Los Angeles Times: L.A. Jail Called Deadly, Outdated

From the Los Angeles Times
Dated Thursday February 3

L.A. Jail Called Deadly, Outdated
By Jack Leonard and Richard Winton, Times Staff Writers

Los Angeles County's largest jail is so outdated, understaffed and riddled with security flaws that it jeopardizes the lives of guards and inmates, the county's expert on the jail system concluded in a confidential report recommending that the facility be closed.

Special counsel Merrick Bobb sharply criticized Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles for failing to prevent dangerous inmates from being housed with lower-risk inmates and said the cellblocks' design ensured that any response to an inmate takeover would be extraordinarily bloody.

The 6,338-bed jail, the largest in the country, "is nightmarish to manage" and suffers from "lax supervision and a long-standing jail culture that has shortchanged accountability for inmate safety and security," Bobb said.

The Board of Supervisors ordered the report, obtained by The Times, after inmates killed five fellow inmates in county jails between October 2003 and April 2004. Four of the slayings occurred at Men's Central, one of six jails — housing 18,495 inmates total — that the county operates.

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