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Measure J’s ‘Care First’ Public Safety Plan Likely to Pass

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - County voters appeared today to have passed a charter amendment requiring that a minimum of 10% of the county's unrestricted general funds be spent on housing, mental health treatment, jail diversion programs and other alternatives to incarceration. With initial vote-counting from Tuesday's election complete, Measure J had the support of 57% of voters. An unknown number of ballots still remain to be tallied, and mail-in ballots can still be counted if they're received as late as Nov. 20, as long as they were postmarked by Election Day. Proponents -- including the United Way of Greater Los Angeles,...

LA Council Votes to Create Pilot Program of Unarmed Mental Health Responders

By Eric Heinz, City News Service LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles City Council unanimously voted today to create a pilot program to divert nonviolent emergency calls involving mental health issues from police officers to unarmed professionals. The city will now seek to partner with a nonprofit organization to implement the pilot program, and will receive recommendations from relevant departments on creating a set of city employees responsible for responding to nonviolent calls for service currently handled by police officers. "I believe that our actions go a long way in changing the world and providing hope for individuals of all races,...

LA County Considers Hiring Non-Sworn Force to Patrol Parks

By Elizabeth Marcellino, City News Service LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously today to reconsider how to ensure safety in county parks following Sheriff Alex Villanueva's announcement that he will close the department's Parks Bureau, provoking the sheriff to accuse the board of "defunding" the LASD. However, according to county lawyers, Villanueva may have "defunded" his own department, because closing the bureau will free up the roughly $24 million allocated to that group that could now be used to hire a third-party contractor. Supervisor Kathryn Barger -- who said the sheriff left her with "no choice" but to...

Report: Critical Change Made in Dealing With Mentally Ill Offenders

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A report released today found that meaningful systemic reform has been made in the way police, prosecutors and others in the criminal justice system interact with people with mental illness in Los Angeles County. The report from the Criminal Justice Mental Health Advisory Board, established by District Attorney Jackie Lacey in 2015, concludes that "critical long-term change" has been made in the past five years that "has far surpassed the board's initial expectations." "By working together, we have realized significant change within our criminal justice system," Lacey said in a statement. "We must stay on track and continue...

LA County Overhauling Crisis Response to 911 Calls

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles County took a step forward today in overhauling its crisis response system, approving a direct line for law enforcement to access county mental health teams and quickly triage 911 calls. Supervisor Janice Hahn said the 911 system was failing the public. She pointed to a recent article about 39-year-old Eric Briceno, who the Los Angeles Times reported was beaten and Tasered to death by deputies who responded to a mental health call in March. "Eric's parents had called 911 for help, but they didn't get the help they needed," Hahn said. "Even though LA County...

LA County Jail Population Is Back Up Above State Overcrowding Limits

By Elizabeth Marcellino, City News Service LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Following a COVID-19-related push to drop Los Angeles County's jail population by roughly 5,000 inmates to prevent the spread of the virus, the number of prisoners has grown by nearly 15%, according to a report posted to the county's website. As of Aug. 27, the countywide jail population was 13,280, up from a low of 11,723 just a few months ago. That uptick was attributed in part to restrictions on transfers during the coronavirus pandemic that have put thousands of individuals in limbo awaiting relocation to state prisons or state hospitals. A...