Inspectors Catch L.A. Jailers Watching Porn
When inspectors from Los Angeles County’s independent Sybil Brand Commission toured the Men’s Central Jail on May 10, 2024, they were alarmed to find a noose hanging in one detainee’s cell. But when one went to guards, they brushed off his report—because the eight on-duty guards were gathered to watch “a sexually explicit video on their wide-screen television,” according to the inspectors’ report.
It was only with the arrival of a second inspector, who was female, that the guards shut off the video. Meanwhile, a trained mental health professional on the inspection staff remained in a shower area with the detainee in whose cell the noose had been found, verifying that he was having suicidal thoughts. When a guard finally arrived to remove the noose, he merely threw it on the floor.
The inspectors also observed “conditions of trash and humidity” throughout the jail, where detainees “complained of rats and cockroaches, including in their food.” Phones were broken or missing. Mold and mildew spread as water leaked from broken toilets and sinks. Detainees reported missing eyeglasses and asthma inhalers, as well as missing medical appointments. Yet there were no grievance forms to be found, inspectors said. See: Inspection Report of Men’s Central Jail, Cty. of L.A. Sybil Brand Commission (June 10, 2024).
“The Sheriff’s Department often says they don’t have enough staff,” noted American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California Senior Staff Attorney Melissa Camacho. “What the Sybil Brand Commission tour shows is that it isn’t that there isn’t enough staff—it’s that they don’t do their job. And in this case, it’s that they were watching porn instead of doing their job.”
Additional source: Los Angeles Times
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