Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall set to close this summer

DOWNEY – For more than six decades, Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall has served as the temporary holding facility for thousands of youth offenders, a detention center for teens (and pre-teens) charged with crimes as petty as shoplifting and as serious as murder.

But Los Padrinos may not exist for much longer.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors intends to close the detention facility, one of L.A. County’s three juvenile halls.

It’s not clear what will happen to the youth currently housed at Los Padrinos, or if the closure is related to recent allegations of excessive use-of-force by Los Padrinos staff.

Also unclear is if the closure is temporary or permanent.

A representative for Supervisor Janice Hahn confirmed plans to close the detention center but stressed that details are still preliminary.

City officials declined to comment publicly on Los Padrinos’ expected closure. Privately, however, they said they expected L.A. County to repurpose the facility, located at 7285 Quill Drive behind Los Amigos Country Club.

Opened in 1957, Los Padrinos houses hundreds of boys and girls at any given time. Most of the juvenile defendants are awaiting court action or transfer to another facility.

Los Padrinos has been extensively criticized in the past, including for high incidents of depression among the population and youth suicides. More recently, six detention officers were arrested last month for assaulting teenage girls with pepper spray.

This past March, the Los Angeles County Probation Department -- which operates Los Padrinos -- reported a 214% increase in the use of pepper spray at Los Padrinos. Pepper spray -- also known as OC spray -- is the most significant force option authorized by the department.

A February 2019 report by the L.A. County Office of Inspector General found that detention staff at Los Padrinos feared for their safety and “consistently reported feeling outnumbered and overpowered by youth.”

The county also has struggled to hire and retain staff, which has “destabilized” the facility due to workers going on sick leave and long-term absences.

In addition to the detention center, Los Padrinos houses a juvenile court. Victor H. Greenberg, presiding judge at the Los Padrinos courthouse, confirmed in a letter to law enforcement officials that Los Padrinos plans to close July 31 and the court will close Aug. 30.

“Consistent with the decline in juvenile hall population over the past several years, petition filings have also decreased,” Judge Greenberg wrote.

According to Greenberg, pending court cases at Los Padrinos will be re-assigned to the Eastlake Juvenile Court in Los Angeles and the Compton Courthouse.