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A group of Los Angeles prison officers were watching “sexually explicit” videos when they failed to notice an inmate had a noose hanging in his cell, a new report has found.
The eight LA County sheriff’s deputies were caught watching porn last month during an inspection at the Men’s Central Jail.
Commission inspectors Haley Broder and Eric Miller spotted an “obvious” noose hanging from the ceiling of a cell in the maximum-security unit, which a prison guard had allegedly walked past and ignored during a security check. inspection report states.
Broder and Miller informed officers about the “homemade noose” and the group allegedly said they would check the cell later, but instead “sat and watched the video on the television.”
The pair completed their inspections and Miller returned to the office 30 minutes later, where he found jailers still watching the video, according to the report.
It wasn’t until Broder entered that the officers “almost deleted the video from the screen.”
Eight LA County sheriff’s deputies were caught watching porn during an inspection at the Men’s Central Jail last month, according to an inspection report.
“To me it looked like the beginning of an OnlyFans video or something,” Miller said The Los Angeles Times.
‘They were women in underwear, and it certainly didn’t look like they were going to put on any more clothing. It looked like they were going to take them off.”
The report alleges that the commissioners had to make several requests before one of the deputies reluctantly checked the cell, ripped off the noose and threw it on the ground outside the cell.
“Although it is unlikely to support the prisoner’s weight, the noose was clearly visible to anyone looking into the cell,” the report said.
Commissioners spoke with the inmate who hung the noose and he confirmed he was having suicidal thoughts, according to the inspection report.
It is alleged that when a deputy was told the inmate needed additional mental health care, the jailer “shrugged off” the request.
Miller described the “level of insensitivity” displayed by the officers as “horrific” and questioned “what is the purpose of the security checkpoint if you don’t actually take any action?”
Broder claimed the incident was representative of the “continued neglect and poor conditions” she has seen at the facility.
‘People said they were hungry. We saw people with huge open wounds. The trash was just everywhere – there’s so much trash. It smells. There are fires,” she told the newspaper about the state of the prison. “And it seems like overall there’s just a genuine lack of interest in changing that situation.”
The LA County Sheriff’s Department has reportedly addressed some of the concerns outlined in the inspection report and launched an investigation into the eight deputies allegedly caught watching porn.
“When the ministry was informed of the allegations in early May, we immediately launched an investigation into the claims, which is still ongoing. The Custody Division has also notified the Department Intake Specialist Unit which reviews claims for any policy of equality breaches by staff,” the department said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
“The department investigates all allegations of misconduct and expects its personnel to fulfill their responsibilities in a professional manner, consistent with department policy. When violations of policies and procedures are discovered, staff are held accountable.”
- If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline on 988 for 24-hour confidential support.