A new report looking into conditions at juvenile halls in Los Angeles County found the county’s Probation Department failed at one facility to provide video footage to corroborate use of force — in nearly half of the incidents examined.
To meet the court-stipulated settlement standard, the juvenile halls needed sufficient camera recordings for 90% of all incidents.
The report also found that the county Probation Department did not submit on time the “use-of-force” reports for independent review from both juvenile detention centers. In one instance the department waited six months to report an incident. Officials from the county Probation Department did not respond to requests to comment for this story.
The report by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) dated July 15 found there were not enough cameras at the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, a violation of a court order.
Investigations took place during the second half of 2021, as part of a settlement agreement between Los Angeles County and the Department of Justice resulting from numerous cases of inappropriate use of force at Nidorf, and at Central Juvenile Hall in Boyle Heights.
At Nidorf, the court-appointed OIG found 252 use-of-force incidents during the time period. Of those, only 55% (or 139 incidents) had video recordings. To meet the court-stipulated settlement standard, the juvenile hall needed sufficient camera recordings for 90% of all incidents, or 226 incidents.
Of those, 23 cases were randomly selected for review by the OIG and only 13 or 57% had video recordings, leaving 47% without any video to back up the written reports.
The court settlement agreement calls for video corroboration, in order to ferret out unauthorized use of force by officers. Video coverage of officer-vs-youth inmate altercations provides checks and balances and shines a light inside the walls of the county’s juvenile halls, the report said.
“Video evidence in conjunction with officer reports, is critical in ascertaining the events leading up to the use of force and the use of force itself, as independent evidence free from lapses in memory and bias that may be found in written reports,” the OIG report concluded.
During an inspection of Nidorf on March 1, 2022, 85% of the cameras were operating with viewable video and 15% of the videos were blurred or non-viewable, hampering the OIG’s investigation.
For example, when officers responded to youths fighting and used two bursts of pepper spray, the youths complied. But the OIG could not tell what led up to the event — or what actually happened — because the video was blurry.
Meanwhile, at Central Juvenile Hall (CJH), all 569 video cameras were working. There were 492 use-of-force incidents during the time period and 100% of the reports on those incidents also included video recordings, the report found. Of the 24 random incidents examined, the video tapings were reviewed by OIG and the court’s requirement was met.
But in an incident involving several officers and youth at CJH, the Probation Department’s report did not match up with the video, the OIG report stated: “The Probation Department failed to determine that the third officer was being dishonest in his (report) in which he stated the youth approached him with clenched fists. The video contradicts the officer’s account of the incident,” read the report.
It went on to say the third officer used a second burst of pepper spray as the youth was turning away from the officer — and video showed the youth was not clenching his fists.
“It sounds like there is a culture and climate within that is leading to conflict. This is resulting in a higher use of force. It is super concerning,” said Nicole Brown, policy manager at Urban Peace Institute and a part of the Los Angeles Youth Uprising Coalition.
At both facilities, none of the use-of-force incidents examined were submitted on time to the independent Force Intervention Response Support Team (FIRST) as required by the department’s policy for an initial review of force procedures. One incident wasn’t reported for 114 days and another took 181 days, the OIG report said.
FIRST reviews actions by officers for possible policy violations and re-training of staff to act within use-of-force policy guidelines and state laws. Reports of force must be sent to FIRST within seven days.
Groups and residents advocating for deep changes in the Probation Department and treatment of juveniles in county facilities say this report underscores previous accounts of similar troubles.
In September, the Board of State and Community Corrections found both facilities unsuitable for confinement. In November, the state agency said some problems were addressed, but not all, and required the county to draft a reform plan.
In March, a temporary shutdown of the 110-year-old Central Juvenile Hall occurred, resulting in the transfer of 130 children, many to Nidorf.
“It is clear more video cameras is not the answer,” said Milinda Kakani, director of youth justice at Children’s Defense Fund California. “Every paragraph in this report shows us why this is a terrible investment.”
“What is in place is not working,” she added.