Report 2018-106 Recommendation 15 Responses

Report 2018-106: Correctional Officer Health and Safety: Some State and County Correctional Facilities Could Better Protect Their Officers From the Health Risks of Certain Inmate Attacks (Release Date: September 2018)

Recommendation #15 To: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

To ensure that it properly investigates gassing attacks and refers cases for prosecution, Men's Central should develop goals for how long investigations should take and ensure that its officers adhere to these goals.

1-Year Agency Response

Investigations - Recommendation #15

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, including the Custody Division, Jail Investigation Unit, as well as Men's Central Jail maintains its policy and goals for the completion of each case within 30 business days of assignment, absent evidence evaluation. Some of the difficulties which delay the adjudication of each case are outside the control of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, including the processes and decisions of prosecutors and the courts. Additionally, prosecution in many cases, is linked to the processing of bodily fluid evidence, which significantly adds to the overall length of the case. The Department is committed to continuing the collection and processing of gassing evidence, as required by California Penal Code Section 243.9(c).

Outside the time required for the crime lab's analysis of the evidence, the Department has embraced the goal of completing the investigations and filing gassing cases with the District Attorney in 30 business days after the incident. For example, if the evidence is delivered to the crime lab five business days after the incident, the time will hold until the results are received by the detective, then the detective will have 25 business days to complete the investigation and file the case with the District Attorney.

The Department continues to refine its practices with regard to continually maintaining the aforementioned timelines. Overall, for cases tracked in 2019, the Department is 77% compliant with the 30 business day deadline. The Department's compliance rises to 26 out of the last 28 applicable cases, or 93%, showing marked improvement. The Department has fully implemented the recommendation and strives to maintain compliance moving forward.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department provided a tracking spreadsheet demonstrating that it is tracking its progress to meet its goal of resolving gassing cases.

The tracking spreadsheet included 67 reported gassing attempts from April 2019 to September 2019. Of those cases, the tracker indicates that the department met its goal in 35 (52%), did not meet its goal in 13 (19%), and 19 are still open but have not yet reached 30 days (29%).

Over the last two months of the tracker (August and September 2019), the tracker includes 29 cases that its investigators received and indicates that the department met its goal in 10 (34%), did not meet its goal in 3 (10%), and 16 are still open but have not yet reached 30 days (56%).

6-Month Agency Response

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, including the Custody Division, Jail Investigation Unit, as well as Men's Central Jail maintains its policy and goals for the completion of each case within 30 business days of assignment, absent evidence evaluation. Some of the difficulties which delay the adjudication of each case are outside the control of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, including the processes and decisions of prosecutors and the courts. Additionally, prosecution in many cases, is linked to the processing of bodily fluid evidence, which significantly adds to the overall length of the case. The Department is committed to continuing the collection and processing of gassing evidence, as required by California Penal Code Section 243.9(c).

Outside the time required for the crime lab's analysis of the evidence, the Department has embraced the goal of completing the investigations and filing gassing cases with the District Attorney in 30 business days after the incident. For example, if the evidence is delivered to the crime lab five business days after the incident, the time will hold until the results are received by the detective, then the detective will have 25 business days to complete the investigation and file the case with the District Attorney.

Given the burdensome constraints within our justice system and the high case load of Custody Division detectives, the Department nevertheless believes it can reach and maintain this goal. The Department looks forward to providing supporting documentation and statistics for the one year response.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, including the Custody Division, Jail Investigation Unit, as well as the Men's Central Jail maintains its policy and goals for the completion of each case within 30 days of assignment. Some of the difficulties in delaying the adjudication of each case are outside the control of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, including the processes and decisions of prosecutors and the courts. Additionally, prosecution in many cases, is linked to the processing of bodily fluid evidence, which significantly adds to the overall length of the case.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: No Action Taken

As we note on page 55 of our report, Men's Central's current policy does not require completion of investigations within 30 days. Instead, its policy only states that it will classify an investigation as inactive and closed when detectives make no progress after 30 days. LASD does note that investigators must justify every 30 days why a case should remain open beyond the initial 30 days. It also clarified that its investigation policy is for all investigations and does not make goals for specific units. Nevertheless, LASD's investigators took 70 days on average to complete investigations for the 15 gassing attacks we reviewed, well over its 30 day goal.

All Recommendations in 2018-106

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.