[KHTS] – At their Tuesday morning meeting, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will discuss a number of important issues facing the county, including jail operations and law enforcement accountability, adequate legal representation for low-income juvenile offenders, and the possibility of bringing the 2024 Olympic games to the city of Los Angeles, among other things.
Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Gloria Molina are recommending that the board vote to appoint a Citizen’s Oversight Commission for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The recommendation comes in the midst of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice as to whether deputies have abused inmates in county jails, according to a press release issued by Ridley-Thomas.
“The seriousness of this new investigation and the allegations of abuse that prompted it cannot be ignored,” Ridley-Thomas said in a statement. “The Sheriff’s Department has long required a level of scrutiny that has been missing, and although the board only controls it’s budget, the department is there to serve the citizens of L.A. County, and that’s who should have greater oversight.”
If the recommendation is passed, each of the five supervisors appoint one commission member by Oct. 15 and provide for office space and equipment.
Ridley-Thomas is also asking the board to look into reforming the process for assigning legal defense to indigent defendants who are minors, once the contract for current juvenile indigent defense attorneys expires on Oct. 31.
He believes that paying a flat fee to these attorneys does not ensure adequate and competent legal counsel, and suggests that the board ask the CEO to determine what the costs of reform would be.
Ridley-Thomas described the issue as a “constitutional and moral imperative,” in the motion.
The board will also consider the possibility of Los Angeles hosting the 2024 Olympic Games.
If approved, the board will sign and send a letter to the United States Olympic Committee, expressing their desire to host the games. The county would also give it’s full cooperation to the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games in their bid to host.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors’ weekly meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
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