It’s been exactly two years since the L.A. County Board of Supervisors received a 145-page proposal to close the aging Men’s Central Jail (MCJ).
Prepared by a workgroup led by the County Office of Diversion and Reentry and the Sheriff’s Department, in partnership with community groups and service providers, the report offered a three-pronged strategy for shutting down the 60-year-old, “unsafe, crowded and crumbling” jail:
- Redistribute the MCJ population to other jails;
- Invest “significantly” in beds and services within the community;
- Divert some 4,500 people with mental health issues out of jail (roughly the number of people being held at MCJ).
The proposal said it would require a large investment in expanded community mental health and substance use services before L.A. County will be able to close the jail. The report authors also estimated that it would take up to two years to get it done.
Melissa Camacho-Cheung, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, called on LA County Supervisors to commit to a timeline to close Men’s Central Jail at a rally on March 30, 2023.
(Robert Garrova / LAist )
“The Board needs to commit to a deadline. People are suffering and dying. And so we say to the Board of Supervisors… give us a date and we will do everything in our power to help you meet it,” Melissa Camacho-Cheung, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California said at a rally in front of the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration Thursday.
Activists with the group…
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