Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity is part of the Reform LA Jails coalition which is bringing a proposition, the Reform Jails and Community Reinvestment Initiative, to the March 2020 election in Los Angeles county. As people of faith we seek real alternatives and public investment to reform and promote humane and effective alternatives to the current system. The root causes of the carceral system and the root causes and conditions that lead people to make poor decisions must be addressed. Our faith traditions call us to be agents of healing, justice, reconciliation, renewal, and restoration. We are all worthy and capable of rehabilitation and redemption.
In response to community demands, in January 12, 2016, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to implement a Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission with the mission to improve public transparency and accountability for the Sheriff’s Department– but it did not have the power to subpoena individuals and records.
Two years later, Los Angeles is still plagued with misconduct in the Sheriff’s Department including deputies trafficking drugs, deputies raping female inmates under the color of authority, deputies assigned to narcotics skimming money, the continuous widespread reports of inmates being mistreated in our jails, and the countless “suicides” of inmates who were allegedly under the watchful eye of deputies.
To identify, expose and end corruption and misconduct in the Sheriff’s Department, the Civilian Oversight Commission must have the power to subpoena records and to compel the testimony of deputies and their superiors accused of wrongdoing.
The Reform Jails and Community Reinvestment Initiative will ensure that the Civilian Oversight Commission has the tools necessary to do its job. If passed, the Initiative will also task the Civilian Oversight Commission with developing a Comprehensive Public Safety Reinvestment Plan and Feasibility Study to reduce jail populations and to redirect the cost savings to alternatives to incarceration.
Come to our monthly First Thursdays Justice Not Jails gathering to get involved.