WitnessLA.com
Celeste Fremon is an award-winning freelance journalist specializing in gangs, law enforcement, criminal justice and education policy. She is the founding editor of WitnessLA.com, a nonprofit news site, and the author of G-Dog and the Homeboys: Father Greg Boyle and the Gangs of East Los Angeles.
Fremon is a former visiting professor of Journalism at UC Irvine, and a senior fellow at USC's Annenberg Institute for Justice and Journalists.
LA County Probation Department woes Is LA County's Probation Department allocating funding properly?
If first you don't succeed, try him again Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is due back in court on Monday. This time, it's not for testimony or closing arguments, but for sentencing. He faces up to 20 years in prison after being convicted on three federal charges. His conviction is the highest profile win for the U.S. Attorney's office, so far, in its investigation of the Sheriff's Department.
Will a new civilian oversight committee prevent police scandals? The LA County Sheriff’s Department is getting a civilian oversight committee for the first time. The department has been plagued by scandal; sheriffs have been convicted of assault and misconduct inside county jails, and former undersheriff Paul Tanaka was convicted of obstructing an FBI investigation into that abuse.
Lies, Damn Lies...and Police Statistics The LAPD admits that it misreported serious offenses for at least eight years -- which made it appear that the rate of crime was declining faster than it really was. And LA’s not the only place where misreporting goes on. It was good PR at the time, but what has the revelation done to public confidence now and for the future?
Can More Federal Oversight Fix L.A. County Jails? The L.A. County jails have been full of mentally ill inmates for years. Conditions are deplorable. and a rash of suicides in recent years prompted a Department of Justice investigation. This morning, the DOJ and the Sheriff’s Department announced a new deal for increased federal oversight in county jails.
Paul Tanaka Indicted Former Los Angeles undersheriff Paul Tanaka turned himself in to authorities this morning. The FBI and Justice Department charged Tanaka with obstruction of justice, alleging that he repeatedly sabotaged an investigation by the federal authorities into civil rights violations in Men’s Central Jail. We get an update on the case.
The End of Street Gangs in Los Angeles? "Los Angeles gave America the modern street gang. Groups like the Crips and MS-13 have spread from coast to coast and even abroad. But on Southern California's streets, they have been vanishing." That's the lead in an article in the latest Pacific Standard magazine by Sam Quinones, veteran reporter for the LA Times, now a freelancer, and author of several books, including the forthcoming, Dreamland , about black tar heroin distribution in the US. Photo: Jason Taellious
LA's New Sheriff and Civilian Oversight Corruption within the ranks and abuse of inmates in County jails led Lee Baca to resign as Sheriff, and the Board of Supervisors to create an Inspector General. With two new Supervisors, there now may be enough votes for a commission to provide civilian oversight. But a lot will depend on the newly elected Sheriff, Jim McDonnell.
Six Members of the Sheriff's Department Convicted A jury today found six current and former members of the LA Sheriff’s Department guilty of obstruction of justice and other charges. It’s a result of an ongoing federal investigation of LA jails. Prosecutors made the case that these deputies, sergeants and lieutenants took part in an alleged scheme to stymie a federal grand jury investigation into civil rights abuses and corruption. Celeste Fremon has been covering the case, she’s a journalist who specializes in criminal justice and she writes the Witness LA Blog.
Jail Trial Update The trial of sheriff’s deputies accused of abusing inmates in LA County jails continues this week with testimony from a former sheriff’s deputy. Six deputies are on trial for obstruction of justice - a charge that’s emerged from an investigation into the department by the FBI. Are more charges on the way? And how far up the food chain does the investigation go?
Dispute in Deputies' Union May Influence Sheriff's Election The LA Sheriff's Deputies Union is a political action committee with $2.5 million. Its endorsement could make a big difference in this years' unprecedented Sheriff's election. Incumbent Lee Baca has stepped down after almost 20 years on the job and six candidates are running to replace him. The union is divided for reasons so Byzantine, we won't go into detail, but the election appears to be one of the reasons. That's according to Celeste Fremon, journalist specializing in law enforcement and criminal justice and blogger at WitnessLA.com .
Inside the L.A. Sheriff's Department Scandal The story of the downfall of the L.A. County Sheriff’s department reads like a TV drama, including federal indictments and the resignation of sheriff Lee Baca. His deputy, Paul Tanaka, is suspected of pushing the limits of the law and is now struggling to win the upcoming election. Los Angeles Magazine reporter Celeste Fremon examines just how the department fell apart in the current issue of L.A. Magazine.
Are More Indictments Against Sheriff Personnel on the Way? Two more LA County Sheriff’s deputies face federal charges, this time for conspiring to assault a handcuffed jail inmate and covering up under oath. Witness Catholic chaplain Paulino Juarez testified about the incident before the Citizens Commission on Jail Violence. He repeated his remarks on video for the ACLU of Southern California. Two of the deputies Juarez mentioned were indicted Friday, bringing to 20 the total number so far in that and other incidents. Will there be more to come? That may depend on evidence of who else knew what happened and failed to take action.
FBI Arrests 17, Indicts 18 from LA County Sheriff's Department Illegal behavior has become institutionalized in the LA County Sheriff's Department, where some deputies "consider themselves to be above the law." That's according to US Attorney André Birotte, Jr. Today, he unsealed indictments alleging unjustified beatings of both jail inmates and visitors and conspiracies to cover up those actions. Eighteen deputies have been indicted and 16 are under arrest . Late this afternoon, Sheriff Lee Baca held a news conference to respond to the charges. Baca denied that abuse has become "institutionalized" but said he sadly accepted the US Attorney's investigation "whatever the findings are." (Both Sheriff Baca and former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka declined our invitation to participate in this discussion.)
Operation Pandoras Box Revealed In 2011, convicted bank robber Anthony Brown was in LA County jail awaiting transfer to federal prison. Sheriff's deputies discovered he had a contraband cell phone with a record of calls to the FBI. The feds were investigating charges of jail-house brutality. The Sheriff's Department then launched Operation Pandora's Box. Celeste Fremon, who blogs at Witness LA , has published new details of "elaborate lengths to hide a federal informant from the FBI."
Trump fires FBI Director James Comey Vice President Mike Pence took the Administration's lead today in explaining why the President fired the Head of the FBI, saying, "The president made the right decision at the right time." Trump's action is being compared to the so-called "Saturday Night Massacre" that led to President Richard Nixon's resignation in 1973.
Trump's Russia ties intensify with Comey firing Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe contradicted the Trump White House today, insisting the Bureau had not lost faith in former Director James Comey. He promised to notify the committee of any interference into investigation of the Trump campaign's contacts with Vladimir Putin's Russia. What do we know about those contacts… and how they relate to Trump's business interests and those of his family?