LA County Juvenile Halls Overwhelmed By Chaos, Violence: Report

LOS ANGELES COUNTY -- L.A. County juvenile halls have become overwhelmed by chaos and violence, and staff members often call in sick because they're afraid to come to work, according to an article in Sunday's Los Angeles Times.

The L.A. County Probation Department is facing a series of serious problems, including bursts of violence among detainees, plummeting officer morale and the organizational headaches from closing several detention facilities, according to the Times article.

Six officers also were recently charged with child abuse and assault over the unreasonable use of pepper spray on several teenagers, putting even more political pressure on the department to stop using it by the end of the year.

Internal reports and photographs obtained by the LA Times purportedly show just how dangerous and dysfunctional Los Angeles County's youth detention operation has become.

``We have way more than enough staff. The problem is people aren't coming to work because they are afraid,'' Stacy Ford, a veteran detention officer and an executive on rehabilitation camp issues for the rank-and-file union, AFSCME Local 685, told the newspaper.

In recent months, the department has acknowledged large fights involving multiple youths, including one last month at Camp Rockey in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. In that incident, young detainees engaged in two separate fights, requiring staff to call in reinforcements to help restore peace and supervise the facility, the department said.

In March, a female detainee leaving a court facility in Compton began to kick the seats and windows of her transport van. The officers struggled to control her, and she repeatedly spat on them. When one officer tried to block the flying saliva, the youth lunged forward and bit the officer's hand, breaking the skin. She continued to kick, yell obscenities and resist. The officers had to repeatedly call for assistance en route to their destination.

When such incidents occur, detention officers say the recent backlash over the use of force inside the facilities, including an overreliance on pepper spray, has made them increasingly worried about being subjected to internal discipline.

City News Service contributed to this report.