Category : Los Angeles Jails

LA County Sheriff Proposes $1.4 Billion Jail Plan

The Chief Executive along with Sheriff Lee Baca pitched a plan to demolish and rebuild the LA County Men’s Central Jail (commonly known as the Twin Towers Jail) and build a new women’s detention facility at Pitchness Detention Center. The estimated cost for this plan is $1.4 billion.

According to William Fujioka, the top executive for LA County, the new plan will “allow the Sheriff’s Department to better manage the fluctuating and volatile inmate populations in the county’s jail facilities and address jail conditions cited by the US District Court.”

Los Angeles County houses the highest inmate population in the country and now has to comply with the ruling set by the Supreme Court to improve conditions of the jails and reduce the number of inmates.

The proposed plans will Read more »

LAPD’s Foothill Division Headquarters Celebrates Golden Anniversary

Approximately 100 people came out to celebrate the 50th annicersaty of the LAPD’s Foothill Division on Saturday, partaking in food, drink and to reminisce in nostalgic memories of years past.

The station, which includes an onsite jail, services the communities of La Tuna Canyon, Lake View Terrace,  Pacoima, Shadow Hills, Sun Valley, Sunland and Tujunga, was a lot different in its early years, retirees said, noting that drugs, guns and concern about heavily armed suspects were non-existent.

“People in those days submitted to arrest,” Retired Sgt. Phillip Siegal told the Contra Costa Times (CCT). “You say, ‘You’re under arrest’, put handcuffs on them, they went.  They didn’t challenge you to fight, they didn’t try to pull a gun or knife on you.”

Retired Officer Jerry Jorgensen also spoke with the CCT, noting “There was no drugs on the street in our days.  Now, you might stop someone with a truck full of cocaine.”

First opened on Sept. 1, 1961, the station recently Read more »

California Inmates Transferred to County Jails

The LAPD and the LA Sheriff’s Department are suddenly finding themselves a bit more stretched. Mandated under the Public Safety Realignment Act of 2011, each of California’s 58 counties, including Los Angeles, will need to take responsibility of certain current and future state prisoners within their jurisdiction.  The Act, also known as AB109, went into effect on Oct. 1.

Under the direction of the Act, non-serious, non-violent and non-sex offenders (known as “non-non-non”) will now serve out their sentences in county jails instead of in state prisons.

Los Angeles Impact

LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck, and other city officials point to increased expenses to the city, including the need to hire additional officers.  Additional gang intervention and prevention personnel will also need to be trained, points out Los Angeles gang expert Connie Rice.

Response times for 911 services may also increase, Beck said.

For the average citizen, the question may be “why?”.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) suggests that approximately 7,000 inmates currently sentenced to serve time in state prisons will now be housed within the Los Angels County Jail System.

According to an Aug. 2011 report prepared by the County of Los Angeles Community Corrections Partnership (CCP), the CRCR also projects that “approximately 9,000 offenders will Read more »

What Is The Release Time After Bail Has Been Paid?

Today’s question comes from Yahoo! Answers, where we often answer to many bail related topics.

Question:  Yesterday morning my boyfriend went to jail.  I paid for his bail downtown at 2:30.  I called the jail at 8:30 and they said he wasn’t gonna be released. What’s going on?

Answer:  You don’t mention which jail it is, but many jails have a release process that takes Read more »

Glendale Police Department on Community Policing

The Glendale Police Department has utilized the policing enforcement tactics provided by the COPPS Unit (Community Police Partnership.) Community policing is not only the responsibility of the unit, but the entire agency.

Community policing is a way for the people to be able to connect with the police force, in an easy accessible manner. This allows for the community to voice their concerns in an orderly fashion and be heard.

Basically, it is a way for both the law enforcement agencies to work hand-in-hand with everyone in the community in order to prevent and solve crimes.

Community policing also works by the community’s willingness to share and educate, as well as inform others and the law enforcement agencies.

If you live in Glendale, you can Read more »

LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center Jail

General Information

Metropolitan Detention Center
180 North Los Angeles Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Main: 213-356-3446
Bail Bonds for the Metropolitan Detention Center

Newly opened in early 2011, the LAPD Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) has replaced the now closed Parker Center Jail in downtown Los Angeles. Located right off of Highway 101, across from Union Station, the new 512-bed Metro Center Jail in Los Angeles is approximately 179,000 square feet. It is a Type I detention facility which can hold people for no more than 96 hours. 

The new Metro Center Jail is co-located with the Police Administration Building and has a ‘campus setting design’ plan. MDC is the Los Angeles Police Department’s largest jail.

Visiting Regulations for the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) Jail: 

Visiting Hours at MDC are 7 days a week from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

• Arrestees may have one Read more »

Deal to Get LAPD Officers on Patrol Okayed by Villaraigosa

On Wednesday, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, signed off on a deal that would borrow money, originally from a fund for improving neighborhoods in Sunshine Canyon Landfill,  that would enable 27 officers to be placed back on patrol rather than acting as staff at the newly opened Metropolitan Detention Center, the LAPD’s brand new jail.

According to the Daily News, City Councilman, Greig Smith, devised the plan that would transfer $639,706 to the LAPD from the Sunshine Canyon Landfill community fund. It is said that the money will be used to keep civilian jailers on the job so that sworn officers can stay on the streets. The loan is interest-free and is supposed to be paid back in-full within two years.

Villaraigosa was extremely happy with Smith’s plan, and praised it along with detention officers and police at his side. Villaraigosa also revealed that the plan is an extreme help, but only a temporary fix. He suspects it will only last until June 30, 2011.

Villaraigosa said, “After July 1, Read more »

Van Nuys Bail Bondsman Charged With Grand Theft Embezzlement

In another case which separates the wheat from the chaff, a licensed bail bondsman took liberties with the system, and lost.

Ms. Stephanie Diane Johnson, a Van Nuys bail bondsman, is accused of collecting at least $34,000 in gross premiums from several defendants’ she bailed out of custody.  However, she also failed to remit $5,070 in net premiums due to her surety, diverting the funds for her own personal use.

According to records, Ms. Johnson executed 13 American Surety Company’s bail bonds in Los Angeles County, totaling a face value of $390,000.

To really buck the system, she went as far as Read more »

New LAPD MDC Jail Open!

Parker Center Jail to Close

It’s been a long time coming, but the newly opened Los Angeles Police Department Metropolitan Detention Center has started receiving inmates in its cells.

The closing Parker Center jail is over 55 years old and has been cited for health and safety violations having to do with plumbing issues, sprinkler problems, mold, etc. It has the capacity to take in as many as 110 arrestees, but has been known to take in as many as 440 arrestees at once.

LAPD Assistant Police Chief, Michel Moore spoke with city officials Monday, saying that 83 jailers, 88 sworn officers and 5 supervisors were trained to provide 331 civilian officers much needed staff to support the large new Metro facility.

Moore stated, “Parker Center jail will close and we will transition to the new Metropolitan Detention Facility that was completed 18 months ago… We are doing this out of concern for the health and safety of the people in custody and the people who work there.”

The new facility is only 1/2 block away from the Parker Center Jail. It is reported that when transferred, inmates  Read more »

LAPD Chief: Hire More Officers or Risk Increase In Crime

It’s stated that the number of homicides in the past year have dropped under 300 in Los Angeles. This is a first in nearly four decades. However, LAPD Police Chief, Charlie Beck cautioned that those numbers may change if the City Council turns down hiring new police officers to replace those that retire.

Cheif Beck spoke at a news conference this week asking the City Council to maintain their commitment to keep at least 10,000 officers on the force, stating, “If we go back on that, we’ll go back on these gains… This is the ninth year of crime reduction in Los Angeles — no other big city has that.”

The looming $300 million city budget deficit has some Read more »