LOS ANGELES — Thirty officers at a Southern California juvenile detention facility have been charged for their role in facilitating so-called “gladiator fights” between youth in their care, the state’s attorney general said Monday. A grand jury indictment alleges the officers at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles County allowed and sometimes encouraged nearly 70 fights to take place …
Footage obtained by the L.A. Times shows a December 2023 incident in which staffers can be seen allowing at least six youths to hit and kick a 17-year-old. Both Brooks and Smyles have been with the agency for over a decade, according to the county’s public employee database “This case is just a microcosm of the bigger problem—a failure of …
