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Lockdown Lifted At Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall After Friday Violence
An entryway into Central Juvenile Hall.
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Chava Sanchez
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LAist
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Lockdown has been lifted at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall, allowing for limited activities after violence broke out Friday night at the Downey facility.
The disturbance broke out at about 8 p.m. Friday night, involving 13 youths at the detention center. According to L.A. County probation officials, a group of young residents attacked the staff, while one 18-year-old escaped the premises before he was quickly recaptured and booked by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department.
No serious injuries were reported.
Lockdown of the facility was lifted Saturday, allowing for residents to participate in meals, schooling and recreational activities.
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Troubles at juvenile facilities
The latest incident came after a gun was found at the facility last week.
The Downey juvenile hall was recently reopened to house some 300 youths transferred from two detention centers — in Sylmar and Lincoln Heights — after regulators found their conditions “unsuitable."
But Los Padrinos was itself shut down in 2019 due to security, staffing and other issues, causing families of detained youths to question the transfer.
“Any time you move a large number of youths, especially to a new facility as we have in the last week or two, there is a potential for problems and we plan for those,” said Interim Probation Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa in a statement. “But Friday night’s disturbance was an emergency that required an immediate and strong response. I’m thankful that no youth were seriously hurt, and with the help of other law enforcement agencies, we were able to reestablish order.”
Viera Rosa said he will push to expedite for the hiring of off-duty or retired peace officers at the detention center.
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