LA Supe Molina Asks for LASD Internal Investigation Files…Breaking Out of Men’s Central Jail Cells…One Problem with “My Brother’s Keeper”…and More

LA SUPERVISOR MOLINA REQUESTS LASD FILES ON USE OF FORCE INSTANCES

Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina is calling on County Counsel to give the board access to LASD internal investigation files regarding use of force and officer-involved shootings.

Molina says, without access, the board cannot provide thorough oversight, or know whether it is valid to settle with claimants in use of force cases against the LASD. Molina introduced a motion that would request immediate access to LASD reports on a 2013 shooting involving an officer who had been involved in six other shootings. Board members will likely vote on it at next week’s meeting.

Here’s a clip from Supe. Molina’s website:

“Our county lawyers don’t seem to understand whom they’re representing here,” Molina said. “It appears we have Sheriff’s Deputies involved in violating policy over and over again, often the same ones. Management allows this to happen. And yet when I ask for a copy of basic investigations into these cases, County Counsel has denied me access time and again. I have explained myself continuously as to my duty and responsibility. I have outlined that I am asking for nothing but our own materials.”

Under Government Code Section 25303, the Board of Supervisors is required to oversee the conduct of all county officers to ensure that they “faithfully perform their duties.” Moreover, in Dibb v County of San Diego (1994), the California Supreme Court ruled that a county Board of Supervisors has the legal obligation to monitor the conduct of Sheriff’s employees as long as it does not interfere with the investigation and prosecution of criminal conduct.

“I have reminded our legal counsel that this is not the District Attorney’s investigation and the District Attorney is not their client – we are,” Molina continued. “I’m willing to view this report with a bank of lawyers surrounding me and yet I’m still continually denied access to it. The Sheriff’s Department has investigated the incident and claimed to have taken appropriate corrective action. But we don’t know if that is true. I am told that the Board of Supervisors must pay for these claims, that we have no choice. Yet our lawyers constantly refuse to fight for our access to the reports that would help us get to the root causes of our problems. I have no interest in interfering with D.A. investigations – only ensuring the fundamental integrity of the investigations. But I have significant questions about officer-involved shootings and whether or not our use-of-force policies are being followed not just in our county jail system but in the field, where residents live and work. In the absence of a fully operational Office of Inspector General or a legally constituted Civilian Oversight Committee with subpoena power, it falls to the Board of Supervisors to directly exercise its duty and authority on behalf of the public.”

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EASY CELL BREAKOUTS AT MEN’S CENTRAL JAIL

ABC7 spoke with inmates and jail officials, including CJ captain Dan Dyer, who said it’s not all that hard to escape from a cell, even a high security one, in the outdated Los Angeles Men’s Central Jail.

Dyer says inmates usually break out of their cells and handcuffs to attack other inmates (less often deputies and custody assistants).

Here’s a clip from the ABC7 report:

“For my staff, every time they walk one of these rows, they’re in danger,” said Men’s Central Jail Captain Dan Dyer.

One inmate, whom we agreed not to identify, is housed in a high-security area known as “2904.” He told Eyewitness News he’s accused of murder and selling drugs and guns. The inmate was locked up behind a cell door constructed from heavy steel mesh and iron bars. Despite the tight security, the inmate told us he could break out of his cell at any time.

“Yeah, like most doors when you unlock them, some doors are racked and if you know how to do it right, you can push your gate in and it will open right up, you know? And whether you catch an active or non-active gang member, your enemies, you could attack them while they’re walking to the showers and handcuffed with deputies,” said the inmate.

Escapes from the jail facility itself are rare, but inmates breaking out of their cells is another matter.

“There’s probably not a housing location in my building that they can’t get out of,” said Capt. Dyer. “We’ve watched them. We’ve had them show us how they do it. Simply the design of some of these cells makes it very easy. These guys that have been in and out of here over the years. It’s an art to it and they know how to do it.”

The inmate in 2904 says he learned how to break out of his cell from his “homies” and years of cycling into and out of the criminal justice system.

“When you’re facing life already, you have nothing to lose,” he said.

Dyer said a small number of inmates may want to attack a deputy or custody assistant, but most are looking to assault a fellow inmate.

“What’s commonly called a ‘green-lighter,'” said Dyer. “Somebody who’s a drop-out from a gang on the street or somebody who has committed an act inside the jails in violation of gang codes. Those are the individuals they’re after.”

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“MY BROTHER’S KEEPER” …WHAT ABOUT YOUNG GIRLS AND WOMEN OF COLOR?

Last week, President Barack Obama launched an important initiative to help boys and young men of color break free of the school-to-prison-pipeline and build successful lives.

The Nation’s Dani McClain says—that’s great, but minority girls need just as much help. Here are some clips:

If streets corners, classrooms, workplaces and court systems are inhospitable to and dangerous for black and Latino boys and men, how do they affect the girls and women who are often right by their sides? After all, boys and men don’t exist in a vacuum.

In fact, black and Latina girls and women also struggle to succeed in school, avoid the criminal justice system, and find and keep good jobs. Nearly 40% of black and Latina girls fail to graduate high school on time. Black girls experience sexual violence at rates higher than their white and Latina counterparts, and intimate-partner homicide is the leading cause of death among black women between the ages of 15 and 35. This is perhaps not the kind of violence Obama’s initiative is drawing attention to, but it’s violence just the same.

[SNIP]

In the past thirty years, women have entered US prisons at nearly double the rate of men, with the female population behind bars growing by more than 800 percent, according to the Center for American Progress (CAP). Racial disparities exist for the female prisoner population, too. Black women are three times more likely than white women to be incarcerated and Latina women are nearly 70 percent more likely.

The president’s initiative promises to create economic opportunities for boys and young men, and girls and young women could use a hand in this arena as well. A study of black unemployment found that black teenage boys and girls experienced similar rates of joblessness during 2011—a low of 35 percent for black girls and 39 percent for black boys and a high of 48 percent for both. The same UC Berkeley Labor Center study found that between 2009 and 2011, the unemployment rate declined slightly for black men but joblessness actually increased for black women. Unemployment rates fell for both white men and white women during this time.

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LAPD MAKES HAPPY BIRTHDAY / GET WELL VIDEO FOR YOUNG BOY WITH LEUKEMIA

The LAPD put together a very sweet video for Tyler Seddon, a young boy celebrating his seventh birthday while fighting leukemia for a second time. Tyler’s mother set up a Facebook account asking her son’s heroes, first responders, to send him birthday cards.