The voices have been there for years, if you were listening – horrific stories of abuse of inmates at Los Angeles County jails; not by other inmates, but by the deputies guarding them. The brutal conditions could only have persisted due to the willful ignorance or even tacit support of Sheriff Lee Baca – and that’s why we’re now calling on him to step down.
The ACLU of Southern California has been monitoring conditions at the jails since the 1980s, and we’ve been drawing attention to deputy-on-inmate abuse for years. But this year, for the first time, our annual Jails Report – released today — quotes civilians who came forward to corroborate what inmates have told us. Two jail chaplains, a volunteer tutor, and an ACLU/SC employee all report witnessing deputies attack non-resisting inmates. Their accounts demonstrate not only the pervasive culture of violence in the jails, but also that deputies are unafraid to assault inmates even in plain view of civilians.
Esther Lim, the ACLU/SC Jails Project coordinator, witnessed the savage beating of an immobile, seemingly unconscious inmate in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility on January 24, 2011. At the time, Lim was meeting with another inmate in the facility‘s attorney room. She heard what sounded like a fight in the nearby staging area, and looked through the windows dividing the two zones. She saw two deputies punching and kneeing an inmate who lay face-down on the floor. The inmate wasn’t moving — so still that he looked like a mannequin being used as a punching bag. But the deputies persisted in their attack, one of them shocking the inmate multiple times with a Taser gun. Although the inmate never moved from his spot on the ground, the deputies repeatedly yelled, “Stop fighting!” and “Stop resisting!” A Sheriff’s Department spokesman later tried to call Lim’s integrity into question.
The brutality that Lim witnessed is echoed in the accounts of two jail chaplains. Chaplains occupy a unique, independent role in the jails: their sole job is to minister to inmates. They have no stake in exaggerating or misreporting the details of violent encounters. These beatings – and the LASD‘s lack of concern about them – left both chaplains traumatized.
Chaplain Paulino Juarez was visiting inmates in 2009 as part of his ministry, when he saw three deputies beating a handcuffed inmate lying in a puddle of blood in a hallway. One of them finally looked up, stunned to see Juarez, and the beating stopped. “To this day, recalling the beating brings tears to my eyes, and I cannot finish talking about it without taking a few moments to compose myself,” Juarez told us. Deputies later called him “rat” and obscenities when they passed him in jail corridors.
The second chaplain who spoke with us was so concerned about deputy retaliation that he asked us not to use his name, but he witnessed a disturbingly similar incident in February 2011. Walking towards the chaplain’s office on the third floor of Men’s Central Jail, he saw four or five deputies repeatedly kicking an inmate. The inmate was lying motionless, face-down on the ground. His hands appeared to be tucked behind his back; they remained there throughout the attack. The inmate pleaded with the deputies to stop, yelling, “Help me.”
Chaplain Juarez was later accused of exaggerating by Sheriff Baca himself. The second chaplain was never even questioned about what he saw. With the hundreds of inmate accounts we’ve documented now backed up by civilian witnesses, it’s time for someone to pay attention. It’s time for Baca to resign.
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nancy says:
September 29, 2011 at 12:54 am (UTC -7 )
My son was in mens central jail in 2008. During that time he was incarcerated he was beatin by two deputies. During our family visit we noticed he had a couple of injuries to his face and head. At that moment we begin to cry and contacted our attorney. He advised us to stay quiet because it will only be worse for my son. We did ask my son if he wanted his attorney to report the incident but he asked us not to because he was so in fear of these deputies hurting him again. My advise is they should really interview past inmates…that is the only way they will find out how many more victims are out there. There is more to this story but it’s too long of a story….I just want people to know that there is so many other beatings in the jails that people know about but everyone is afraid to speak up. Are family experience many rude deputies who treated family members as if they were criminals. I hope and pray they resolve this problem soon that way these poor inmates do not need to be in fear of these deputies. It’s amazing how people think that inmates should be afraid of other inmates but it’s the deputies who they should watch out.
Gus Naranjo says:
September 29, 2011 at 5:43 am (UTC -7 )
This is why pussies from sherifs department will not issue CCW to citizens because they know most of their deputies will be shot for self defense… We need to get rid of all these cowards wearing and shaming a Law Enforcement Uniform…. Baca needs to resign or put in a cell so he can be sexually abused…
GUEST says:
October 4, 2011 at 5:00 pm (UTC -7 )
HAS ANYONE EVERY THOUGHT OF THE FACT THAT BACA’S GETS A CUT ON ALL THESE DEALS. I KNOW FIRST HAND. BACA IS MORE THE HEAD OF A MAFIA THAN ANYTHING ELSE DRUG DEALINGS, EXTORTION, SETTING UP TRIALS FOR DONORS, INVESTIGATING INNOCENT CITIZENS FOR DONNORS AND THE LIST GOES ON AND ON. TRUST ME I HAVE SEEN AND HEARD OF MANY FIRST HAND. DONORS IS ALSO ANOTHER NAME FOR MONEY UNDER THE TABLE OR ON RECORD. WE ARE ALL AT RISK FROM HIM NOT ONLY PEOPLE IN HIS JAIL SYSTEM. JUST LOOK AT WHAT BACA DID FOR MARCIANO AND DELIJANI FAMILY.
MARQUEZ says:
November 26, 2011 at 1:36 pm (UTC -7 )
WELL I AM NOT PROUD, BUT, I HAVE BEEN TO LACMCJ ON AND OFF SINCE THE 80′S. THE 3000 FLOOR IS BAD. DONT GET ME WRONG NOT ALL DEPUTIES ARE BAD. LOOK WHAT THEY HAVE TO WORK WITH. HOWEVER, THERE ARE A LARGE NUMBER OF DEPUTIES WHO DO NOT DO THIER JOB. DO NOT SHOWER WHEN THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO. THEY TELL INMATES TO PUT THIER WRIST BANDS OUT THE BARS SO THEY CAN BE SCANNED. THEN TELL THE I/M’S, THERE YOU JUST SHOWERED. SO THE LOG SHOWS THEY DID SHOWER, WHEN THEY REALLY DID NOT. I HAVE BEEN TAKEN OUT OF MY CELL AND SOCKED UP, BECAUSE THE DEP SAID HE DID NOT LIKE THE WAY I TALKED TO THE NURSE, THE NURSE TOLD ME, THEY ARE WARNED DURING THE ORIENTATION BY A CAPT. ” REMEMBER WHO PROTECTS YOU IN HERE” SHE SAID THATS WHY THEY CANT “TELL” ON DEPUTIES. GOD WILL PUNISH THOSE IN POSITIONS OF AUTHORITY WHO ABUSE THAT AUTHORITY.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Baca Announces Investigation into Inmate Beatings | Neon Tommy says:
October 9, 2011 at 11:52 am (UTC -7 )
[...] has faced increasing pressure since the ACLU report was released, including multiple calls for his [...]