Surveillance Videos Reveal Alarming Use-of-Force in Los Angeles County Jails
Newly-released surveillance videos taken inside Los Angeles County jails have brought to light disturbing instances of violent use-of-force towards inmates. These videos, unsealed by a federal judge, have become part of an ongoing lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.
The ACLU argues that the sheriff’s department is failing to adhere to its own policies, thereby putting inmates at risk of serious injury or even death. Corene Kendrick, the deputy director of the ACLU’s National Prison Project, stated, They’re not following their own policies, and they’re really putting people at risk of serious injury, or even death with some of these techniques they’re using.
One of the incidents captured on video shows an inmate on the ground while deputies apply a restraint device known as the WRAP. In previous interviews, Sheriff’s Cmdr. Larry Alva had described the WRAP as a device used for short transportation following a use-of-force incident when an inmate is non-compliant. Kendrick compared the WRAP to a straitjacket.
In the video, the inmate is seen on the ground bleeding for several minutes while deputies applied what is referred to as a spit mask. Kendrick explained, Oftentimes over the person’s face because they say, ‘Well, the person might spit at the officers.’ In this case, the man wasn’t spitting. He was bleeding profusely because he had been struck in the head.
The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department has released a statement acknowledging that the videos only represent a small fraction of the interactions that occurred over a two-and-a-half-year period between October 2019 and July 2022. They claim that policy changes have been implemented since then.
According to the department’s statement, the depicted incidents took place during a prior sheriff’s administration and do not reflect the measures now in place to hold deputies accountable for violating the department’s use-of-force policies. The statement also highlights a 17% drop in force incidents in 2022 and an additional 20% drop so far this year. However, the ACLU questions the accuracy of these numbers as video releases often take years, making it difficult to assess whether improvements have truly occurred.
Kendrick expressed skepticism, stating, The department keeps saying that everything is much better now under the new sheriff, but we haven’t seen that because they haven’t provided those videos to the courts’ experts or to us.
The release of these surveillance videos has once again highlighted concerns over the treatment of inmates in Los Angeles County jails. While the Sheriff’s Department highlights policy changes and reduced force incidents, the ACLU remains committed to holding them accountable and demanding transparency. As the lawsuit unfolds, it is hoped that these videos will provide valuable evidence and ultimately contribute to the improvement of conditions in the county’s correctional facilities.
