Four more people have died in Los Angeles County jails earlier this month, bringing this year’s death toll to 45. In the last 20 years, only 2021—the deadliest year on record—had more deaths-to-date than this year so far. Since the start of 2023, a staggering 122 people have died in L.A. jails.

This latest tragedy comes four years after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) committed to closing Men’s Central Jail and underscores the dire urgency with which LACBOS must finally act to stop this cycle of death.

It also comes as Proposition 36 goes into effect statewide. Prop 36, which passed last fall after a misinformation campaign, is expected to balloon county jail populations by mandating increased prison sentences for some low-level crimes while simultaneously removing funding for vital resources like drug and mental health treatment, homelessness prevention, and victim services centers. A growing jail population has raised concerns that the death toll may climb even higher this year.

The amount of people who have died in L.A. jails—the nation’s largest jail system—is driven by severe overcrowding, pervasive neglect and mistreatment, inadequate care inside jails, and a failure to offer robust alternatives to incarceration. A horrifying video smuggled out of Men’s Central Jail in June 2023 showed jail staff neglecting to intervene in a violent assault that stretched on for more than 10 minutes. Stories like this emphasize the urgency of reducing the jail population and expanding effective community-based alternatives to incarceration.

“Our jails are killing people because of a culture of impunity and neglect within the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, which runs the jails,” said Michelle Parris, program director of Vera California. “Jail has become the county’s default response to poverty, houselessness, and other unmet needs, and the people held in them are subjected to foul conditions and cruel treatment. Our communities would be safer if we addressed the root causes of instability by investing in community-based alternatives to incarceration that are proven to work, and that do not result in a new death every week.”

Read the full article about the death toll in L.A. jails since 2023 by Sam McCann and Nazish Dholakia at Vera Institute of Justice.