Kuehl Authors Plan To Close Main Jail, Diverting 1/3 of Detainees To Treatment – Lack Of Vaccinated Cops Worries Lawmakers

Close the Men’s Central Jail.

That’s the plan approved by a 4 to 1 vote at the L A County Board of Supervisors meeting yesterday.

That would mean reducing the total number of jail beds in L A county by about one third.

Malibu’s L A County supervisor … Sheila Kuehl … co-authored the motion to close the Men’s Central Jail.

The sheriff is saying … however … he will fight the order to shut down the violent and antiquated men’s central jail.

The sheriff and the supervisors have been fighting about this and other issues for nearly three years.

The sheriff is the elected head of the sheriff’s office … which serves as the Malibu police department.

The supervisors … however … hold the responsibility for budget.

Supervisor Hilda Solis says it’s time to to put treatment centers in place instead of incarceration … and tear down the Mens Central Jail … MCJ.

NEWSCART 73582 JAIL SOLIS

“MCJ has been a grating symbol and a stain on LA County that has cause generations of trauma especially for Latinx and African-American Angelenos.

“Our jails reflect the sad inequitable and racist structure that incarcerates 15 thousand people in our jails.

“Over 80 percent are Black and Latin-X people and over 40 percent are held pretrial … people who are technically and legally innocent … they have not been proven guilty.”

At yesterday’s board meeting …. Malibu’s county supervisor … Sheila Kuehl …. said the studies have been done … the voters have spoken by approving Measure J … it’s time to close the Mens Central Jail,.

NEWSCART 73583 JAIL KUEHL close this jail

“Today’s motion brings us just one step closer … to making it a reality.

“So we are ready in a way we have never been before, to do this work.

“So please, have faith in us, we are all on the same page, we’re going to get this jail closed.

“I am happy to co-author this.”

Sheriff Alex Villanueva did not attend or speak at yesterday’s supervisors session.

But elsewhere … he warned the board against moving forward with the plan.

“Releasing 4,500 inmates onto the streets is not a legal option for the county … and trying to cram 12,500 inmates into 8,500 beds is … unconstitutional,” Villanueva told the L A Daily News.

“Government code section 22605 clearly states that the sheriff runs the county jail, and I have full intention to carry out my mandate,” he also told the L A Daily News.

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The fact that law enforcement officers and firefighters are … in large numbers … refusing to be vaccinated is roiling political waters in Los Angeles.

The city’s police commission is demanding a report from the police chief.

The police chief blames what he calls the political weaponization of the vaccine effort.

Moore says his officers are “polarized” … with some believing what he called ‘the conspiracy theorists (who) believe that (COVID-19) is a hoax, that the vaccine poses a more long term risk to people than the pandemic itself.”

The L A county sheriff’s office reports 30 percent of its staff got vaccinated by the department itself … but that it does not have figures on what the actual participation rate is.

In the L A Times … one letter states it is time for negative incentives for cops or deputies who refuse to get vaccinated: “get the shots or you’re fired.”

People point out that deputies are not wearing masks in public … even before the vaccines came out mask wearing by law enforcement and firefighters was rare.

Others voice opinions that say “it’s time to stop coddling the know-nothings … our lives depend on it.”

Sheriff Alex Villanueva … to our knowledge … has not yet commented on what he plans to do about unvaccinated deputies.

And the L A County fire chief has not made any public statement about that … that we can find … either.

Both county agencies serve as the city police and fire departments in Malibu.

Health officials are concerned that the new Covid 19 variants are much more easy to transmit … and that unvaccinated people may serve as Petri dishes for another variant to emerge … one that might be impervious to vaccines.