Probation officer stabbed at troubled L.A. County juvenile hall

Probation officer stabbed in neck, face at troubled L.A. County juvenile hall

April 11, 2023 Updated 7:06 PM PT

A probation officer was stabbed in the neck in one of Los Angeles County’s long-troubled probation halls Monday night, just days before a state oversight board is expected to vote to shut down the facility.

The officer, described as a supervisor, was cut across the face and neck sometime after 9 p.m. while working in the Secure Youth Track Facility of Barry J. Nidorf Hall, according to several law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the situation. The youth track facility houses youths accused of serious crimes including murder and manslaughter.

The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case. The Probation Department did not respond to a request for comment.

The supervisor was taken to an area hospital and received stitches for what one official described as a “deep cut to side of face.” It was not immediately clear what led to the attack, but the incident marked the third time an officer or youth was slashed inside the Secure Youth Track Facility unit since late February.

The sources said the youth who attacked the officer Monday night was also involved in one of the February stabbings. The district attorney’s office had previously declined to comment on what, if any, charges that youth might face, based on age.

Probation officials have requested a mental health evaluation for the youth involved in the stabbing, according to a document reviewed by The Times. The youth suffered a broken arm when officers tried to restrain him after the attack, several sources said.

The county’s juvenile halls have seen a dramatic surge in violence over the last year, in part due to a massive staffing shortage as officers refuse to come to work. The situation has crippled the county’s ability to provide educational or recreational services to youths, leading to the increased use of lockdowns and severe harm to the mental and physical health of both officers and minors in L.A. County’s custody. Probation Chief Adolfo Gonzales was fired last month amid the bedlam.

The chaos could come to a head Thursday, when the Board of State and Community Corrections may vote to shutter Nidorf and Central juvenile halls. Although the oversight body has repeatedly found the county’s juvenile halls “unsuitable” to house youths since 2021, it has also given the Probation Department a chance to fix its deficiencies. The board appeared to reach a breaking point last month, however.

“If the board determines that the facilities are not suitable for the confinement of youth, the county must vacate the juvenile halls within 60 days following the determination,” wrote Allison Ganter, the board’s deputy director, in a letter to interim Probation Chief Karen Fletcher last month.

Between Central and Nidorf, the state board found 39 areas of noncompliance — many of them stemming from the staffing crisis. Youths were being confined in their rooms for too long, according to the board letter, while officers were found to not have proper training in the department’s use-of-force policy.

The department has not publicly commented on the looming Board of State and Community Corrections vote. But an email blast sent out by the union representing rank-and-file probation officers last week shed some light on what might happen if the halls are ordered to be closed.

In the April 5 message, the union said it was unlikely youths would be released or sent to other counties as a result of the vote. Instead, the union letter said, they could be housed in Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, which was also closed in 2019 following a wave of abuse claims.

Times staff writer Rebecca Ellis contributed to this report.