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A report by the ACLU National Prison Project and the ACLU of Southern California
September 2011
Cruel and Usual Punishment:
How a Savage Gang of Deputies Controls
LA County Jails
Principal Authors
Sarah Liebowitz
ACLU Foundation of Southern California, Jails Project
Peter Eliasberg
Legal Director, ACLU Foundation of Southern California
Margaret Winter
Associate Director, ACLU National Prison Project
Esther Lim
ACLU Foundation of Southern California, Jails Project Coordinator
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................... 1
II. METHODOLOGY..................................................................................................... 2
III. ANALYSIS..................................................................................................................... 3
A. Violence in the Los Angeles County Jails..................................................... 3
B. Reports of Deputy-on-Inmate Violence.....................................................10
1. Reports by Civilian Witnesses...............................................................10
2. Reports by Inmate Victims......................................................................12
3. Reports by Inmate Eyewitnesses...........................................................14
C. Pitting Inmates Against Other Inmates.......................................................16
D. Threats of Violence.........................................................................................17
E. Deputy Gangs Foment Violence Against Inmates.....................................17
and Against Other Deputies
F. Cover-ups..........................................................................................................18
1. Civilian Accounts of Deputies Covering..............................................18
Up Deputy-on-Inmate Attacks
2. Inmate Accounts of Deputies Attempting to......................................19
Cover Up Deputy-on-Inmate Attacks
3. The LASD’s Transparently False Denials That There .......................20
is a Problem Of Deputy-on-Inmate Violence
IV. CONCLUSION........................................................................................................22
V. ENDNOTES...............................................................................................................23
I. INTRODUCTION
“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.”
-- Chaplain Paulino Juarez, describing a 2009 beating by deputies of an inmate in Men’s Central Jail.
“I was so shocked that despite the deputies seeing me watch them beat up the inmate, they continued to kick and beat him. It was like they didn’t even care that there was a witness.”
-- Chaplain Doe, describing a 2011 beating by deputies of an inmate in Men’s Central Jail.
“To an astonishing extent, unchecked violence, both deputy-on-inmate and inmate-upon-inmate, permeates Men’s Central Jail and Twin Towers jails, which are components of the Los Angeles County Jails, managed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department under the leadership of Sheriff Leroy Baca. … The voluminous evidence I have reviewed cries out for an independent, far-reaching, and in-depth investigation by the Federal Government. The problem can no longer be ignored.”
-- Thomas Parker, former Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.
To be an inmate in the Los Angeles County jails is to fear deputy attacks. In the past year, deputies have assaulted scores of non-resisting inmates, according to reports from jail chaplains, civilians, and inmates. Deputies have attacked inmates for complaining about property missing from their cells. [1] They have beaten inmates for asking for medical treatment, [2] for the nature of their alleged offenses, [3] and for the color of their skin. [4] They have beaten inmates in wheelchairs. [5] They have beaten an inmate, paraded him naked down a jail module, and placed him in a cell to be sexually assaulted. [6] Many attacks are unprovoked. Nearly all go unpunished: these acts of violence are covered up by a department that refuses to acknowledge the pervasiveness of deputy violence in the jail system.
Deputies act with such impunity that in the past year even civilians have begun coming forward with eyewitness accounts of deputies beating non-resisting inmates in the jails. [7] These civilian accounts support the seventy inmate declarations describing deputy-on-inmate beatings and deputy-instigated inmate-on-inmate violence and deputy threats of assaults against inmates that the ACLU Foundation of Southern California (ACLU/SC) has collected in the past year, as well as the myriad inmate declarations the ACLU/SC has collected over the years. [8]
The violence that takes place in the Los Angeles County jails is far from normal. These are not average jails with isolated or sporadic incidents of deputy misbehavior. Thomas Parker, a former FBI Agent and Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau’s Los Angeles Field Office, reviewed inmate, former inmate, chaplain and civilian declarations, reports, correspondence, media articles, and legal filings, and found: “Of all the jails I have had the occasion to visit, tour, or conduct investigations within, domestically and internationally, I have never experienced any facility exhibiting the volume and repetitive patterns of violence, misfeasance, and malfeasance impacting the Los Angeles County jail system. …” [9] “There is at least a two decade history of corruption within the ranks of the Los Angeles Sherriff’s Department (LASD). In most of those cases, lower level deputies and civilian employees were prosecuted, but no one at the command level responsible for those employees appears to have been held accountable and appropriately punished for failure to properly supervise and manage their subordinate personnel and resources. In my opinion, this has provided the ‘seedbed’ for continued lax supervision, violence, and corruption within LASD and the county jails it administers,” Mr. Parker concluded. [10]
The Kolts Commission “made various recommendations for reform within the LASD to then Sheriff Sherman Block and the Board of Supervisors, which, if implemented back then, have seemingly not survived over the past two decades, since excessive use of force, especially in the jails, is still common place in 2011.” [11]
Mr. Parker’s conclusion is based on his extensive experience with investigations into malfeasance by law enforcement agencies, including in jails and prisons throughout the country. He oversaw the FBI investigation into the highprofile Rodney King beating, studying Los Angeles police officers’ use of excessive force. He played the same role in a major FBI investigation into corruption in the LASD Narcotics Division. In the words of Mr. Parker: “The misfeasance and malfeasance of LASD described in this report, and in the litigation for which it has been prepared, should not be allowed to continue nor to perpetuate itself, as it has apparently done over the past two decades and perhaps longer. To allow this to continue would be nothing short of criminal.” [12]
II. METHODOLOGY
The ACLU/SC received several thousand complaints from prisoners in the Los Angeles County jail system in the past year. The ACLU/SC receives these complaints as a result of its monitoring role in the jails: pursuant to a series of court-approved agreements between the ACLU/SC and the LASD, the ACLU/SC has monitored conditions in the county jails since 1985. The ACLU/SC has far greater access to jail facilities than the general public, allowing ACLU/SC representatives to speak with inmates and observe jail conditions first-hand.
As part of their monitoring efforts, representatives from the ACLU/SC’s Jails Project regularly visit the jail facilities and process inmate complaints. In addition, inmates and family members of inmates frequently write letters and make phone calls to the ACLU/SC to make complaints about scores of issues, including deputy-on-inmate assaults. Signs posted in common areas of the jail facilities tell inmates that they may contact the ACLU/SC Jails Project with complaints about jail conditions. Over the years, the ACLU/SC has collected thousands of reports about jail conditions; including prisoner declarations; observations from jail tours; and complaints in the form of letters, phone calls, or face-to-face interviews. The Jails Project processes approximately 4,500 complaints about jail conditions annually from inmates.
The information in this report comes from the thousands of complaints the ACLU/SC received in the past year, in addition to the dozens of jail tours and face-to-face interviews with inmates ACLU/SC representatives conducted. Civilian eyewitnesses – including jail chaplains, a volunteer tutor to jail inmates, and the ACLU/SC’s Jails Project Coordinator have also provided first-hand reports about violence in the jails.
The report’s findings are also based on the observations of two experts: Thomas Parker, former Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, [13] and Toni V. Bair, who in his 25 years as a corrections professional has served both as a warden and as the assistant commissioner for one of the nation’s largest urban jail systems. [14]
The incidents of violence chronicled in this report are by no means the only acts of excessive force that occurred in the jails in the past year. Deputies retaliate against inmates who report incidents of deputy-on-inmate violence, [15] and many of them are too fearful to report acts of violence. [16]
III. ANALYSIS
A. Violence in the Los Angeles County Jails
Deputy violence against inmates is routine in the Los Angeles County jails. Deputies slam inmates’ heads into walls and windows. [17] They push inmates to the ground and kick them with boot-clad feet. [18] They shoot unresisting inmates with Tasers. [19] They use other inmates to carry out gruesome attacks on their behalf: in one case, inmates sexually assaulted another inmate with a broomstick; in another instance inmates raped another inmate while holding his head in a flushing toilet. All of this occurred with the apparent cooperation of LASD employees. [20] This year alone, inmates suffered a shocking litany of severe injuries at the hands of deputies, including a fractured jaw, [21] a broken collarbone, [22] eye wounds so severe that they required surgery, [23] broken blood vessels, [24] and long-lasting dizzy spells. [25] One former inmate, who is now a drug treatment counselor, witnessed multiple deputies beat another inmate so severely that he “let out the most awful scream I have ever heard in my life,” the memory of which still causes the counselor to “shiver.” [26]
Scores of inmates -– along with jail chaplains, a volunteer jail tutor, and an ACLU/SC Jails Project Coordinator -– reported their first-person accounts of deputy violence to the ACLU/SC in the past year, showing that violence in the jails continues unabated. [27] In the words of one inmate who was severely beaten by deputies, and then placed in a cell where he would be subjected to attacks from other inmates: “I understand I pled guilty to a crime and I needed to serve my sentence, but I did not sign up to being beaten by deputies. Nor did I sign up to have deputies arrange to have me beaten and sexually assaulted by other inmates.” [28]
The staggering scope of the problem is illustrated by the seventy sworn statements about deputy abuse that are being submitted to the court today, which are briefly described below:
• declaration of Mr. I, dated July 12, 2011, ¶¶ 3-10 (custody assistant kicked, hit,and elbowed inmate); 29
• declaration of Mr. J, dated January 28, 2011, ¶¶ 16-23 (deputy slapped inmate across face with shoe and kicked inmate in the testicles);
• declaration of Mr. Q, dated July 5, 2011, ¶¶ 20-25 (deputy punched inmate in the eye);
• declaration of Scott Budnick, dated March 30, 2011, ¶¶ 10-16, ¶ 18, ¶ 21, ¶ 23 (volunteer tutor witnessed five deputy-on-inmate beatings in Men’s Central Jail);
• declaration of Mr. XX, dated April 12, 2011, ¶ 6 (deputy forcefully pushed inmate, causing him to fall);
• declaration of Mr. OOO, dated April 11, 2011, ¶¶ 9-12 (deputy punched inmate, demanding to know what inmate’s alleged crime was; a deputy then threatened to turn the inmate over to gang members);
• declaration of Mr. QQQ, dated April 19, 2011, ¶¶ 5-7 (deputy kicked inmate’s leg and hit his head);
• declaration of Mr. KK, dated April 19, 2011, ¶¶ 13-15, ¶¶ 30-34 (deputy punched inmate’s face and repeatedly kicked his face, jaw, and back of his head, causing a fractured jaw, serious eye injuries that required surgery, and lacerations requiring stitches);
• declaration of Mr. X, dated April 12, 2011, ¶¶ 5-9, ¶12, ¶¶ 15-19 (deputy punched inmate’s head and torso; deputies later punched and kicked inmate’s head and body);
• declaration of Mr. P, dated April 12, 2011, ¶¶ 4-10 (deputy slapped and punched inmate in the face and head before pushing inmate to the ground, sitting on top of him and hitting him; other deputies joined the attack, with one bashing the inmate’s ankle with a flashlight);
• declaration of Robert Powell, dated May 11, 2011, ¶¶ 12-20 (deputy repeatedly slammed inmate’s head into the wall and left inmate outside in the cold for hours);
• declaration of Mr. HH, dated April 11, 2011, ¶¶ 9-13, ¶¶ 16-29 (inmate witnessed inmates brutally attack another inmate -– including sexually assaulting him with a broomstick –- with the apparent assistance of an LASD employee);
• declaration of EvansTutt, dated May 5, 2010, ¶¶ 4-6 (deputies made racial slurs against inmate before hitting, kicking, and using a Taser on him);
• declaration of Mr. PP, dated April 12, 2011, ¶¶ 3-4, ¶10 (deputy slammed inmate to the ground and threatened inmate; another deputy punched and hit inmate);
• declaration of Mr. PPP, dated July 5, 2011, ¶¶ 6-19, ¶¶ 22-24 (deputies slammed inmate’s head against wall, punched inmate’s head, and threw inmate to the ground; an LASD employee apparently let other inmates repeatedly punch inmate’s face);
• declaration of Mr. H, dated August 2, 2011, ¶¶ 4-7, ¶¶ 10-12 (deputy shoved inmate against wall and roughly twisted hands and arm before slamming inmate to the floor; on the floor, several deputies punched and kicked inmate; inmate suffered a bruised eye, bruised ribs, and lacerated tongue);
• declaration of Mr. Y, dated August 19, 2011, ¶¶ 17-23 (deputy pepper-sprayed non-resisting inmate, then punched him and held him in a chokehold; more deputies joined in the attack, punching and kicking the inmate);
• declaration of Mr. AAA, dated August 9, 2011, ¶¶ 6-7, ¶¶ 9-10, ¶¶ 12-14 (deputy slammed inmate against the wall for accidentally crossing a line; deputy stepped on inmate’s fingers, causing bruises; deputy choked inmate and pulled on his handcuffed arms);
• declaration of Mr. BBB, dated June 22, 2011, ¶¶ 7-9 (deputy asked inmate why he was in jail before repeatedly punching his head, face, and ribs; another deputy kicked his ribs);
• declaration of Mr. OO, dated August 16, 2011, ¶¶ 6-10 (inmate heard deputies beating another inmate in the laundry room near his cell; Moore stated that, “I will never forget this incident because the inmate’s terror and pain were so obvious in his screams”; he later saw a seemingly unconscious inmate, who was bleeding from his head);
• declaration of Mr. R, dated August 16, 2011, ¶¶ 6-14 (deputy caused inmate’s bad shoulder to dislocate from its socket);
• declaration of Gordon Grbavac, dated June 15, 2011, ¶¶ 9-11, ¶16 (deputies attacked inmate, repeatedly slamming his head and cheek into a window, causing blood to flow; deputy pressed his key into inmate’s arms, leaving puncture wounds);
• declaration of Mr. GG, dated June 23, 2011, ¶¶ 5-8 (after wheelchair-bound inmate complained about jail conditions, deputies pulled him off his bed and kicked and kneed his ribs, back, and neck; they then shot pepper spray into his face; they caused him to fall out of his wheelchair);
• declaration of Mr. HHH, dated June 22, 2011, ¶¶ 6-8, ¶¶ 12-14 (deputy dragged inmate by the neck, kicked his ribs several times, and threatened further attacks; deputy punched inmate in the face, and deputies repeatedly punched and kicked his body);
• declaration of Cedric Smith, dated August 20, 2011, ¶ 7, ¶¶ 17-18 (deputy punched inmate’s neck, slamming him into the wall; deputy kicked inmate’s feet, despite the fact that inmate had just had his toenail surgically removed; in 2004, deputies brutally attacked inmate, punching his face and kicking his stomach, causing him to defecate; the 2004 attack left the inmate with a severe stomach hernia and a scar over his eye);
• declaration of Mr. C, dated July 13, 2011, ¶ 6, ¶ 9 (deputy angrily pushed toiletries onto inmate after inmate complained to the ACLU about lack of medical treatment; deputy hit inmate’s back, near wounds inmate had already suffered);
• declaration of Christopher Brown, dated February 2, 2011, ¶¶ 8-11, ¶¶ 14-15, ¶¶ 17-21 (inmate witnessed two deputies punching a non-resisting inmate who fell to the floor, apparently unconscious; deputies then kneed and punched the motionless inmate in the face and head; deputies then repeatedly shot the inmate with a Taser);
• declaration of Mr. K, dated April 20, 2011, ¶¶ 10-14 (deputy pushed inmate’s back, which was injured, and punched inmate’s head; inmate suffered extensive bruising and pain in his head, neck, and back); • declaration of Mr. M, dated July 27, 2011, ¶¶ 5-8 (deputy pushed a tray of food from inmate’s hands; a deputy then slammed his face against a wall, before several deputies hit him on his face, head, and legs; inmate had a catheter, and the kicks to his legs caused tremendous pain, and led him to bleed from his penis);
• declaration of Mr. S, dated November 24, 2010, ¶¶ 20-24 (deputies hit, kicked, and kneed inmate, and shot pepper spray in his face; inmate required stitches on his eyelid, and suffered extensive bruising);
• declaration of Mr. V, dated November 8, 2010, ¶¶ 5-14 (a deputy placed an inmate – who was in protective custody – in the general population tank, where inmate was viciously attacked by other inmates; inmate suffered contusions on his head, a busted lip, blurry vision, a swollen ear, and severe emotional trauma);
• declaration of Mr. W, dated June 7, 2011, ¶¶ 18-21 (deputies slammed a handcuffed inmate to the ground, causing his head to crash into the ground; deputies then repeatedly punched his head and sprayed pepper spray into his eyes, triggering the inmate’s asthma);
• declaration of Mr. LLL, dated May 18, 2011, ¶¶ 13-15 (deputies placed inmate – who had previously been in protective custody, in the general population, where he was attacked by other inmates);
• declaration of Mr. LL, dated July 28, 2011, ¶ 36, ¶ 43, ¶¶ 46-50, ¶ 61, ¶¶ 72-75 (on several occasions, deputies placed inmate who was in protective custody with inmates from the general population, who attacked him; inmate heard another protective custody inmate being beaten);
• declaration of Mr. GGG, dated August 1, 2011, ¶¶ 16-19, ¶¶ 21-23, ¶¶ 45-51 (deputy forcibly searched inmate’s buttocks with a flashlight, placing the flashlight half an inch into inmate’s rectum; inmate’s rectum later bled and became painful, which he attributed to the flashlight; inmate witnessed deputies take away another inmate and apparently attack him; that inmate suffered extensive injuries);
• declaration of Mr. FFF, dated April 20, 2011, ¶10 (inmate repeatedly told the custody assistant that other inmates were threatening to stab him and asked the custody assistant to move him to protective custody, the custody assistant not only told him that he wouldn’t be moved to protective custody, but that he would be moved closer to the front where he’d be an easier target);
• declaration of Mr. YY, dated July 22, 2011, ¶¶ 6-11 (deputy attacked inmate after inmate woke up late for the morning count);
• declaration of Mr. RR, dated July 13, 2011, ¶¶ 5-13 (when inmate refused to discuss his legal case with a deputy, the deputy kicked the inmate in the lower back with his boot-clad foot, and then repeatedly kicked him in the lower back and near his kidneys, causing intense pain; the deputy punched the inmate’s head and yanked his leg, causing his knee to pop out of position);
• declaration of Mr. NN, dated May 20, 2011, ¶¶ 4 (deputy smashed inmate’s head into the wall after inmate fought with another inmate; deputy also hit inmate repeatedly in the ribs);
• declaration of Mr. MM, dated February 24, 2011, ¶¶ 24-26 (deputies attacked wheelchair-bound inmate after inmate spoke to an ACLU representative; deputies slammed inmate against the wall of an elevator, and then threatened him);
• declaration of Mr. WW, dated July 12, 2011, ¶¶ 4-9 (deputy dug her nails into inmate’s skin, leaving marks; another deputy hit and kicked inmate in the legs and buttocks);
• declaration of Mr. RRR, dated June 30, 2011, ¶¶ 6-9 (deputy placed inmate in a chokehold before slamming him to the ground, knocking the inmate unconscious; when he awoke he suffered neck pain);
• declaration of Mr. U, dated August 15, 2011, ¶¶ 5-7 (deputy punched inmate in the neck before aiming pepper spray in his face; deputies slammed inmate to the ground and began punching, kicking, and hitting him with what felt like flashlights; deputies then choked inmate);
• declaration of Mr. DD, dated August 4, 2011, ¶¶ 14-20 (deputy kicked inmate’s ankles and strained his shoulders; at some point, inmate lost consciousness; he awoke in the hospital with a broken nose, severe cuts to his eyes and ears, and a chipped tooth);
• declaration of Mr. JJJ, dated August 26, 2011, ¶¶ 10-11 (deputy took away his hearing aid, then grabbed and shoved him to the floor, which resulted in a black eye);
• declaration of Mr. FF, dated July 8, 2011, ¶¶ 9-11 (deputy smashed inmate’s face against the wall, breaking his glasses, and punched inmate in the head);
• declaration of Mr. VVV, dated May 18, 2011, ¶¶ 9-25 (deputies placed a protective custody inmate in a general population housing despite the inmate’s telling them that he can’t because he’ll be seriously injured or killed; shortly after, other inmates beat Mr. VVV);
• declaration of Mr. Y, dated August 19,2011, ¶ 2, ¶ 22 (deputies beat, choked, pepper sprayed and yelled, “Stop resisting!”, even though he wasn’t fighting or resisting the deputies);
• declaration of Mr. II, dated August 19, 2011, ¶¶ 7-15 (inmate witnessed deputies slam a non-resisting inmate’s head against a wall, beat and shoot him with a Taser);
• declaration of Mr. SSS, dated August 2, 2011, ¶¶ 8-10 (deputies beat, kicked and yelled at him to “Stop resisting! Stop pulling away!” even though he wasn’t resisting the deputies and was handcuffed from behind; the inmate ended up going to the hospital for a broken collarbone and other injuries);
• declaration of Mr. T, dated August 23, 2011, ¶ 5 (even before completing the reception process at the Inmate Reception Center, deputies pushed his face against a wall and repeatedly punched him);
• declaration of Mr. JJ, dated August 19, 2011, ¶¶ 10-18 (deputies stomped on inmate’s hand, kicked and punched his body, used a Taser gun on him, and shot pepper spray in his face);
• declaration of Mr. SS, dated July 12, 2011, ¶¶ 6-8 (inmate witnessed seven or eight deputies beating up a non-resisting inmate);
• declaration of Mr. EEE, dated April 12, 2011, ¶¶ 20-25 (deputy repeatedly threatened inmate not to complain about jail conditions);
• declaration of Cameron Saul, dated June 22, 2011, ¶¶ 8-9, ¶ 24 (deputies told inmates to “handle” problem inmates, and directed them to make up stories about how those inmates were injured; inmate witnessed numerous deputies beat a non-resisting inmate with their flashlights, during which Saul heard a “horrible cracking sound”);
• declaration of Mr. QQQ, dated April 19, 2011, ¶¶ 6-7 (deputy kicked inmate’s leg, repeatedly hit inmate’s head, and placed inmate in a chokehold);
• declaration of Mr. F, dated September 9, 2011, ¶¶ 7-13 (deputies grabbed inmate’s windpipe, slammed him to the ground, and repeatedly punched and kicked his body – including his teeth; deputies aimed pepper spray into inmate’s face);
• declaration of Mr. CCC, dated September 9, 2011, ¶¶ 8-17 (deputy grabbed inmate’s neck and repeatedly slammed his head into a metal bar; deputy then repeatedly smashed inmate’s face into a wall and punched his ribs);
• declaration of Mr. O, dated August 26, 2011, ¶¶ 10-13 (deputy slammed inmate against a wall while searching his cell; the impact caused the inmate’s prosthetic eye to pop out);
• declaration of Mr. B, dated April 12, 2011, ¶¶ 8-24 (numerous deputies attacked inmate after he protested a deputy’s decision not to give him dinner; inmate suffered numerous injuries, including a fractured nose);
• declaration of Juan Pablo Reyes, dated September 12, 2011, ¶¶ 5-12 (deputies attacked inmate causing numerous injuries including a broken eye socket: made him strip; paraded him naked down the hall in front of other inmates; placed him in a cell with known gang members who beat and sexually assaulted him, while deputies refused Reyes’s pleas to be taken out of the cell);
• declaration of Mario Rocha, ¶¶ 14-15, ¶¶ 20-24 (witnessed deputies forcefully slamming an inmate into the wall as they twisted his arm and yelled, “You think you’re hard, motherfucker?” and “You don’t run shit;” he also witnessed deputies kicking an older, white male, who appeared to be mentally ill, all over his body and head);
• declaration of Mr. A, dated August 19, 2011, ¶¶ 12-13 (inmate witnessed deputies slamming another inmate’s head against the wall before they beat, kicked and shot him with a Taser, all the while the inmate was not resisting or combative);
• declaration of Chaplain Doe, dated, August 15, 2011, ¶ 8 (jails chaplain witnessed deputies beating up a non-combative inmate who yelled, “Stop! Help me! Help!” Despite the inmate’s plea for the deputies to stop beating him, the deputies continued to kick and beat him);
• declaration of Mr. AA, dated August 19, 2011, ¶¶ 12-18 (witnessed a deputy slam an inmate’s head against the wall. He then saw several other deputies beating, kicking and shooting the inmate with a Taser who wasn’t fighting or resisting the deputies);
• declaration of Mr. DD, dated August 4, 2011, ¶¶ 16-19 (deputies beat inmate so badly that he lost consciousness and woke up at a hospital with blood all over his chest);
• declaration of Paulino Juarez, dated September 3, 2011, ¶¶ 4-13 (jails chaplain witnessed deputies stomping, punching, kicking and beating an inmate, not knowing that Mr. Juarez was watching; it wasn’t until one of the deputies saw Mr. Juarez when they stopped the attack against the inmate, who wasn’t fighting or resisting the deputies);
• declaration of Esther Lim, dated February 4, 2011, ¶ 4 (ACLU/SC’s Jails Project Coordinator witnessed two deputies beating and shooting an inmate with a Taser; inmate appeared to be unconscious while they nonetheless yelled, “Stop fighting! Stop resisting!”);
• declaration of Mr. QQ, dated August 19, 2011, ¶ 3 (witnessed deputies forcefully slamming an inmate’s head against a wall before kicking, shooting a Taser and pepper spraying a non-resisting inmate);
• declaration of Mr. VV, dated November 16, 2010, ¶¶ 6-15 (deputies pointed him out to other deputies and said, “dead man walking” or “that’s the guy” after he told LASD that an inmate had killed another inmate at Men’s Central Jail);
• declaration of Mr. TTT, dated September 23, 2011, ¶¶ 8-11 (deputy yells “You’re one of those! You like little girls!” to inmate charged as sex offender in the presence of another inmate who later attacked, punched and kicked the inmate all over his body);
• declaration of Jonni A., dated September 22, 2011, ¶ 6 (deputy threw juvenile into a metal gate, then the deputy hit him in the thigh with either a baton or a flashlight; declarant also witnessed deputy open two locked gates to get at another juvenile who was handcuffed so that the deputy could punch him hard in the stomach);
• declaration of Mr. DDD, dated August 22, 2011, ¶12, ¶ 17 (witnessed deputies beating an inmate who was handcuffed; an hour later, the same deputies who beat the inmate said, “You better not say anything.” A couple of days later, a couple of the deputies punched him in the back of the head several times); and
• declaration of Mr. III, dated August 22, 2011, ¶ 2, ¶ 50 (deputies slammed the inmate’s head against a wall, which he later received 35 stitches on his forehead; the deputies then beat, kicked and shot him with a Taser, even though he wasn’t fighting or resisting the deputies).
For years, the ACLU/SC has shed light on violent deputies in the Los Angeles County jail system. [30] But this year is a watershed: it marks the first time that civilian witnesses have come forward to the ACLU/SC with reports of deputy violence against non-resisting inmates. Their experiences suggest that the culture of deputy violence in the jails has become so hardened and pervasive that deputies feel emboldened to carry out their attacks even in non-secluded areas.
Further evidence of the culture of violence within the jails came from an unlikely source this year: LASD deputies. Several deputies shed light on the deputy gangs that thrive inside the jails. They describe colleagues who treat acts of deputy-on-inmate violence as badges of honor, and spur each other on to commit violent assaults. [31] One deputy came forward out of fear that deputy gangs were ruining the LASD’s integrity. [32] Unchecked violence has even led deputies to attack each other. Two deputies filed a lawsuit this year against other deputies for beating them at a holiday party, and against Sheriff Lee Baca for fostering a culture of violence in the LASD. [33] These accounts speak to deputy violence run amok.
Violence in the jails is so rampant that Thomas Parker, a 24-year veteran of the FBI, who served as Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office until his retirement from government service, and who is an expert in investigating corruption in law enforcement agencies, deemed the LA County Jails the most violence-plagued of the dozens of jails and prisons he has studied nationally and internationally. “There is a prevalent and long-term pattern of such unchecked violence, and it has become the accepted practice in jail operations, along with systemic institutional actions to cover it up,” said Mr. Parker, who oversaw the FBI investigations into the Rodney King beating and corruption in the LASD Narcotics Division. [34]
In Mr. Parker’s opinion, the body of evidence demonstrates that Sheriff Baca and other LASD officials have “essentially abdicated their responsibilities to provide a safe, secure, and corruption-free incarceration environment within the Los Angeles County Jail system.” [35] The result, Parker concluded, is a pattern of inmates “suffering severe injuries, maiming, and death, some caused by fellow inmates, but most often at the hands of, or with the acquiescence or assistance of, the deputy sheriffs who are their keepers.” [36] Toni V. Bair, a corrections professional with 25 years experience concurred, finding that “there are far too many reports of staff-on-inmate assaults in LA County Jails to ignore the strong probability that rogue deputies in the LASD jails are routinely assaulting prisoners.” In Mr. Bair’s expert opinion, “the myriad accounts of staff-on-prisoner assaults that have been reported and documented as well as the numerous prisoner hospital visits over the years is prima facie evidence of systemic staff-on-prisoner abuse by rogue deputies of the LASD jail systems.” [37]
The LASD denies the veracity of reports of deputy-on-inmate violence. But according to Mr. Parker, LASD’s position “defies logic,” [38] and is simply untenable in light of the sheer number of inmate reports, their consistency, and the corroboration supplied by third-party accounts.
In the words of Mr. Parker, there is “inattentive and inadequate supervision, a virtually autonomous staff of deputies managing the inmate population by their own arbitrary and often violent whims, widespread violations and lack of enforcement of the Jails’ own rules and policies, discipline so lax it is bordering on being nonexistent, and inculcation of fear in inmates through intimidation and physical and verbal abuse … These conditions have existed for years without any meaningful remediation and continue to exist virtually unchecked today.” [39]
B. Reports of Deputy-on-Inmate Violence
In the past year, deputies have attacked scores of non-resisting Los Angeles County jail inmates. The ACLU/SC received reports of hundreds of incidents, including descriptions of attacks so severe that inmates required multiple surgeries, suffered long-lasting injuries, and experienced psychological trauma. Today, the ACLU/SC is filing, with the federal court in Rutherford v. Baca, seventy sworn declarations from civilian eyewitnesses, former prisoners, and current prisoners who have witnessed deputy-on-inmate assaults, and threats of violence, been assaulted by deputies or both, at the same time it is publishing this report.
1. Reports by Civilian Witnesses
Inmates have reported deputy attacks to the ACLU/SC for decades, and the ACLU/SC and the ACLU National Prison Project have repeatedly called attention to the problem of violence in the jails, most recently in court filings including the 2009 Annual, 2010 Interim Reports and the 2011 Supplemental Filing in Support for Motion of Protective Order. [40] The ACLU/SC has not been alone in reporting this longstanding problem of deputy abuse in the LASD. Indeed, as far back as 1997 the United States Department of Justice concluded: “Inmates who are mentally ill or housed in mental health housing are subject to an unacceptably high risk of physical abuse and other mistreatment at the hands of other inmates and custody staff.” [41]
But this year, for the first time, civilians also came forward. Four of them –- two jail chaplains, a volunteer tutor, and an ACLU/SC employee –- reported witnessing deputies attack non-resisting inmates. Their accounts demonstrate that deputies feel such a sense of impunity that they are unafraid to assault inmates even in areas where they know they may be observed by civilians.
Two jail chaplains were eyewitnesses to attacks in which multiple deputies punched and kicked unresisting Men’s Central Jail inmates for minutes on end, even as the inmates begged them to stop. In one case, deputies yelled, “Stop fighting” and “Stop resisting” as they pummeled the inmate, even though the inmate was lying facedown on the floor, motionless. In both cases, the LASD brushed aside the chaplains’ complaints about the attacks. It seemed to both chaplains that the LASD did not want to know the truth. [42]
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. “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,” said Chaplain Paulino Juarez, who described a beating he witnessed on the 3000 floor in Men’s Central Jail in 2009. [43] Chaplain Doe, meanwhile, felt “sickened” about a beating he witnessed in MCJ in 2011. “It was almost as if no one cared to find out the truth of what happened,” he said. [44]
Chaplain Juarez was visiting inmates on their row as part of his ministry in 2009 when he heard the sounds of someone being beaten. When he walked towards the noises, he saw three deputies in a hallway pounding the face and body of an inmate who stood with his back to the wall. The inmate appeared to be handcuffed; he was not raising his hands to protect himself, nor resisting in any way. The deputies punched the inmate until he collapsed face-first to the ground, at which point they began showering his body and head with kicks. Until this point, the inmate had implored the deputies to stop. But on the ground, he fell silent. He seemed unconscious to Chaplain Juarez, but deputies continued to attack him. One deputy placed his knee on the inmate’s back and began punching him. Then the kicks resumed. [45]
A deputy finally noticed that Chaplain Juarez was watching the attack. He “froze and had a nervous and surprised look on his face,” Chaplain Juarez said. “Then he began making signs to the others with his hands, motioning them to stop the beating.” A call had gone out to other deputies, and two more entered the hallway and began to kick the motionless inmate. One deputy stomped on the inmate’s back. But those deputies who had noticed Juarez motioned to the others, apparently to alert them to his presence. [46]
The whole beating took about three minutes, according to Chaplain Juarez. At the end, there was a puddle of blood about two feet in diameter around the inmate’s head. Chaplain Juarez was left “shaking,” because I was “overwhelmed with fear and apprehension.” He worried deputies would harm him. Several eyed him in a threatening way. Some said “rat” and “motherfucker” when he passed them over the next few days in the jail. [47]
Chaplain Juarez wrote a detailed report of the incident, which he gave to a sergeant and the archdiocese, and he gave an interview to the LASD. The LASD’s investigation was substandard and unprofessional. [48] Two years passed before he heard anything from the LASD about the beating. In a June 2011 meeting among employees of the archdiocese and personnel from the Office of Independent Review (OIR), Chaplain Juarez was told that the case had been resolved internally, and that news of the beating had never reached Sheriff Lee Baca.
After the meeting with the OIR, a representative of Sheriff Baca’s office contacted the Catholic chaplains to set up a meeting with the Sheriff. In July 2011, Sheriff Baca told Chaplain Juarez that the report Chaplain Juarez had written and delivered to the LASD was not included in the LASD’s file on the incident. The file that Sheriff Baca read aloud from described Chaplain Juarez as “exaggerating the details of the beating. The description of the attack in the LASD file that Sheriff Baca read aloud from seemed to describe an entirely distinct incident from the one Chaplain Juarez witnessed: the inmate was schizophrenic, the file said, and deputies had to strike him a few times with their fists to get him in his cell. According to Chaplain Juarez, Sheriff Baca seemed unconcerned, stating simply that “[p]unches are allowed in my department but kicks are not allowed.” [49]
“I have lost faith and trust in the LASD,” Chaplain Juarez said, “they clearly did not take my testimony seriously, and they attempted to cover up what really happened.” [50]
Chaplain Doe 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, facedown 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.” [51]
After Chaplain Doe had watched the deputies continuously kick the inert inmate for between two and three minutes, he followed the deputies’ orders to leave the scene. “I was afraid that if I had tried to stop the beating or even just yell at the deputies to stop, they would come over and hurt me.” Chaplain Doe told a nearby sergeant that the attack was “not right.” Although Chaplain Doe could no longer see the beating at this point, he could still hear the “thumping” sounds of the deputies kicking the inmate, and the inmate’s cries for help. Eventually the inmate fell silent, although the kicks continued for about another minute. [52]
Neither the LASD nor the OIR ever questioned Chaplain Doe about the incident even though a sergeant and numerous deputies were aware that he was an eyewitness to the beating. “I was so shocked that despite the deputies seeing me watch them beat up the inmate, they continued to kick and beat him,” Chaplain Doe said. “It was like they didn’t even care that there was a witness.” [53]
Other civilians also reported witnessing violent deputy-on-inmate attacks.
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, Ms. Lim was meeting with another inmate in the facility’s attorney meeting room. When she heard what sounded like a fight in the staging area, she looked through the windows dividing the attorney room and the staging area and saw the attack in progress. She saw two deputies repeatedly punch and knee an inmate who lay facedown on the floor. The inmate was inert, so still that he looked like “a mannequin that was being used as a punching bag.” [54] But the deputies persisted in their attack, with one of them shocking the inmate again and again with a Taser gun. Although the inmate never moved from his spot on the ground, the deputies repeatedly yelled, “stop fighting!” and “stop resisting!” [55]
