Children and Adolescents Inspector General LASD Reentry Sheriff John Scott Trauma Youth at Risk

Interim Sheriff Wants OIG Bound to LASD in Attorney-Client Relationship…the Center for Youth Wellness…and the LASD’s Emerging Leaders Academy

SHERIFF SCOTT PUSHES FOR INSPECTOR GENERAL AND LASD TO HAVE ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE

Back in November, the LA County Board of Supervisors selected Max Huntsman to fill the newly established role of Inspector General for the Sheriff’s Department. County officials are still trying to establish what kind of access Huntsman will have to sensitive department data.

Interim Sheriff John Scott is urging the Supes to bind Huntsman to the LASD in an attorney-client relationship to protect confidential department information.

Aides to the Supes and other officials say the attorney-client privilege is not necessary, and would only impede the Inspector General’s ability to independently oversee the department. (We at WLA strongly agree, and would also rather the new sheriff make these recommendations, rather than the interim sheriff.)

The LA Times’ Abby Sewell has the story. Here’s a clip:

Interim Sheriff John Scott wants the inspector general to be bound by an attorney-client relationship with his department, so that confidential information shared with Huntsman as part of his investigations can’t be subpoenaed or released to the public.

“Absent an Attorney-Client relationship my desire to cooperate with the OIG will remain consistently high, but my actual ability to share information will be impaired and will need to be determined on a case-by-case basis,” Scott said in a statement Wednesday.

Past civilian monitors of the Sheriff’s Department have functioned under an attorney-client relationship. Sheriff’s officials said attorneys from outside the county had advised Scott to set up a similar relationship with the inspector general, although the county’s top attorney advised that such an arrangement wasn’t necessary.

At a public meeting Wednesday, aides to the supervisors opposed the sheriff’s proposal, saying it would impede Huntsman’s independence.

“The [inspector general] is being put into place to be a monitor, oversight, and distant from your organization,” Joseph Charney, a deputy to Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, told sheriff’s officials. “We’re concerned about that.”

Some county officials argued that attorney-client privilege would not apply, in any case, since the inspector general would not be giving legal advice to the sheriff. They said other state laws already protect the confidentiality of sensitive information.

The Supervisors are also in the midst of deciding whether to create a civilian oversight commission to watch over the department. On Thursday, Long Beach Police Chief and Sheriff candidate frontrunner Jim McDonnell released a statement in support of forming a citizen’s commission. McDonnell seems to be far more in favor of independent oversight than what we’ve seen from Sheriff Scott. Here is a clip:

“Later this month, the Board of Supervisors will consider whether to create a civilian commission to oversee the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. I support this concept and believe that there is great value in creating an independent civilian oversight body that would enable the voice of the community to be part of the LASD’s pathway forward. A civilian commission can provide an invaluable forum for transparency and accountability, while also restoring and rebuilding community trust in the constitutional operation of the LASD.

The Citizens’ Commission on Jail Violence, on which I served, underscored the need for comprehensive and independent monitoring of the LASD and its jails and recommended the creation of an Office of Inspector General (the “OIG”) – an entity that is now in the process of formation. While our Commission opted not to express any view regarding a civilian commission, I believe that the time has come for the creation of an empowered and independent citizens’ commission to oversee and guide the work of the OIG and help move the Department beyond past problems.

Though a civilian oversight commission may be a new concept for LASD, it is not new to me or to law enforcement in general. Indeed, I spent many of my 29 years at the LAPD working with its citizens’ Police Commission. I have also worked with a citizens’ commission as Chief of Police in Long Beach. I have seen first-hand the value of empowering the community’s voice and welcome the opportunity to work with the Board of Supervisors, legal experts and community groups in developing the best possible model of civilian oversight for the LASD.

[SNIP]

While I encourage the Board of Supervisors, for all of these reasons, to move forward now with the approval of this concept, I believe that it is important to take the necessary time, and obtain expert guidance, to ensure that a newly created citizens’ commission has the structure, independence and resources to function effectively. In particular, I would urge serious consideration of a structure that would include not simply individuals appointed by the Board of Supervisors, but also other appointing authorities (that might include justice system partners and community stakeholders). To ensure their full independence and autonomy, serious consideration should be given to having commission members serve a set term of years and be empowered to select their own staff and leadership. The OIG, in carrying out the commission’s work, should have full access to LASD facilities, records and personnel, as allowed by existing law. These issues should be worked out in tandem with the development of the OIG, so that both entities can be part of a cohesive new civilian oversight structure. As noted above, it is my view that the commission should oversee and guide the work of the OIG, while also acting as a bridge to the community and a vehicle for the transparent airing of markers of progress in regard to moving LASD beyond past problems.


COMBATTING CHILDHOOD TRAUMA IN A DISADVANTAGED NEIGHBORHOOD

The Chronicle of Social Change’s Brian Rinker has an excellent story about San Francisco’s Bayview District Center for Youth Wellness, and Nadine Burke Harris, the pediatrician who pioneered its progressive, trauma-informed approach to healing kids in a violence-plagued neighborhood. Here are some clips:

San Francisco’s Bayview district is best known for its gun violence, drugs, pollution and poverty, and not much else. But a community health clinic’s radical approach to healing children may change all that by turning the impoverished neighborhood into an epicenter for trauma-informed care.

Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris transformed her Bayview clinic to incorporate a growing body of research linking emotional and physical abuse, neglect and household dysfunction to a long list of poor health and societal outcomes later in life. The stress that arises from chronic exposure to trauma is so severe that it is called toxic stress, which can alter a child’s developing brain and body.

Since Burke Harris began treating patients struggling with toxic stress, she and her wellness center have become a fixture in the childhood trauma world: with glowing descriptions in news articles, and most recently a proposed California resolution to include the science of childhood trauma and toxic stress into the state’s policy vernacular.

“Nadine Burke Harris is a natural leader. She’s just wonderful,” said Esta Soler, president of Futures Without Violence, a organization advocating for trauma-informed policies on a national level. “Center for Youth Wellness is an incredible organization, a laboratory that will help many young people and families living with a lot of adversity.”

Soler said she hopes what Burke Harris is doing in the Bayview will inspire other leaders across the nation to apply child trauma research to their work with children.

[SNIP]

…the wellness center acts like an oasis for traumatized children. The roughly 1,000 children who visit the pediatrics office each year are screened using the Adverse Childhood Experiences scoring system, or ACEs. In 1998, researchers Robert Anda and Vincent Filletti released a blockbuster study linking child trauma to future health problems. The more the trauma the greater the likelihood a person will develop health and behavioral problems as an adult. They created the ACE score to measure instances of adverse experiences, like a child who is sexually abused by a parent, living with an alcoholic family member, a parent diagnosed with a mental health illness or having an incarcerated father are all traumatic instances calculated into a score. The higher the score the more likely that the patient would end up with health problems and even an early death. Patients with an ACE of score of 3 or 4 are sent to the Wellness Center for further help.

[SNIP]

Loftus said she expects to see 300 kids this year. Most kids treated at the center have a 3 or 4 ACEs score, but the range is from 0 to 8. The wellness center works with the child and family to design an individualized response to the toxic stress. The treatment usually involves education about adverse childhood experiences and how toxic stress can alter a child’s brain, therapy for coping with stress, better eating habits, exercise and biofeedback—where sensors are attached the body to identify stress points in an effort to teach the patient to avoid stressful situations.


LA COUNTY PROGRAM HELPS EX-OFFENDERS SUCCESSFULLY REENTER COMMUNITY THROUGH MENTORING AND TRAINING

Emerging Leaders Academy, a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department reentry program, empowers former offenders to become self-reliant and successful through mentoring and education and employment services.

Only 11% of 700 participants have been locked up again after graduating the program (in stark contrast to the 75% recidivism rate in California).

The LA Daily News’ Dana Bartholomew has more on the program. Here’s how it opens:

Something strange happened to Carlos Duarte the day he attended an Emerging Leaders Academy eight weeks ago largely to get a glimpse of some pretty ladies.

A gang member slathered head to foot in tattoos, he’d spent the past 18 years in a California prison on an attempted-murder beef. He hated cops. And he’d just been busted for heroin.

What the 34-year-old ex-con stumbled into was an ember of hope in an empowerment program run by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He donned a tie and a sleeveless argyle sweater, and he now beams at being called Mr. Duarte.

“I went in to talk to girls,” said Duarte, now living at Cri-Help, a drug treatment program in North Hollywood. “And instead I found self-worth, self-confidence — and my life became meaningful.”

The Boyle Heights resident was among 48 “emerging leaders” gathering at the Agape International Spiritual Center in Culver City on Wednesday for their graduation from the sheriff’s celebrated empowerment, learning and jobs program, part of the department’s Education-Based Incarceration Bureau.

They had participated in some very bad things, done drugs, gone to prison, become estranged from decent friends and family. Most of all, all agreed they’d become strangers to their true “right” selves.

In eight weeks’ time — and daily Emerging Leaders Academy classes from the San Fernando Valley to Long Beach, La Puente to Culver City — the onetime losers were now emboldened winners.

“Emerging leaders, we don’t give them anything,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Clyde Terry, founder of the leadership academy. “We remind them of who they’ve always been — they’re extraordinary human beings.”

38 Comments

  • Not again. The farce continues. Community Advisory Committees, Clergy Councils,OIR,Merrick Bobb….we’ve learned nothing. More smoke and mirrors. Despite the hue and cry, it’s the SOS. This agency is incapable of investigating/monitoring itself. Attorney client? County Counsel is already shilling for those pricey downtown law firms. Open the books and follow the public tax dollars at work. John Q. Public is getting his ass beat and his pocket picked. Scott knows better. How insulting. Let McDonnell call his own shots. Don’t sandbbag him. Better yet, real transparency is a better option. I appreciate the need for confidentiality, but there are already way too many attorney client shenanigans. Do you really want to send in another clown? Not my circus, not my monkeys. Stop the subterfuge; no more dancing with snakes…put Federal monitor in place and be done with it.

  • @Puhleez, perhaps you are correct. LASD is SO entrenched with Tanaka clones at all ranks, perhaps Federal oversight IS the only way to fix it all. John Scott is foot dragging with his realignment of executives, promotions and demotions. Either he can’t or won’t clean house and do what needs to be done. I do have faith in Max Huntsman, I do think if the man if given the tools to do what he wants to do, the tools to do what he needs to do without political shackles, he can be successful. But there appears to be so much interference, I think Federal oversight is THE only option. And that will be painful and a nightmare for the County. But so be it, thank Baca and Tanaka.

  • #1: Good comments!!

    McDonnell is opposed to the Attorney-Client concept for LASD because, it sure looks like, he doesn’t intend, when he becomes Sheriff, to let LASD devolve to the point where that concept will be needed.

    Good for him!!

  • Finally some honest and on-target comments. It’s easy to see from the bleachers what’s happening to LASD and it makes me sick. I truly hope that the present ranks are numbers enough to line up behind the new sheriff and right the ship.I think there are and
    Thank you for your comments and spread the word, You folks make me proud.

  • Excellent & truthful posts @ 1) & 2).
    Scott is definitely limited in “shot calling” seeing that he is only a “temp” who will be gone in November.

    Alads BETTER come to th negotiation table with some vigor and testosterone. The last executive director( Remige the Rookie) and negotiator for our last contract is gone.

    Just as the Department is going through a clean sweep, so should ALADS. We are tired of losing and being shit on at the expense of ALAD$.

    Steck (the wreck) and (null & void ) Floyd……Get your hands out of the deputies pocket and your head out of your ass.

  • @ #2…….Don’t waste your time on ALADS. You know who’s running the house and do you really expect something positive? Be prepared for another 2-2-2. LOL.
    At this time, ALADS does not have the same bargaining strength as LAPPL, even though one is city and the other is county. Alads famous battle cry after negotiations is always. “There are no take aways” & “At least we keep our jobs.”

    Wow…….Who does that remind you of?

  • Don’t be naive. Interim Sheriff Scott has private consultation with obvious winner of upcoming election, establishes attorney-client relationship, and takes heat from liberal media. Sheriff McDonnell comes in December, denounces the relationship, vows to reverse it, does nothing, has “clean hands.”

  • Jeff: You want your pay raise? It’s easy. Just park your black and white after briefing and only respond to calls for service. It worked in 2004. A 20% pay raise I believe.

  • It won’t say much about your character and integrity, but at least you can pay off your new boat!

  • The only viable victory that we can hope for(contract negotiations) is to retain the current “Acting Executive Director” John Rees. He is ALADS former (pushed out by Remige & Hayhurst) Executive Director.
    He is qualified, educated, renowned and respectfully feared at negotiation tables.
    For the record and the actual Board meeting minutes of December 2013, four (4)board members opposed him to return as Executive Director. You already know who the four were. (They are still on the board.)
    To circumvent the “haters” from prevailing to put their puppet in, Rees came back as “Consultant to the Board Members”, 2 months later.
    The bottom line is…….If he is still around @ negotiation time, we will definitely do decently this next go round

  • I agree Jeff…..that’s why I didn’t let the guys I supervised participate…..nice to know others feel the same way!

  • Just arrived home from 6 months deployment in the Middle East. I read the latest Dispatcher and now it’s another Alads President, no Vice President, new faces on the board of directors, no executive director. …. Can anyone tell me WTF is going on?. I heard Baca stepped down,but geez louise! Is this the same sheriff’s department that I left in January?

  • #15: It can all be Googled; choose your own search words, but a good starting point might be something like “LASD misconduct.”

    Then settle in for a couple of days of reading.

    And thank you for your service.

  • Bandwagon, I have news for you, your men didn’t participate because they are workers, not because you didn’t allow it. Trust me on this one, they call their own shots.

    Alads and all of the directors are weak. Weakest it’s been in my 20+ years. Directors, we are not fooled. You can chat like your one of the guys when we cross paths while working overtime or whatever. But everyone knows you are weak, weak, weak. I do hope you are proud of your weak ass selves.

  • Goal: I was a supervisor in a specialized unit. Deputies in the unit were pressured to comply with the work action. Some teams complied, mine did not. But you are right, they were workers!

  • Goal: Were all the deputies who participated in the work action “calling their own shots” or submitting to peer pressure? Trust me on this one!

  • @4th and goal: And what exactly are you doing to make ALADS stronger, or at the minimum to help.

  • 4th and Goal, Calling ALADS current Board of Directors “WEAK” is an understatement.

    2 people on the board are officially RETIRED, Another 2 on the board were not voted in by general membership, another one (also) has an unqualified attendance record and one is totally unstable.

    Does that look like a team or a scheme? The big question is….Why does the Sheriff Department have two Deputy Sheriff Associations?

    The answer is obvious.

  • @ #20 Ahhh yes, the old ALADS defensive “well what do you do?” comeback. Ill tell you what we all do, we give a significant amount of our hard earned money into your coffers to do your job(s) properly. ALADS has failed miserably, so as long as I keep giving my money I and every other deputy here has every right to call out the idiotic decisions, sham boards and corrupt actions of Alads organization. Hey ALADS cheerleader, go pull that line in the academy. Not here.

  • @Seasoned Gun Slinger: are you “Ithaca Boomer” reinvented or just another person who is talking “as if” you know.

    Before I get started I will stipulate to the fact that ALADS is a mess. Now, the same question I proposed to “4th and Goal,” what are you doing to fix it? Clearly you are not involved, otherwise you would know that all the directors, except for “one,” were voted in by the members who bother to vote and only Floyd is “officially” retired. If more people would get involved, instead of flapping their mouths and spreading incorrect information “we” could probably fix “our” association!

    And, as a “Seasoned Gun Slinger” you would think that you would know that the majority of people who have to use these “tough guy” names, do so because they aren’t.

  • @ huh >I didn’t know that Floyd’s sheep talk. Bah Bah Bah. Your excuse could not be more timely.

    @ general hut hut…..you hit them (alads) right where it hurts, a truthful punch to the gut

  • @Huh- Boomer’s by go. And now that I’ve got the air I’ll give you a little advice. If I were you I wouldn’t waste too much energy trying to “fix” your association. They’ve been corrupt for over 30 years. In 1999 they were called out and nearly decertified until they were rescued by the Board of Supervisors. I’ll let you try and figure out why. Hint- 2% pay raises. My advice would be to run a dagger through the heart and stick a fork in it. It’s nothing more than a cash cow for the lawyers and insurance peddlers. Sorry to deliver the bad news but ALADS has run its’ course. Your better off putting your money into legal insurance or the stock market for a rainy disciplinary day. Sexton did the wise thing and went outside for representation. That was the only wise decision his daddy made the past couple years. Good luck with whichever you decide. Boomer!

  • Regarding the ALADS comment, here are the facts.

    1) General members voted in November 2013. (With actual ballots sent out)

    2) Two of the newest board members were recently “APPOINTED” NOT VOTED IN. ( neither voting members or “reps” had no knowledge, voice or vote in this)

    3) Unless LACERA’S records are wrong, another board member ( other than Floyd) is officially retired.

    4) Names were omitted to prevent further embarrassment to an Association who has embarrassed the deputies who pay and depend on them.

  • Folks: While on the subject of ALADS let us all go to LASPA’s website & check it out:

    http://www.laspa.org

    Click on “About us” top tool-bar & check out the roster of attorneys.

    Pretty powerful stuff there.

  • @Generalhuthut: You are like any “bad” Deputy on this Department. Mis-quote and alter facts to fit your agenda. I am not defending ALADS, because like I said “they are a mess,” but do we sit back and continue to pay our dues or do we take an active roll in putting them in check? It appears you just want to pay your dues, because it gives you the right to complain. To each his own!

    @Weakunion: Seriously, “Go LASPA?” What are they doing to help Deputies. I view them as the guys who got chased of the playground, because they weren’t strong enough to “claim” the playground, so they went elsewhere to start a new game!

    @Seasoned Gunslinger: I’m as far from being one of Floyd’s sheep than you’ll ever know. And, yes he needs to go! The difference is some people stay and try and fix problems by putting people in check and others just complain and do nothing to “try” and fix the problems. Look in the mirror for description of the latter, say hi to Boomer and Weakerunion, while looking in said mirror.

    @Ithacaboomer: “corrupt for over 30 years!” Once again, what have you done to try and fix it. You seem to be in the know pointing out an unverified fact, but yet you haven’t said you did anything to help. I’m assuming as a Deputy you just continued to pay into the “corrupt association,” but then again with that weak “radio car of trust” mentality you’re not really used to putting to much thought into your actions!

    @Joe Friday: Sorry, you are mistaken. There is only “ONE” appointed director (do your homework). The last appointed director recently promoted and was replaced by another appointed director. As far as Reps not having knowledge, “unfortunately” the Board is allowed to make appointments (you don’t like it, help change it). And my understanding is the second “retired” director’s retirement status has in fact been postponed for reasons of which I do not know. My guess would be that it probably has to do with an anniversary date. You got one thing right, they are an embarrassment!

  • To defend ALADS at this point is futile. It is never the (any given) organization but those who are running it.
    Everyone knows the ties and connections within ALADS. The only way to clean it up is to have a Bona-fide election or to Decertify.( Yes, even looking through the Cooked Books)

    I applaud the former ALADS members who said “Enough is Enough” and formed LASPA. Unless you were there and you knew. ….Don’t knock LASPA. At least they had the balls to do something. AND THEY DID!

  • @ huh—If you have the master plan: Get off your microphone and bring your blueprint. You too, like many others get info second hand and hearsay. If you were no on the board and making decisions. ….Tone it down.

  • @Starlight Scope: How does going elsewhere and starting a new organization qualify as “having balls” when they have done nothing better for their membership. My point is, if you don’t like what you see fix it, or die trying! That’s the equivalent of ignoring the “gangsters” in your patrolling RD, because they’re too powerful and giving tickets to Senior Citizens and College Students, instead, so that you can feel like your doing something! As far as an election, you must really be on top of things, because they do one every year and out of approximately 7000 Deputies an average of 900 ballots are returned, and I doubt yours is one of them.

    @Oh Really: You have no idea! I don’t come to this blog and brag about what I do, have done or plan to do, I just do it. I enjoy the commentary and different perspectives, but I’m not going to sit back and watch you guys who are doing nothing to help fix things, talk smack, without calling you out to do something to help change for the betterment of this department or the Deputies. My info is not hearsay, do your homework and if you’re a “real man, with integrity” you’ll come back and report the latest change at ALADS.

  • Huh! You have no idea about how corrupt ALADS is. For starters, maybe you can explain why Dick Shinee is wearing two hats, general counsel for ALADS the corporation and representing members individually? Do you know if there is a conflict with bad representation, Shinee “counsels” the board to ignore the problem? Conflict of interest, 101.

    And why is it that no one can run for the board unless they’ve been a unit rep for two years? Please don’t give me the lame “experience” excuse, it’s only purpose is to protect the board from a popular uprising, LASPA style.

    ALADS stopped representing the interests of the membership long ago, and only serves to enrich the board of directors, Dick Shinee, and the insurance companies they funnel their membership to via the county. That’s why you will never see their books, it’s really bad news for a lot of people…

  • LATBG………THANK YOU FOR THE UNEQUIVOCAL TRUTH. I HOPE THIS GETS THROUGH TO EVERY DEPUTY WITH A BRAIN.

  • @LATBG: I think you may be “preaching to the choir.” I have been monitoring what has been going on at ALADS (by attending the meetings). It looks and sounds like people are aware of what you speak, but just like our department it can’t be fixed over night. Did you hear that Hayhurst supposey resigned? If you haven’t given up on the department, why give up on ALADS. Changes appear to be coming!

  • @LATBG. I’m glad that you gave a vivid look at ALADS. I understand trying to make a change instead of complaints, however unless one goes by their by-laws (yes they have been amended to suit individuals), there is NOTHING that one person can do.
    Agency Shop saved ALADS. If deputies could opt of ALADS right now, then many would. It’s pretty much been ran like a family business with the legal representation(SHINEE)and the lucrative insurance business and benefits(TREECE).
    More to come re: Alads. It is just a matter of time. There are several lawsuits against ALADS right now. You will never get a straight answer at “Rep Meeting” The bottom line is that deputies are fed up with the crap at ALADS.

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