The department charged with supervising the thousands of people on probation in Los Angeles County is asking for local authorities to take over duties from its officers, citing a “significant void” in supervising high-risk probationers amid staffing shortages. 

A mutual aid request sent by Probation Chief Guillermo Viera Rosa in December to the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) asks for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and local police agencies to conduct compliance checks on probationers over a one-year period. 

The request came after Rosa reassigned field officers to the county juvenile halls to cover for staffing shortages there.

In 2024, the Probation Department axed more than a dozen top officials following complaints of violence and injuries in the county juvenile facilities. In the same year, 66 sworn probation officers were placed on leave for a range of alleged offenses, including some related to youth-on-youth violence in Los Padrinos.

Nearly 40 probation officers were accused of general misconduct, which includes suspected use of excessive force, child endangerment or abuse, possession of contraband, and negligent supervision.

In a Feb. 3 letter to probation officers that was provided to Fox News Digital, the L.A. County Deputy Probation Officers’ Union said of the mutual aid request that “it doesn’t make any sense to force Field DPOs into the Juvenile Halls where they haven’t worked for years, then seek outside assistance to cover the work that Field DPOs have expertly provided day in and day out for years.”

The department has come under scrutiny in recent years over accusations that it failed to supervise probationers. A 2023 report from the Los Angeles County Office of Inspector General said a convicted gang member who killed two El Monte police officers before killing himself was only contacted six times over 16 months. 

Justin Flores only met with a probation officer once, in December 2021, according to the report. Probation staff left voicemails for Flores ordering him into the office but never received a reply. 

Los Angeles cityscape at dusk. (iStock)

In addition, the mother of Flores’ girlfriend called the department days before the killings saying he was on drugs, had been physically abusive with her daughter and that he “always has a gun,” the report states. 

Like Flores, the lack of proper staffing results in lax supervision, which has public repercussions, said Mundo. 

“The most worrisome are sexual offenders. They’re not being visited because of the deployment,” he said. “I’ve seen the department at its worst and it’s never been like this.”