On Monday, April 3rd, Los Angeles County Board members decided to remove a controversial proposal that aimed to “decarcerate” Los Angeles County jails after its main advocate, Supervisor Hilda L. Solis, withdrew the plan. 

The decision to remove the agenda, titled “Actionable Steps to Reduce Population and Incarceration in Los Angeles County Jails,” came after significant backlash and disagreement from fellow supervisors, law enforcement, prosecutors, and even the ACLU.

Yeah, you read that right. The ACLU.

As soon as details of the plan became available to the public, Solis said, “My office has received concerns from a variety of stakeholders — those who feel the motion is not doing enough and those who feel it is doing too much. To that end, I will be referring the motion back to my office so that I can continue to gather input from all stakeholders.”

The details of the plan to decarcerate included:

• Giving the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department authority to use electronic monitoring as an alternative to incarceration
• Instructing local sheriff to review its bail thresholds and to cite and release “individuals with aggregate bail amounts set at $50,000 or below” 
• Advocating for the Los Angeles Superior Court to support the county in its pursuit of “care first” as it once did when it adopted a statewide COVID-19 emergency bail schedule
• Requesting the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to take back inmates who are serving out their prison sentences in county jails. That number includes about 10% of the total LA County jail population and will help ease overcrowding, Solis said
• Advocating for legislative changes at the state level so that those who are medically fragile can be eligible for compassionate release

The proposal was presented stating that it would “Declare the state of mental health services and overcrowding in the Los Angeles County jails a humanitarian crisis, requiring the County to move with all deliberate speed on meaningful solutions; and prioritize decreasing the number of individuals entering the Los Angeles County Jails.” 

Whether this is viewed as not doing enough or doing too much, it feels like an unbalanced concept filled with holes that can only be given one label: stupid.

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After the agenda was removed, Soils said the new goal is to “balance the needs of public safety while also getting into compliance with our federal obligations. And in that process, I ask that county departments and agencies help us with meeting the needs of our most vulnerable.”

The push to decarcerate the jails in Los Angeles County is the result of overpopulation, filling them beyond their capacity. 

Soils called the jail conditions “horrid and inhumane,” and noted that Los Angeles County is subject to several federal consent decrees and settlement agreements, “including those regarding the treatment provided for incarcerated people with mental health needs and severe overcrowding in county jails, including Men’s Central Jail.”

According to the Los Angeles County Police Chiefs Association, they were blindsided by the proposal and learned about it only a few days before. In a statement, officials with the organization said the plan would “exacerbate our current plight” in tackling surging crime.

Despite the overpopulation problem, simply releasing criminals is not the answer. Los Angeles County has their work cut out for them as they continue to find a solution.

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