuse that prompted it cannot be ignored,” said Supervisor Ridley-Thomas. “The sheriff’s department has long required a level of scrutiny that has been missing, and although the board only controls it’s budget, the department is there to serve the citizens of L.A. County, and that’s who should have greater oversight.”

“Transparency, without question, is needed to ensure that there is proper oversight of the sheriff’s department,” said Supervisor Molina. “A sheriff’s department oversight commission is the best vehicle to ensure accountability.”

In their motion to establish a Los Angeles County Citizen’s Law Enforcement Commission, the supervisors maintain that the new investigation dramatizes the need for heightened scrutiny of the sheriff’s department. Continued allegations of excessive force, significant litigation costs and a moral imperative to ensure constitutionally appropriate policing in the jails and communities justifies the establishment of an oversight entity without delay. Structural reform clearly will require more than intermittent and temporary examination of the department.

Although the board’s authority over the sheriff, who is an elected official, largely is limited to budgetary matters, the supervisors clearly have the authority to establish an independent advisory citizen’s oversight commission – as it has done in the past.

The supervisors’ motion, to be voted on at this Tuesday’s meeting, calls for each supervisor to appoint a commissioner to the panel by October 15. In addition, it calls for a funding and staffing plan for the commission and for county counsel to cement the commission’s role with language formalizing the relationship between the Sheriff’s Department, the Office of the Inspector General and the board.

Fund Preschools, Not Prisons

Against the backdrop of Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles, parents, education advocates, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Ridley-Thomas and Los Angeles Unified School District Board member Monica Garcia called on state and national leaders to invest in early childhood education rather than devoting more money in prisons and jails.

The rally came one day after leaders in Sacramento reached a compromise on a proposed solution to prison overcrowding, and activists seized the moment to call for a wholesale rededication to “preschool, not prisons.” The event was organized by Raising California Together, a coalition of child care providers, parents, educators, clergy, labor unions, small businesses and community groups united to press for local, state, and national policy solutions to increase access to quality child care and early learning programs.

Studies show that the return on investment from early education is as much as $17 dollars saved for every dollar spent. Without early childhood education, children are 25 percent more likely to drop out of school, 40 percent more likely to become a teenage parent and 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime.

The mood of the event was upbeat. Advocates from Homeboy Industries turned out in force, parading to the Twin Towers to call for a shift in priorities away from incarceration. Parents brought little children dressed up as doctors, astronauts, a chef and other careers that will be in reach with a quality education.

“We need to make an investment in the front end, in these children, because the back end is the structure standing behind you,” the Supervisor said, referring to the jail. “We have to embrace each other and look at the human capital we have to work with and develop.”

Currently, nearly 20,000 people are incarcerated in local county jails, while 133,000 are in state prisons in California and nationwide – 1.5 million people are incarcerated in prisons according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics—making it one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world.

“We need to shift our priorities,” he said. “We need to invest in developing a quality workforce and universal preschool. We support President Obama’s plan to invest billions in quality early learning. Investing in 0-5 and not 25 years to life is not about being soft on crime – it’s about being firm in our commitment to the future and our children.”

School board member Monica Garcia led the crowd in a pointed call and response:
“What do we want?” she asked the crowd.
“Preschools!”
“When do we want it?”
“Now!”

Supervisors Ridley-Thomas and Knabe Seek County Amicus Brief for State Prison Compromise

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Supervisor Don Knabe called on the county to take legal action to support a compromise to reduce the state’s prison population reached by Gov. Jerry Brown and the leaders of the state Legislature.

Brown, California Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Speaker of the Assembly John Perez came to an agreement Monday, offering to spend more money on rehabilitation efforts if a panel of federal judges will extend an end-of-the-year deadline to release thousands of inmates.

In a motion read into the record Tuesday at the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting and to be voted on next week, Supervisors Knabe and Ridley-Thomas also call for the board to direct county counsel to file briefs in federal court to support efforts to truncate the prison pipeline through increased rehabilitation services.

The state is under federal court order to reduce its prison population by December, and the agreement calls for allocating a portion of the $800 million slated for leasing cells in private prisons over three years, instead to drug, mental health and rehabilitation programs, if the court permits.

Since the state government shifted oversight of nonviolent prison parolees to local county governments in October 2011, Los Angeles and other counties have struggled to balance public safety concerns while meeting the rehabilitative needs of thousands of prison parolees. A significant increase in that population, which could occur should the federal courts not accept the compromise and insists on the release of approximately 9,000 inmates, would pose significant public safety and other challenges for local governments.

“This compromise is to be applauded,” said Ridley-Thomas, chairman of the board of supervisors. “From a policy perspective we simply cannot continue to over-utilize incarceration as our sole public safety solution. It’s not practical, it’s not economical and it’s not moral. Reducing our prison population and halting recidivism will require us to adopt strategies for rehabilitation as well.”

Supervisors Ask State to Stiffen Penalties for Adults Soliciting Sex from Children

As part of an ongoing effort against sex trafficking of children, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has called on state legislators to dramatically stiffen penalties for adults convicted of soliciting and having sex with children. Acting on a motion sponsored by Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Don Knabe, the board asked the state to substantially raise fines so that California becomes the most expensive state in the nation in which to be convicted of soliciting sex from children. The same motion also calls for improved services and treatment for the victims.

Several speakers addressed the board about the ongoing problem of child sex trafficking and the challenges of cracking down on so-called “Johns,” including District Attorney Jackie Lacey, Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell, Compton Mayor Aja Brown, the head of the LA County Probation Department’s sex trafficking unit Michelle Guymon as well as a survivor, Jessica Midkiff. Midkiff said she was groomed for work on the streets at age 11 and escaped shortly before turning 21.

“This motion represents a change in our view as to who are the true victims of these crimes and who are the true criminals,” said Lacey. “This motion addresses the market. That “John” who is out there trolling for a child should be treated more harshly by the system. If you are out there specifically looking for sex with a child you should not be treated as if you’re out there looking for sex with an adult.”

Chairman Ridley-Thomas announced that California State Senator Darrell Steinberg, Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell and Assemblyman Ted Lieu have indicated their support for a state bill addressing the demand side of child sex trafficking. In addition, in accordance with a request from the Los Angeles District Attorney, the motion asks that the law be amended so that not knowing a victim’s age cannot be used as a legal defense.

“When adults engage in sexual acts with children it should be called what it is: statutory rape,” said Supervisor Ridley-Thomas. “These are children, and children cannot consent. There have been strong efforts to appropriately punish sex traffickers, and there are efforts afoot to provide more services and treatment to the victims – mostly girls. But what’s missing from this equation are efforts to halt the demand for these children and meaningful consequences for their predators; that’s what we’re doing today.”

Supervisor Knabe said: “We have a good opportunity now, as the new legislative season in Sacramento is gearing up, to continue to promote awareness of this horrific crime and develop effective legislation to help the victims and go after the scumbags who purchase and sell girls for sex,” he said. “We must address the “demand” side of this crime and make the penalties severe enough so that these “Johns” don’t continue to be nameless and free of any criminal record, while the girls are criminalized. No 12-year-old little girl is choosing this life and we must do everything we can to protect them.”

Every day, children – primarily girls – as young as 10 years-old are being coerced and sold into prostitution in Los Angeles County and in counties throughout the state. According to experts in the field, the average life expectancy of these children once they enter the sex trade is seven years, due to the ravages of HIV/AIDS and the violence to which they are regularly subjected. At the low end, a victim could make $3,500 a week while some victims earn as much as $1,000 a day, making child sex trafficking a highly lucrative business increasingly run by gangs.

“Like narcotics, we’re seeing the proliferation of sex trafficking being put forth by the gangs. We’re seeing girls as young as nine or 10,” said McDonnell. “The pimps set the minimum for them to make, they stay out there until they do or they’re beaten.”

The men who solicit sex from children, however, often are not arrested and prosecuted, and even when they are, typically face only a proverbial slap on the wrist. The motion, asks lawmakers to amend the state penal code to make soliciting sex with a minor a felony. It also requires the “customers” to register as sex offenders and increases the fine from $1,000 to $10,000. It calls on law enforcement to refocus its priorities and actively arrest and prosecute these predators.

“The buyers of sex can be anyone,” said Guymon. “They are professionals, tourists, the diversity of buyers allows them to blend into our communities. The majority are men, usually they are married, hold a good job and have an average to high IQ.” Evidence suggests that predators are seeking to have sex with younger girls who are perceived to be both healthier and more vulnerable.

Helping the survivors and changing the perception of young girls who are trafficked is essential, said Midkiff.

“For every teenage girl there were 20 adult customers per night who were purchasing her. This equals up to 140 customers per week for one single girl,” she said. “As long as sex buyers are prowling the streets and lurking in the internet demanding sex without any perceived consequences, we will not curtail this problem.”

Freedom School Program Liberates Kids in Probation Camp

Marquise, 16, never enjoyed going to school. The teen, angry and often in trouble, ultimately landed at one of the county’s juvenile probation camps. Life was not looking good for him. But then he was introduced to the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools program at Camp Afflerbaugh in La Verne, one of 18 juvenile probation camps operated by Los Angeles County. The five week academic enrichment program, which is based on the state curriculum and stresses literacy, builds self-esteem and a love of learning, was totally unfamiliar and at first Marquise was skeptical.

The change in mindset, however, came immediately. The youths in the camp, ages 13 to 17, suddenly found that learning could be fun. They began their day at 8 a.m. sharp with a 30-minute activity called Harambee, a Swahili word for pulling together, to sing and dance and read—something completely different from the somber, punitive atmosphere commonly found in a probation camp.

Within a few days, Marquise began to look forward to Harambee.

“It brings my spirit up,” he said, smiling widely.

Also, he began reading books—something he never enjoyed before. His favorite was Mexican White Boy, by Matt de la Peña about a young boy who is always an outsider and has never known his father. Through reading, Marquis realized he was not alone.

“That boy didn’t have a dad either,” he said. “Reading became something to do to keep me out of trouble.”

Since 1995, more than 100,000 children nationwide have enrolled in the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools and more than 14,000 college students and young adult staff have been trained to lead the groups. Usually held in mainstream schools, the five week pilot program at camps Fred C. Miller in Malibu and Afflerbaugh in LaVerne is the first of its kind in California. The philosophy is: “I Can and Must Make a Difference in My: Self, Family, Community, Country, and World, with Hope, Education and Action.”

The results speak for themselves.

Camp educators and probation officers started seeing fewer fights, fewer suspensions and more interest in the classroom. Attitude among the youths evolved from wary and angry to openness and with an increase in self-confidence.

“Before Freedom Schools, it was the Mexicans versus the blacks,” said David, 16. “But now it’s like it is all of us.”

Before the Freedom School program began, the youngsters were told not to speak above a whisper; now they were encouraged raise their voices in chants, songs and raps; before, the guards would treat them like adversaries; now they were embraced and treated with respect.

“The kids are enjoying it and like what it is bringing to them,” said Alberto Ramirez, Director of Residential Treatment Services Bureau at the camps. “Their relationship to the staff is moving in a positive direction. That benefits the kids and also the staff.”

Ramirez warned however, that much work still needed to be done. At any moment, a young man could say or do something that could trigger a fight. And keeping the kids on track will be a challenge when they are sent back out to the schools and neighborhoods where they first landed in trouble.

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who has advocated for educational reforms at the camps and sponsored Freedom Schools in his district for the past four years, said the Freedom School’s emphasis on literacy and learning is one of the most effective ways to change a youngster’s life.

“The message of the Freedom Schools is so affirming and empowering that it was important to bring that to the probation camps,” he said. “The salvation for probation is education. The best opportunity for these youngsters to turn their lives around is to educate them.”

The hope is to continue with the Freedom School program—or at least Harambee—year-round in the camps. The Freedom School model complements the Road to Success Academies implemented by the Los Angeles County Office of Education, which emphasize interactive learning and positive feedback rather than punitive measures to educate youths at the county’s probation camps.

Other projects to increase educational opportunities for young people in camps are in the works. They include the Camp Kilpatrick Replacement Project, which seeks to replace that juvenile probation camp with a more rehabilitative, evidence-based approach to juvenile incarceration similar to programs developed in Missouri. In addition, there are efforts underway to find effective ways for youths to receive support and guidance after they are released from camps.

For now, these five weeks at Camp Afflerbaugh’s Freedom School have given some of the young men a second chance.

“I used to get Ds and Fs in school,” said David, 16. “Now I want my family to know I get Bs and Cs. And I want to go to college and become a counselor so I can help other kids learn how to read.

Carson Residents Swap Guns for Gifts

Los Angeles residents continue to turn in their guns for gift certificates. In a recent Guns for Gifts exchange sponsored by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, residents happily opened their car trunks to hand over their weapons to Sheriff’s deputies. In exchange they received gift cards to Target or Ralphs Market. Several elected officials from the city of Carson as well as Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor’s Chairman Mark Ridley-Thomas, whose district includes Carson, were on hand to encourage residents to turn in their weapons and instead use the gift cards to buy food for their families or toys for their children.

[raw] Gun owners received $50 for a non-operational firearm, $100 for a handgun and $200 for an assault weapon resulting in a total of $16,850 in gift cards being distributed throughout the day. The collected guns will be melted at GERDAU Steel Mill and recycled into rebar for construction.

“It’s simple. Firearms are a threat to public safety,” said Chairman Ridley-Thomas. “Nothing good comes from the point of a gun and I commend these residents for surrendering their firearms.”


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Seven Second District Neighborhoods to Celebrate National Night Out

[raw]Seven communities in the Second District will be organizing local events to promote peaceful collaboration between neighborhood residents and law enforcement. The events are the culmination of National Night Out, a year-long national community campaign.

“In the wake of Trayvon Martin’s racial profiling and unnecessary and untimely death, it is more important than ever to bring residents and local law enforcement together, to not only create safe, peaceful and empowered communities, but also to clearly delineate the ways in which citizens and law enforcement should best work together,” said Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Ridley-Thomas.

The first National Night Out took place on Tuesday, August 7th 1984, and began an effort to promote community involvement in crime prevention. That first year, 2.5 million Americans took part across 400 communities in 23 states.

National Night Out 2013, now in its 30th year, is expected to be the largest to date, surpassing last year’s numbers, when 37.5 million people in 15,704 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities, and military bases worldwide participated.

The event now serves as a catalyst for neighborhood transformation.

Along with turning on the traditional outside lights and keeping front porch vigils, most participating cities and towns celebrate with a variety of festive events, such as block parties, cookouts, parades, festivals, safety fairs and youth events. National Project Coordinator, Matt Peskin said, “This is a night for America to stand together and promote awareness, safety, and neighborhood unity. National Night Out showcases the importance of police-community partnerships and citizen involvement in our fight for a safer nation.”

Peskin added: “While the one night is certainly not an answer to crime, drugs and violence, National Night Out represents the kind of spirit, energy and determination to help make neighborhoods a safer place year round. The night celebrates safety and crime prevention successes and works to expand and strengthen programs for the next 364 days.”

Click here to download the flyers.

[/raw] Tuesday, August 6, 2013

LYNWOOD Century Station
LYNWOOD CITY HALL
MLK between Bullis Road and Hulme Avenue
11330 Bullis Road, Lynwood, 90262
6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Station (323) 568-4787
City Staff (310) 603-0220 ext. 506

COMPTON Station
GATEWAY TOWNE CENTER
1621 S. Alameda Street Compton, 90220
7:00pm to 9:00pm
Station (310) 605-5500

FLORENCE FIRESTONE Century Station
Youth Activity League (In front)
7901 S. Compton Avenue at Antwerp
Los Angeles, 90002
5:00pm to 8:00pm
Station (323) 586-7250

WISEBURN South LA Station
OCEANGATE CHURCH
13443 Oceangate Avenue
Del Aire/Hawthorne, 90250
4:00pm to 8:00pm
Station (323) 242-8784

LADERA
Marina Del Rey Station Personnel
LADERA PARK (Upper Outdoor Recreation Area)
6027 Ladera Park Avenue
Los Angeles, 90056
5:00pm to 8:00pm
Station (310) 410-7604

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

CARSON STATION & CITY HALL
21356 S. Avalon Blvd.
Carson, 90745
6:00p.m. to 9:00pm
Station (310) 847-8386

Saturday, August 10, 2013

WILLOWBROOK & ATHENS
HELLEN KELLER Park & MAGIC JOHNSON Park
905 E. El Segundo Blvd., Los Angeles, 90059
9:00am to 3:00pm
Station (310) 965-8659
Century Station

Supervisor Urges DOJ to Uphold Trayvon Martin’s Civil Rights

In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chairman Mark Ridley-Thomas called on the Department of Justice to fulfill its mission and defend the civil rights of Trayvon Martin—and by extension all Americans.

He noted in the letter that George Zimmerman’s acquittal by a Florida jury for second degree murder and manslaughter should not absolve him of Trayvon Martin’s wrongful death. Federal intervention can do what the Florida court did not do which is to squarely address the issue of race and the role that it played in the wrongful death of young Trayvon Martin.

Federal civil rights statutes allow for the criminal prosecution of ordinary citizens when racial motivation results in bodily injury. The Florida jury was not asked to answer whether Trayvon Martin’s fundamental civil right to walk down the street was violated by George Zimmerman. The answer to this question, wrote Chairman Ridley-Thomas, is unfinished business.

“I understand that civil rights enforcement is a critical priority for President Barack Obama’s administration,” he wrote. “The mission of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division is to protect and defend the civil rights of all individuals. As such, I respectfully request that the Department of Justice fulfill its mission.”