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A group of neighbors chased down a man suspected of starting a fire Monday afternoon near the Chatsworth Reservoir in Los Angeles, California. (Gabe Cortez, Instagram)
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The department charged with supervising the thousands of people on probation in Los Angeles County is asking for local authorities to take over duties from its officers, citing a “significant void” in supervising high-risk probationers amid staffing shortages.
A mutual aid request sent by Probation Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa in December to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) asks for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and local police agencies to conduct compliance checks on probationers over a one-year period.
The request came after Rosa reassigned field officers to the county juvenile halls to cover for staffing shortages there.
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The Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, California, where some probation officers have been placed on leave since Jan. 1 for a range of alleged offenses, officials said Monday. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
“This reallocation has created a void in the supervision of probationers, which presents a risk to public safety,” Rosa wrote in the memo. “Probation is requesting mutual aid support from state, county, and city law enforcement agencies to conduct compliance checks on probationers and ensure the safety of communities.”
“This crisis has created an unsafe environment for juveniles, probation staff, educators, medical personnel, and community organizations, increasing the risk to public safety,” he added. “To address this, the Chief Probation Officer has redirected all field probation officers to juvenile institutions to ensure adequate staffing. However, this move creates a significant void in the supervision of high-risk probationers, including those convicted of sexual assault, domestic violence, gang-related crimes, and other offenses.”
An OES spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the state’s role is to facilitate conversations between local entities for the Probation Department to get the assistance it needs, unless it specially asks for state-supported mutual assistance.
“The state has no authority to approve mutual aid in a situation such as this,” Amy Palmer, an OES spokesperson, said of Rosa’s request.
The probation chief requested 150 peace officers to provide supervision for adult and juvenile probationers for a one-year period, according to a fact sheet provided to Fox News Digital. Under the terms of the proposal, the Probation Department would provide an “armed liaison from Special Enforcement Operations” to assist with the compliance checks “through routine or targeted contacts.”
Probation officers would be responsible for collecting and sharing data and police officers would be responsible for performing checks and making arrests in their cities. As an incentive, the department will reimburse participating police agencies the equivalent of two work hours for each completed compliance check, as well as the time it took to complete the check.
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Downey, CA – June 29: Aerial view of Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey Thursday, June 29, 2023. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
An example included in the request said that if a police department takes 22 minutes to perform a compliance check, the agency will be reimbursed for two hours and 22 minutes.
The Probation Department will be meeting with county officials in the next few weeks, department spokesperson Vicky Waters told Fox News Digital.
“Our hope is to have a fruitful dialogue and collaboration with our law enforcement partners,” she said. “We have almost 24k people we supervise in the community, and we will be requesting for supplemental assistance from our local law enforcement partners.”
Waters noted that the request doesn’t mean the agency “will be turning over the reins of our operations, but simply asking for some supervision assistance while our staffing in Los Padrinos (juvenile hall) and other juvenile institutions stabilizes to meet state standards.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the sheriff’s department.
Eduardo Mundo, chair of the county Probation Oversight Commission and a former probation supervisor, said he doubts the sheriff’s department and police agencies in Los Angeles County will get on board.
“It’s tough enough to be in law enforcement and protect yourself within your own agency,” Mundo told Fox News Digital. “Now you’re stepping into a house that is really dysfunctional.”
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The Los Angeles County Men’s Jail, Feb. 16, 2021. (Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)
The Probation Department is already treating its own employees “with so much disregard,” he added.
The agency’s staffing issues in the field stem from the shifting of probation officers to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in the suburb of Downey. The facility has been plagued with management and operational issues since it was hastily re-opened in 2023 to house detainees relocated from Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles and Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in the San Fernando Valley, which were both ordered to close by the state, Fox Los Angeles previously reported.
Los Padrinos suffered from short-staffing and allegations of violence among the detained minors. In October, the state Board of State and Community Corrections, which oversees detention facilities, ordered the facility to correct its staffing issues or close after deeming it unsuitable to house juveniles. Despite eventually being ordered to close, the facility has remained open, in violation of state law.
County officials have argued that no other options are available to house the minors there.
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In 2024, the Probation Department axed more than a dozen top officials following complaints of violence and injuries in the county juvenile facilities. In the same year, 66 sworn probation officers were placed on leave for a range of alleged offenses, including some related to youth-on-youth violence in Los Padrinos.
Nearly 40 probation officers were accused of general misconduct, which includes suspected use of excessive force, child endangerment or abuse, possession of contraband, and negligent supervision.
In a Feb. 3 letter to probation officers that was provided to Fox News Digital, the L.A. County Deputy Probation Officers’ Union said of the mutual aid request that “it doesn’t make any sense to force Field DPOs into the Juvenile Halls where they haven’t worked for years, then seek outside assistance to cover the work that Field DPOs have expertly provided day in and day out for years.”
The department has come under scrutiny in recent years over accusations that it failed to supervise probationers. A 2023 report from the Los Angeles County Office of Inspector General said a convicted gang member who killed two El Monte police officers before killing himself was only contacted six times over 16 months.
Justin Flores only met with a probation officer once, in December 2021, according to the report. Probation staff left voicemails for Flores ordering him into the office but never received a reply.
Los Angeles cityscape at dusk. (iStock)
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In addition, the mother of Flores’ girlfriend called the department days before the killings saying he was on drugs, had been physically abusive with her daughter and that he “always has a gun,” the report states.
Like Flores, the lack of proper staffing results in lax supervision, which has public repercussions, said Mundo.
“The most worrisome are sexual offenders. They’re not being visited because of the deployment,” he said. “I’ve seen the department at its worst and it’s never been like this.”
Louis Casiano is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].