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VISIT ARCADIAWEEKLY.COM
MONDAY, APRIL 07- APRIL 13, 2025
LA County supervisors call for more Probation Department transparency
NO. 218
VOL.29,
Human remains found in Altadena fire zone; deaths now total 18
By Joe Taglieri
By Joe Taglieri
joet@beaconmedianews.com
joet@beaconmedianews.com
A
Walkways on the campus of Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey. | Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles County Probation Department
T
he Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion last week requiring board approval before any further changes are made to the embattled Probation Department’s juvenile halls. In a motion introduced Tuesday, Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Janice Hahn called on the department to ask for board approval on any updates to the Global Plan to implement policy and procedural changes at Campus Kilpatrick in Malibu, Barry J. Nidorf Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, the Dorothy Kirby Center in Commerce, Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey and possibly other juvenile detention facilities. Supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of the motion, with
Board Chair Kathryn Barger voting against it. The supervisors condemned what they called the department’s “difficult history of failures and crisis,” including refusals to follow directives from the board. The motion highlighted the Probation Department’s alleged failure to stop using pepper spray on detainees, failure to equip custodial staff with the anti-overdose remedy Narcan and the lack of a “plan for LGBTQ+ and gender-expansive youth,” in addition to other shortfalls. “With Probation’s crisis and this Board’s effort to improve transparency and communication with the public and relevant stakeholders, it is critically important that this Board set clear
requirements for how Probation moves forward with major changes to its facilities, and how it presents those plans to the Board, County stakeholders, and the greater public,” Horvath and Hahn wrote in their motion. Chief Probation Officer Guillermo Viera Rosa was the motion’s primary target for his alleged failures to meet suitability standards in the facilities and to comply with directives from the Board of Supervisors. The motion criticized Rosa’s Feb. 18 response to the board’s order in March 2023 for the department to develop a long-term plan for the county’s youth detainees.
“Chief Probation Officer Guillermo Viera Rosa admitted that the plan presented was not developed in collaboration with County stakeholders, or community organizations,” according to the motion. “For example, the plan did not consider staffing changes that the Department of Health Services or Department of Mental Health would need to make to serve the girls population if it is moved from more centrally located facilities in Downey and Commerce to Malibu, nor did the plan consider outreach to labor partners or the courts. “Asked how Probation would care for pregnant youth under the plan, Chief Viera
See Probation Department Page 27
uthorities discovered human remains Wednesday in the Eaton Fire zone in Altadena, increasing the number of deaths resulting from the devastating blaze to 18. Personnel from the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner were working Thursday to identify the deceased individual found by a sixmember Special Operations Response Team in the 900 block of Boston Street, near Lake Avenue, according to the department. Identifying the deceased person “can take considerable time,” according a DME statement. The department “relies on complex scientific methods of identification in these cases due to the condition of the remains” including dental record and DNA comparisons, review of medical records or using radiographs to search for medical prosthetics and devices and their associated serial numbers, officials said. The DME also works with law enforcement agencies to collect information on suspected missing persons to follow-up with their families. The Eaton Fire was reported about 6:20 p.m.
Jan. 7 near Altadena and Midwick drives in the foothills above Altadena amid extreme winds, according to Cal Fire. The fire burned over 14,000 acres through Jan. 31, destroying over 9,400 structures and damaging nearly 1,100 others. Authorities are still investigating the fire’s cause. Multiple residents and local governments have filed lawsuits against Southern California Edison, alleging the utility’s equipment sparked the deadly blaze. Another 12 people were killed in the Palisades Fire, bringing the LA wildfires’ total death toll to 30, the DME reported. Supervisors approve small business aid for fire victims In another effort to support Eaton Fire victims, the LA County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved pop-up retail and other commercial enterprises in vacant lots cleared of fire debris in Altadena. The board authorized the county director of regional planning to approve applications for a five-year period, with a three-year base period and two possible one-year extensions. Supervisors tasked the
See Eaton death Page 28
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