Coroners' records reviewed by LAist show a jump in suicides inside L.A. County’s downtown jail complex in 2021. Jail officials and county-appointed monitors alike say the state of mental health care in the jails is severely deficient.
Citing a court-appointed monitor’s latest report on conditions in L.A. County jail, the ACLU sent a letter to L.A. County Supervisors calling on them to make investments required to reduce the jail mental health population.
A motion authored by Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger that called for the county to comply with the constitution and report back with non-custodial, secure mental health treatment facility models for incarcerated individuals who cannot be diverted was rejected by the Board of Supervisors.