Men S Central Jail

A Christmas party for Men's Central Jail employees turned ugly when a brawl broke out that resulted in seven Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies being relieved of duty, officials confirmed. Roughly 100 guests, including sheriff's supervisors, had gathered Friday night in Montebello. The party was winding down near midnight when local police received an anonymous 911 call reporting a fight at the Quiet Cannon banquet hall, officials said. It was unclear if alcohol was involved, but sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said "it was a Christmas party, one could assume there was" drinking.

In a searing self-critique, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca acknowledged that he was out of touch about problems in his jails and had failed to implement important reforms that could have minimized deputy brutality against inmates. Faced with an FBI investigation into the jail system and mounting criticism over his handling of the crisis, Baca said in a long interview with The Times that his command staff has at times left him in the dark about the jails' woes. "I wasn't ignoring the jails.

The FBI probe into the Los Angeles County jails has expanded to include allegations of a man who says he was beaten and pepper sprayed by deputies while handcuffed during a visit to see his incarcerated brother. The accusations of Gabriel Carrillo, who suffered serious bruises and cuts during the altercation on Feb. 26, have also sparked a criminal investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Carrillo contends he was the victim of an unprovoked attack, but deputies said they used force only after he assaulted them.

After nine months of investigating the inappropriate use of force by deputies in Los Angeles County jails, the Citizens' Commission on Jail Violence arrived at an inescapable conclusion. As the commission's report put it: "The sheriff did not pay enough attention to the jails. " The commission, which we served as general counsel and executive director, found that there has been a persistent pattern of inappropriate force used against inmates. And although concerns had been raised repeatedly, Sheriff Lee Baca did not begin to address the problem until the violence made headlines last year.

Aging metal detectors at Los Angeles County's Men's Central Jail frequently break down, posing safety concerns for deputies who routinely confiscate weapons that inmates make from scrap metal, sheriff's officials said. "We're stuck with old technology and stuff that breaks down regularly," said Sheriff's Capt. Daniel Cruz, who oversees the jail. Cruz said that of seven machines at the jail, only one is operational at the moment. After a Times inquiry into the faulty machines Wednesday, the Sheriff's Department committed to replacing three of the seven machines.

Santa, as usual, was a no-show at the Men's Central Jail. In his place Sunday came three presumably wise men - Archbishop Jose Gomez, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and Sheriff's Capt. Ralph Ornelas, making their way down long, dimly lit rows of cellblocks to dispense Christmas cheer. At least, as much as was possible in a place where one day is pretty much like the last. "Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad!" Gomez proclaimed over and over as he walked down the line of narrow, cramped cells, trailed by volunteer carolers.

A jailer with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has been arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine into the Men's Central Jail with intent to sell it to inmates, authorities said Tuesday. Remington Orr, 24, who is not a deputy but has worked for the last four years as a custody employee, was arrested late Monday as he was preparing to enter the Men's Central Jail with the drug, said Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for Sheriff Lee Baca. "Obviously, if anybody tries to do this they will be caught, arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," Whitmore said.

Facing a federal investigation into allegations of brutality in his jails, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is considering a bold proposal to shutter a portion of the department's most troubled lockup that has been plagued by inmate killings, excessive force by guards and poor supervision. The plan would shift about 1,800 inmates, including many of the county's most violent criminals, from the old section of Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles, a sheriff's jail commander said.

About 50 demonstrators held a noisy protest Thursday outside the Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles, demanding that county authorities immediately end the practice of incarcerating minors within the adult facility. "What we are doing to our youth at Men's Central Jail is nothing short of a sin," chaplain Javier Stauring, co-director of detention ministry for the Los Angeles Archdiocese, told the crowd. "We cannot afford to continue to throw these lives away."

A top commander in Los Angeles County's jail system said he warned Sheriff Lee Baca and other senior officials last year about deputies using excessive force against inmates but was ignored until the problems grew into a public scandal. In an interview with The Times, Robert Olmsted said he tried to raise red flags about shoddy investigations that allowed deputies to escape scrutiny for using force. He also voiced concern about deputies forming aggressive cliques. He alleged that two top officials rebuffed him, telling him it was impossible to change the deputy culture in the downtown L.A. lockup, an antiquated facility that houses some of the county's most dangerous inmates.