Probation officers pushback on urgency of producing reports for court
The troubles plaguing the Los Angeles County juvenile halls is pitting the public against the department as probation officers remain in limbo with the constant changes to how they perform their duties.
As violence in the halls continues to reach unprecedented levels, probation officers are perplexed as to how they can properly manage the juvenile detainees without fears of consquences about how it should be handled.
“We are in a catch-22 with how to do our jobs, on one hand they want us to intervene to stop fights which could lead to accusations of child abuse while if we stand back out of fear of being injured ourselves, then we face discipline as well, what are we supposed to do,” said one probation officer who requested anonymity.
In the past, Detention Services Officers, who are hired to work inside the juvenile halls, were armed with pepper spray to assist with breaking out fights, which at times could include between a half dozen to a dozen detainees.
The Board of Supervisors removed pepper sprays from the halls in 2019.
“With the removal of the pepper spray employees are left defenseless against attacks from the detainees.”
The board of supervisors are receiving far less scrutiny for their decisions that have led to the deterioration of the department after removing vital programs that provided detainees with rehabilitation and training opportunities in the camps.
What is also going unnoticed is the pattern of the members of the board of supervisors hand selecting their replacements on the board who continue to carry out initiatives that have led to severe issues in not only the probation department, but other departments under their supervision like the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
In a recent article by Jason Henry, with the SoCal News Group, he meticulously detailed the probation department’s lagging in providing court ordered reports that are needed to move detainees and others off of probation and in some cases, out of the halls altogether.
A former supervising probation officer scoffed at the notion that the reports are of concern and based this on his experience from 30 years ago.
Eduardo Mundo, the chair of the county’s Probation Oversight Commission and a former supervising probation officer, said he also doesn’t buy that staffing is the only reason why the department isn’t keeping up with its workload.
“No one was concerned when I was a DPO (deputy probation officer) and had 200 cases,” he said. “No one thought about public safety when I had that.”
Removing 750 LA County probation officers from field duties sparks court delays, diminished oversight
Current probation officers found Mundo’s comments par for the course for someone who was hand picked by the board to, in essence bash employees, whose caseloads have become more complex with the recent passage of state laws. During Mundo’s time as a supervising officer the department wasn’t mandating field officers into the juvenile halls either.
The union had iron clad protections against what constitutes an emergency and how they were deployed which was removed under the current board’s leadership, which employees allege was done without their knowledge.
“The union highlighted the pretty parts of the new contract but failed to discuss what they gave up in return. It was reported that 500 employees were sent home from their job, while still being able to perform their duties as it relates to the job description for Deputy Probation Officer II, yet we are being penalized because the Detention Services Officers (DSOs), who are assigned to the juvenile facilities, are off on medical restrictions themselves.”
“For the probation department to continue with this messaging that the ‘probation officers’ are the ones not doing their job, they should be correcting the media on the job classifications that are falling short. The video continuously being referenced did NOT involve probation officers but were DSOs, who had just started on the job but were told by their supervisors to stand back.”
Current probation employees find the department in a complete disarray and have zero confidence in the leadership of the new probation chief Guillermo Viera Rosa, who they say has no rapport with the employees.
“He is well insulated and doesn’t allow any input from current staff. When he visits the juvenile facilities he doesn’t talk to the supervisor in charge to understand the challenges nor does he solicit input from employees on ways to increase and/or enhance the work environment, yet, he issues statements to the media that we know to be false and misleading.”
Public Records Requests to state agencies that Rosa previously worked for are being held up after learning he had side businesses owning and operating security companies while working for California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR).
While serving on the Board of State and Community Corrections, Rosa was not found to be in violation of the conflict of interest policy for owning and operating security companies because the policy didn’t apply to board members.
“The BSCC incompatible activities statement applies to BSCC employees and officers but does not apply to BSCC Board Members. As Director of Adult Parole, Mr. Viera Rosa would have been covered by an incompatible activities statement from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,” said Mercedes Morales, an analyst with BSCC.
CDCR continues to evade producing documents related to the conflict of interest policy citing government codes that provide additional time for them to respond.
Probation department insiders have suggested Rosa is planning to retire from the department this summer.
