There’s plenty of blame to be accepted for what one county supervisor calls the “colossal mess” plaguing the Los Angeles County Probation Department, from elected leaders down through the probation department’s executive management team. The only effective remedy is acknowledging the problems – and fixing them.

A recent Times story spotlighted 170 Probation Department employees accused of wrongdoing, half of them involving youths. Some behaved improperly; many did nothing wrong, victims of false complaints. That’s why there are supposed to be transparent and timely investigations – to determine which complaints are real and to take immediate action. This has not been happening.

February Times coverage spotlighted 11 juvenile probation officers convicted or disciplined for abuse. All but one of them were turned in by fellow probation officers, members of the same union. Take the case of a female officer later sentenced to jail for ordering the beating by other inmates of a juvenile she believed had taken her cell phone, according to a Times story. Fellow probation officers first ensured the youngster received medical care. Then they reported the incident to their supervisor, who started an investigation.

Probation officers deal every day with the same criminals confronting police officers: Murderers, rapists, armed robbers, car jackers, home invaders, and child molesters. It’s just that juveniles, more immature and with less judgment, can be even more volatile and feel more invulnerable. One juvenile hall resident is awaiting transfer to state prison to serve a 200-year sentence for murder and other crimes. Many are gang members who don’t respect authority, reject structure and resent being locked up.

Unlike with adults, juvenile probationers are not held in cells; they are in group settings that require strong supervision. These are dangerous facilities, and probation officers on these assignments suffer more injuries than deputy sheriffs who operate county jails. They not only need to keep themselves safe, they must try to keep the youthful violators in their care safe and under control. One of the biggest problems is serious ambiguity about how probation officers are allowed to do it. Some very simple and seemingly harmless techniques to try to contain their young wards often subject innocent officers to untrue accusations of child abuse. The Probation Department’s system to investigate these complaints is broken.

How can that system be fixed?

• The union has long advocated for unequivocal guidelines on how probation officers who work with juveniles can control them, and adequate training for both line officers and management.
• A properly functioning system to speedily handle complaints against officers is overdue. The probation officers’ union completely agrees with the county Office of Independent Review’s report exposing year-long plus delays and a wholesale collapse in the review of disciplinary cases. It was the union that sponsored the often-ignored state law requiring investigations be completed within a year.
• Immediate changes are needed so that those who are most knowledgeable about probation, public safety, and rehabilitation are making management decisions and advising the county’s new chief probation officer.

The department has a troubled history and the union has been pushing for reforms for decades. In 1974, a federal judge placed the department under a consent decree to improve poor conditions at juvenile halls. But in the wake of Proposition 13, many probation employees were laid off, demoted or transferred. The Board of Supervisors cut most mental health services and other vital programs, critically needed when kids are first taken off the streets.

The union strongly objected to those cuts. After decades of inaction and neglect, the county agreed, in settlement of a 1999 union-filed lawsuit, to restore many of these vital programs. That lasted two years before county supervisors cut them again. Finally, in 2006, the U.S. Justice Department imposed a settlement agreement on the county requiring reinstatement of key staffing and services in juvenile halls; a similar agreement this year covers juvenile camps.

The Probation Department’s shortcomings are out in the open once again. Probation officers want the county to fix them for the sake of the young people who need help, the taxpayers who pay for it and the probation officers who dedicate, and risk, their lives to turning others lives around.

Ralph Miller is president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 685, representing L.A. County probation officers.