Giving Compass' Take:
- Sam McCann reports on the continued prevalence and causes of deaths in LA jails, with 23 deaths in 2024 already.
- What are the root causes of incarcerated people dying in custody? What is the role of donors in addressing these roots?
- Learn more about key issues in criminal justice and how you can help.
- Search our Guide to Good for nonprofits focused on criminal justice in your area.
What is Giving Compass?
We connect donors to learning resources and ways to support community-led solutions. Learn more about us.
Another person has died in Los Angeles County jails, marking the 23rd in-custody death in an LA jail so far this year and the 68th since the start of 2023.
The latest death comes just two days after another person died in custody. These tragedies underscore the urgency for Los Angeles County to stop the cycle of death plaguing its jails. That demands honoring the commitment the board of supervisors made in 2021 to close Men's Central Jail.
The staggering number of deaths far exceeds that of New York City Department of Correction facilities, where the rising number of deaths at the Rikers Island jail complex has led to a mounting crisis that has received nationwide attention.
The death toll in LA jails—the nation’s largestjail 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, which shows jail staff neglecting to intervene in a violent assault that stretched for more than 10 minutes, underscores the urgent need to reduce the jail population and expand community-based alternatives to incarceration.
“Our jails are killing people—disproportionately Black and Latino men who are held pretrial—because of a culture of impunity and neglectwithin the LA 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 address 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.”
What Is Causing Deaths in LA Jails?
Overcrowded facilities are the most significant single factor driving jail deaths in Los Angeles. The jail system has operated as high as 16.7 percent over capacity since the start of last year. This means that not only are the facilities physically crowded, but resources are also being stretched beyond their breaking point.
Read the full article about deaths in LA jails by Sam McCann at The Vera Institute of Justice.