By SDSO Eric Walton, Local 685 Institutions Vice President
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
These are challenging times for those of working in the Institutions and Local 685 will not back down from our demand that the L.A. County Board of Supervisors assure that officers are safe, and the Institutions are fully staffed to facilitate the services the juveniles need. Simply put, without proper staffing, the present environment contradicts everything the Board of Supervisors says they are trying to achieve. Additionally, short staffing leads to a higher number of youth-on-youth and youth-on-staff of assaults, which is why we need the District Attorney’s office to be prepared and fully aware of the present atmosphere within the juvenile Institutions.
I invited the Association of Deputy District Attorneys (ADDA) to visit Local 685 to discuss some of the serious issues of victim advocacy, brutal assaults on officers, and the attack on labor.
Since probation officers are the eyes and ears of the court, as well as an advocate for victims, Eric Sidall, ADDA Vice President, agreed to listen to what we as probation officers are dealing with.
But it’s not just about safety in the Institutions. Under the guise of “justice reform,” the Board of Supervisors is attempting to contract out the Probation Department’s civilian division, Pretrial Services. Our brothers and sisters in Pretrial Services have long provided vital information to the courts through a trained vetting process that aids judges in making the appropriate decision on who is suitable to release back into the community. Pretrial Services play a key role in ensuring that judges are fully informed on those who victimize others in the community by way of armed robbery, domestic violence, and commercially sex trafficking children. Here’s the facts:
The tactics employed by certain members of the Board of Supervisors to vilify our brothers and sisters in Pretrial Services – specifically to link them to a “prison to pipeline” system to redirect funding to the new entity (Alternative to Incarceration) – is nothing but union busting and neither Local 685 nor our sisters and brothers represented by the ADDA will remain silent! It’s time to get loud – join us on August 16 at the Hall of Administration!
In solidarity,
SDSO Eric Walton
Local 685 Institutions Vice President