The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "L.A. county jail" ...
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Sheriff Lee Baca & L.A. City Jails
"These stories provide a penetrating look at conditions inside the nation's largest county jail system and show how the violence within cannot be contained. With the jails seriously overcrowded by felony defendants awaiting trial, 150,000 less serious offenders have been released since 2002 after serving fractions of their sentences."
Tags: Castaic; violence; riots; fights; correctional facility; inmate
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Twin Towers
'Twin Towers' (L.A. County Jail and also the nation's largest mental institution), was investigated for three months and found the jail to be a 'terrible place to house the mentally ill'. But because community clinics are full to capacity, caring for persons with mental problems continues to fall onto the lap of 'under-trained and overwhelmed' law enforcement personnel.
Tags: jail; L.A. county jail; mentally ill inmates; psychiatric disorders; prison guards; mental health
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How California Failed Kevin Evans
The Los Angeles Times Magazine investigates the death of Kevin Evans, a mentally ill African-American who died of alleged cardiac arrest in Twin Towers' jail, "the largest mental-health housing facility in the nation." The story reveals that Evans' medical records have been falsified, and that he was subject to violence by the hospital staff before his death occurred. The article reports on the wrongful death claims submitted by Evans' sisters and the resulting $600,000 award in settlement. A major finding is that L.A. county has provided no safety net for mentally-ill homeless people, who "at least for the present, are the responsibility of the sheriff." The reporter also looks at the "acute problems" that have persisted in Twin Towers for many years.
Tags: police abuse; violence; African-American; blacks; poverty; minorities; race; crime; hospitals; nurses; inmates; prisons
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No title (id: 13786)
The Los Angeles Times reveals a sobering reality about Los Angeles County's swollen jail system: the public's safety, rather than being protected, has been placed at risk because of bad management and timid politicians. The series found that inmates sentenced to county time in Los Angeles do far less time than at any other major system in the nation; that the Sheriff's Department has routinely released thousands of hardened and habitual criminals back into society through a deeply flawed work-release program; that tensions inside the jails have reached a dangerous volatility; and that tens of millions of dollars are being squandered by the Sheriff's Department. (May 19 - Dec. 31, 1996)
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No title (id: 13103)
Racial tensions and street conflicts often boil over in the 'thunder dorms' of the Pitchess Detention Center. The Los Angeles Times looks into the understaffed and overcrowded jail, described as the most explosive in L.A. County. (May 19, 1996)
Tags: Ferrell Breakdown behind bars Violence Juveniles Recidivism Drugs Racism Gangs Crime 9 pgs.