. At every turn, the status quo is failing us, but we can change these policies.
As an advocate working for a nonprofit focused on implementing policies to end mass incarceration, I have invested countless hours in county workgroups pushing to end the use of jail for people experiencing poverty, homelessness and unmet treatment needs. We need instead to invest in community-based care — more housing, more access to treatment, more services that will prevent people from dying on our streets and in our jails.L.A.
County officials have made important promises to offer care first and use jail as a last resort, but mounting deaths are a crude reminder that actions — and outcomes — speak louder than words. The bureaucracy’s deep investment in incarceration is killing Angelenos and denying communities the necessary solutions.
For years now, residents have voted to check the sheriff’s authority, expanding the power of the civilian oversight commission and allowing the board to remove sheriffs who seriously violate public trust. Millions approved Measure J in 2020 to address racial injustice by earmarking local dollars for care and alternatives to incarceration — not law enforcement.