FBI Investigating LA County Jails for Reports of Deputy Involved Inmate Beatings

The LA Times wrote this weekend that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing LA County jails for cases of misconduct by deputies, including inmate beatings. From the Times:

Federal authorities are investigating allegations of inmate beatings and other misconduct by deputies in Los Angeles County jails, with FBI agents going so far as to sneak a cellphone to an inmate to get reports from inside, according to law enforcement sources.

Federal officials declined to discuss details of their probes in the largest jail system in the nation. The lockups are already under federal court oversight for overcrowding and poor conditions and are due to absorb thousands of offenders who previously would have been housed in state prisons.

The jails have been plagued with problems over the last decade, including inmate riots, killings, antiquated facilities, huge settlements and even the formation of a gang-like deputies clique. Inmate accusations of beatings are common within the many facilities that make up the department's jail system, but most are unsubstantiated.

Just south of LA, the Orange County jail has had its own share of misconduct over the past decade. Reason TV looked at the fatal beating of inmate Michael Patrick Lass at the mens central jail in the piece, You're Killing Me! Was a police-related jailhouse death an accident or a homicide?.