Nearly five years after pepper spray use was supposed to be stopped in juvenile lockups, the NBC4 I-Team discovered it’s still being used.
It is one of the big reasons why the Los Angeles County Chief of the Probation Department was recently fired.
“I voted to phase out pepper spray. But I think what shocked me at that board meeting was that the probation chief did not know that training was not being put into play,” LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, Fifth District, said, sitting down with the I-Team following the dismissal of the Probation Department Chief.
Pepper spray use was supposed to be banned in juvenile halls and camps by the end of 2020. Millions of dollars were spent on de-escalation training, but the spraying hasn't stopped.
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The I-Team first reported how bad the problem had become in 2018, finding pepper spray use in juvenile halls increased by 154-percent over a three-year period.
When asked why the spraying continues to happen and how the board can push for more change, Supervisor Barger responded: “Well, my vision is that we bring in not one individual but what I call a 'strike team,' call it what you want , but people that understand the system and have the ability to create the reform necessary."
Supervisor Barger says that team would report to the board. It is among several new proposals to improve juvenile lockups still plagued with problems.
A watchdog committee first tasked to review the Probation Department found pepper spray was used on “vulnerable populations” and young people with developmental disabilities as recently as last month.
Supervisor Barger described what she calls disturbing conditions during a visit with another supervisor to Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in February.
“They were sitting in a day room doing nothing, “ she said. “No programming. No nothing, not allowed to go outside,” she added.
Supervisor Barger says reforms are part of a state mandate to focus on rehabilitation, not incarceration.
She says support is also necessary for probation staff – who the oversight committee found were often not showing up to work.
A spokesperson for the LA County Probation Department tells NBC4 in a statement:
“The Department has taken several important steps to increase staffing and support in the juvenile halls. These steps have included temporary incentive pay, ending March 31, to reduce absenteeism; obtaining special permission from the County CEO to hire 150 permanent new juvenile hall staff by this July; and reassigning 100 current probation officers from the field to the juvenile halls. Meanwhile, we have installed a new electronic room check system, which has made mandatory bed checks safer and more time-efficient for our officers and juvenile clients.
While it is true our staffing problems have delayed the phase out of OC spray, we are committed to following the Board’s direction. We eliminated the use of OC spray in juvenile units for female and developmentally delayed clients in February. As we look to do the same in other juvenile units by January 2024, we are stepping up our efforts to train Probation officers on the latest de-escalation techniques while we work with the Department of Youth Development to bring in additional County personnel trained to defuse potentially violent situations.
The Probation Department is fully committed to the “Care First” model and is taking major, concrete steps to remake our juvenile facilities accordingly. We’re establishing a Master Services contract that will allow us to bring in more relevant programs more quickly. We are also in the midst of a $52 million remodel to convert all living units at both Central and Barry J Nidorf juvenile halls from the traditional industrialized setting into something more home-like.
The changes will be extensive — from introducing a bright new color scheme and the installation of homelike fixtures to refurnishing all the rooms with more comfortable furniture, as well as vinyl or carpeted flooring. Day rooms will be reconfigured into living rooms, and toilet and showering facilities will be changed from the traditional open, locker room configuration to respect the privacy of our clients. We expect to have everything done by December.
In cooperation with the County’s Probation Oversight Commission, we are currently working to create a separate Secure Youth Track Facility (SYTF)bureau at Barry J. Nidorf for the 160 clients we eventually expect to receive from the former Department of Juvenile Justice.
Unlike our mainstream juvenile population, most of these returning SYTF residents are more than 18 years old, have already been convicted of more serious offenses, and will be in our care for years. They will require closer supervision and a different suite of life skills, vocational and financial literacy programming to prepare them for life in society. After these SYTF youth become acclimated to being back in the County, we will actively connect them to these programs, as well as G.E.D., community college and higher educational opportunities. And once they show progress in these programs, they may transfer to camp settings, with males and females going to different facilities. From there, if they continue to make progress, our hope is to place them into the community at the end of their court-ordered confinement.
Every Chief Probation Officer serves at the pleasure of the Board of Supervisors. It is not our place to comment on the Board’s decision.”
Last week, the Board of Supervisors approved several motions they say would immediately improve conditions in juvenile halls and camps, including upgrading facilities and hiring staff.
