Inside LA's out-of-control juvenile jails where violence rules in the Newsom era A series of state and local laws designed to clear California lockups have reached down to juvenile facilities where inmates learn now that they can get away with anything short of murder, officials said. While politicians have been placing more juvenile offenders in the communities instead of behind bars, those left behind are the worst of the worst. “The only kids we have detained are the most violent, aggressive, assaultive kids who have committed the most heinous crimes against society,” one Los Angeles County Probation Department manager told the Washington Examiner. “We don’t have a kid who stole a pair of jeans from JCPenney. We have a kid who put a gun to someone’s head and splattered their brains against a wall.” The Washington Examiner spoke to two veteran probation officials who described a hopeless situation where officers routinely receive catastrophic injuries yet no support from county lawmakers who want a softer approach for juvenile offenders. “We’ve had back injuries, fractures, and broken bones,” the officer said. “One officer recently broke his hip and had to have pins put in. He fell on a concrete floor during a restraint. These are 18-, 19-year-old kids who are used to fighting and a lot more durable than 40- or 50-year-old people.” The situation has become so dangerous that staff members and officers have started to smuggle in contraband for inmates as a way of buying favor to avoid injury. Items include cellphones, laptops, and drugs.