How do you fix one of the worst jails in America?

The jail system run by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is the largest in the country. Critics say it is also one of the worst – a place where beatings and broken bones have been the preferred method of disciplining inmates and visitors alike. That culture, they claim, was condoned by the department’s brass, including the sheriff himself, Lee Baca.

After 15 years in office, Baca stepped down last week. In December of last year, federal authorities announced charges against 18 officers who worked at the jail.

“Unfortunately, the federal investigation found that these incidents did not take place in a vacuum,” Andre Birotte Jr., the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, announced at a December press conference. “In fact, the examples of illegal conduct alleged in these indictments demonstrated that certain of that behavior had become institutionalized.”

According to one of the federal indictments, Sgt. Eric Gonzalez, who was a supervisor at the visiting area at the Men’s Central Jail, didn’t like it when guests “disrespected” deputies, so encouraged those under his command to “conduct unreasonable searches and seizures,” “engage in excessive force” and to “make unlawful arrests.” 

Gonzalez questioned Leo Figueroa after he was injured.  A video made by officers at the jail shows Gonzalez pressing Figueroa, suggesting that he was responsible for the attack and even, at one point, handling his broken arm.

“Lift your left arm, Leo,” Gonzalez says in the video. Figueroa moaned as he strained to move his disabled limb.

“There appears to be some pain to the left arm, some redness, maybe some swelling,” Gonzalez continued, as Figueroa lets out a scream.

In all, Figueroa was held for five days, although he was never officially charged with a crime.

“I didn’t do anything to provoke or assault. I didn’t spit at the officer. I didn’t kick at the officer. I didn’t do anything to the deputy sheriffs or anyone else that I was involved with,” Figueroa told America Tonight. “And they know that. The bottom line is they know that.”

It wasn’t just jailhouse visitors like Figueroa who were allegedly abused by deputies. The indictments make clear that inmates endured their own brand of harsh treatment. One of the more serious allegations is that deputies at the Men’s Central Jail organized themselves into gangs, sporting special tattoos and requiring new members to beat inmates. Reportedly, they named themselves the “2000 Boys” and “3000 Boys,” after the floors on which they worked.

Sonia Mercado, a civil rights attorney who has represented several former inmates, says one of her clients, a pretrial detainee, was brutally beaten by three deputies.

“His eyes were black and blue and shut closed for a month,” Mercado told America Tonight. “His ankle was broken, the bones were broken in four different parts.”

In a jailhouse video, sheriff’s deputies can be heard joking about the man’s injuries.

“He’s just faking it,” said one deputy.

The deputies contend that in a search of the man’s cell, he became unruly. They admitted, however, that at the time of the beating, he was unarmed, dressed only in his underwear and was being physically restrained when many of the blows were delivered.

Capt. Daniel Dyer walked through the 3000 floor of the Men’s Central Jail, greeting inmates along the way. Dyer is the new captain of the jail, responsible for day-to-day operations. 

“Nobody wants to believe that that’s actually occurred or was occurring at the time,” Dyer told America Tonight. “It’s a tough pill to swallow at times.”

Dyer says a lot of the problems at the jail stemmed from poor morale because officers viewed the jail as a temporary stop on the way to more glamorous jobs within the department. But he says most of his staff has come to realize that the job is much easier when you respect the inmates.

“You give them respect, you get the respect back. The rapport with the deputies and inmates is remarkable, it really is,” he says.

Since the allegations came out, Dyer says he’s doubled the number of supervisors in the jail, adding sergeants to every floor.  He also says he’s changed the protocols regarding the use of force. He says that while the jail did have some issues in the past, the troubles were not as rampant as they were portrayed in the media.