FACT SHEET

SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT REGARDING LOS ANGELES COUNTY JAILS

The Justice Department, County of Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff, in his
official capacity, have reached an agreement to reform the Los Angeles County jails. The jails
form the largest jail system in the nation and house among the nation’s highest populations of
prisoners with mental illness. Approximately 15,500 to 19,500 prisoners are held in custody
daily, spread across the multiple custody facilities that constitute the jails, as well as numerous
patrol stations and over 29 courthouses. The custody facilities’ primary function is to incarcerate
individuals accused or convicted of committing a crime.

The department and the county and the Sheriff have agreed to file the settlement agreement in
the U.S. District Court for approval and entry as an order. An independent monitor will oversee
the implementation of reforms to ensure that the county and Sheriff comply with the settlement
agreement and that compliance is achieved and then maintained for at least one year.

THE INVESTIGATIONS

In June 1996, the department opened a civil investigation under the Civil Rights of
Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA) to determine whether the conditions in the jails violated
the constitutional rights of its prisoners. In September 1997, the department issued a findings
letter alleging that mental health care at the jails violated prisoners’ constitutional rights.
Following negotiations the parties entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) in
December 2002 that outlined a series of reforms on mental health care and measures to protect
prisoners with mental illness from abuse and mistreatment.

Over the lifetime of the MOA, the county and the Sheriff made significant improvements to the
delivery of mental health care at the jails. Despite considerable progress, the department found
ongoing constitutional deficiencies in mental health care and suicide prevention practices,
following on-site evaluations with expert consultants. In June 2014, the department notified the
county and the Sheriff of the ongoing constitutional violations in an updated compliance letter
and required a court-enforceable agreement to correct the outstanding issues.

In September 2013, the Justice Department opened a second investigation of the jails under
CRIPA and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 to address allegations
of use of excessive force against all prisoners at the jails, not just prisoners with mental illness.
During the course of the investigation, the county and the Sheriff entered into a comprehensive
settlement agreement to resolve Rosas v. McDonnell, a class-action lawsuit alleging abuse and
excessive force by staff at jail facilities located in downtown Los Angeles. As part of the Rosas
settlement agreement, the county and the Sheriff have agreed to implement significant measures
to protect prisoners from excessive force by staff, including improvements in policies, training,
incident tracking and reporting, investigations, resolution of prisoner grievances, prisoner and
staff supervision, and accountability.
PROVISIONS OF THE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

The agreement between the department and Los Angeles County addresses remaining allegations
concerning suicide prevention and mental health care at the jails resulting from the partial
implementation of the 2002 MOA and current conditions within the jails. This agreement also
extends the remedial measures in the Rosas settlement agreement to fully resolve the
department’s CRIPA findings regarding alleged mistreatment of prisoners with mental illness
and claims under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act regarding alleged
excessive force against prisoners at all of the jails.

Under the settlement agreement, the county and the Sheriff have agreed to implement
comprehensive reforms to ensure constitutional conditions in the jails and restore public trust in
the operations of the jails. The settlement agreement will be court-enforceable once approved by
the District Court and will be overseen by an independent monitor and a team of mental health
and corrections experts. The settlement agreement is designed to prevent and respond more
effectively to suicides and self-inflicted injuries through measures that include:

• additional steps to recognize, assess and treat prisoners with mental illness, from intake to
discharge;
• significant new training on crisis intervention and interacting with prisoners with mental
illness for new and existing custody staff;
• improved documentation in prisoners’ medical and mental health records to ensure
continuity of care;
• improved communication between custody and mental health staff and increased
supervision of mentally ill and suicidal prisoners;
• steps to mitigate suicide risks within the jails;
• increased access to out-of-cell time for mentally ill prisoners; and
• improved investigation and critical self-analysis of suicides, suicide attempts and other
critical events.

The settlement agreement also expands critical reforms agreed to by the county and the Sheriff in
Rosas to cover all facilities within the Jails system. These reforms include:

• enhanced leadership and executive staff engagement;

• significant revisions to use of force policies, which should significantly reduce the use of
excessive force, with added protections for use of force against prisoners with mental
illness;
• enhanced training for custody and mental health staff;
• enhanced data collection and analysis;
• enhanced accountability measures, including use of force reporting, use of force reviews,
and discipline; and
• enhanced grievance procedures.