Judge Warns About Excessive Arrests at MacLaren Hall

A judge warned Los Angeles County supervisors Tuesday that employees at the county’s home for abused and neglected children are too quick to have youths who act up arrested.

Terry Friedman, presiding judge of Los Angeles Dependency Court, said he began getting complaints this spring about excessive arrests at MacLaren Hall in El Monte. He recalled a case in which a 13-year-old boy was charged with battering a 6-foot-tall, 200-pound MacLaren employee.

That case was never prosecuted, nor were the vast majority of arrests made this year. Of 308 arrests, seven resulted in a conviction and 14 others led to supervised probation, Friedman said.

“We have a problem--and I include the court in this--the entire county system has a problem deciding which kids . . . should get arrested and into our delinquency system,” he said.

Friedman was on a task force that recommended precautions the center can take to avoid arrests for the wrong reasons.

The county chief administrative office, which is in charge of MacLaren, will implement the proposals.

Lisa Mandel, an attorney with Dependency Court Legal Services, said that overworked employees at MacLaren are too swift to call sheriff’s deputies.

“They’re using the arrest of these children as a timeout, a way to clear out the halls.”