4 More LA County Probation Officers on Leave Over Youth Violence at Juvey Hall

DOWNEY, Calif.—Four more Los Angeles County probation officers were placed on leave following an investigation that detected additional cases of “youth-on-youth violence” at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey, the Probation Department announced April 26. Eight other officers were placed on leave in January following an incident that was caught on security video from the facility showing them standing by while multiple detainees punched and kicked another youth. “While these incidents involve a small number of our staff, they violate our core values and undermine our ability to do our duty to provide a safe and nurturing environment for the rehabilitation of the youth placed in our care,” Los Angeles County Probation Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa said in a statement. “My commitment to dig deeper into potential wrongdoing, to take immediate action, and to publicly disclose my actions should make it clear that we will not tolerate anything that creates or contributes to a culture of violence in our juvenile facilities.”...