ACLU blasts conditions in Men's Central Jail following scanner scam

The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday blasted the “horrific conditions and abuses” at Men’s Central Jail, following a report last week that exposed a system used by a group of deputies there to avoid making routine checks on inmates’ welfare.

The Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies were using fake scanner codes to thwart electronic checkpoints the department had installed around the downtown jail. The county Office of Independent Review reported that the deputies had made copies of the codes on sheets of paper, and instead of doing their mandatory rounds, they scanned the codes at their desks.

A March 2009 suicide prompted an investigation that revealed the inmate had been dead for hours before his body was found, despite records appearing to show that a deputy had passed the man’s cell while he was dead.

The fallout from the scam’s discovery led to two deputies being fired and an additional eight sworn officers being disciplined, according to officials.

The ACLU called the deputies actions after the suicide a “cover-up,” saying they “engaged in a deliberate, systematic faking of surveillance logs.”

In its statement, the civil liberties organization said it received a letter from an inmate in a nearby cell, who described the inmate’s behavior before the suicide as “disturbed.”

“These findings underscore the urgency of the ACLU’s efforts to address the horrific conditions and abuses in Men’s Central Jail, where as many as 50% of the detainees are mentally ill,” read the ACLU release.

Sheriff's internal affairs investigators identified the deputy behind the scheme, who according to the report admitted to using "widely available bar code replication software" to make the fake codes. They also found that the deputy on duty during the suicide had made a “chow run” to a nearby restaurant while he was supposed to be making rounds, according to the oversight report.

Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore said changes had been made at the jail to prevent similar incidents.

“We investigated it. It was wrong. The Sheriffs Department took prompt action,” he said.

-- Robert Faturechi

Comments

[kuruc]

aclu, how about conditions of us citizens in usa, due to illegal aliens? suck on that a minute!

[TheBigPicture]

"where as many as 50% of the detainees are mentally ill"

Those are some pretty hard numbers "50%"...I'd love to see the documents backing up this statement...Half the criminals in Jail or mentally ill...

What a bunch of fools...

[Hypatia]

"We investigated it. It was wrong. The Sheriffs Department took prompt action,” he said."

Yeah. Like what?

[William]

ACLU Needs to away already, we need to cut down on expenses and start treating criminals like criminals. The special treatments in jails with medical care needs to stop. We need a sheriff like Arpaio to come here and run our jail system. Make crimals not want to go back to jail. There are too many special interests that don't allow our criminal system to be reformed. Enough waste.

[Richard]

What about the abuse, will they fix that now ?

[Carol Sanders Gregory]

There has been an inside investigation into the Los Angeles County Jail as far back as July, 2000 by the CIA and this is the results of that. I guess when you have all crooked agencies who are allegedly "looking in", that it is not an investigation at all, it is a cover up.

I have called this matter to several agencies, including the ACLU and nobody, but nobody wants to address the matter. I guess until there is incident of one of their own, it will continue to go on.

This is absolutely nothing new. The "powers that be" are all well aware of these incidents and have chosen to condone it.

[Carol Sanders Gregory]

The ACLU should be blasting itself, as well, because I have repeatedly advised these people that there are inumerable matters such as this going on. I have told them that there is a surveillance technique being used by a Federal Agency inside the LA County Jail, namely by the CIA and other agencies, and the ACLU has turned a blind side to this. This, I ascertain, has been going on since July, 2000 that I am certain and this is the results of that. This is a complete cover up, not a surveillance technique being used to alleviate these matters.

Welcome to Hollywood! This is like a bad movie.

[John L Mendez]

Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore states, “We investigated. It was wrong. The Sheriffs Department took prompt action.” Okay.... if that's the best his prepared statement offers let's Pray the corrective changes made at the jail to prevent similar incidents are effective.

[sailbyme]

Fine line between criminals and law enforcement.

[Juan De La Cruz]

The American CRIMINALS liberty union is a waste. They are just as much scum as the people in the jails/prisons across the country they defend. Obviously those incarcerated have relatives at the aclu. Who else would have such concern for murderes, child molesters and drug dealers.
The aclu encourages crime to be committed by making jails an easier, more enjoyable place to be. Thanks to aclu there is no form of punishment for the crimes committed. Thanks to the aclu gang members view going to jail as a "promotion" or "right of passage".
Thanks to the aclu, criminals learn how to become better criminals in jails/prisons with all the freedoms they have within them. The aclu has provided inmates with the resources to comitte more crimes in and out of jail. Facilitate drugs, violence and money laundering both inside the jails/prisons and outside. Keep up the good work aclu! How do they sleep at night?
If the faimly members of victims knew how good these scumbags really have it while "locked up" they would riot in the streets. GOD FORBID MURDERERS, DRUG DEALERS and CHILD MOLESTERS don't get to make a phone call or don't get an extra blanket when their cold etc..
What world does the aclu live in? What utopia do they live in cause obviously there is no crime there. I want to move there. Imagine living in their world, where they have never been the victim of a crime.

God Bless America......Juan