"When Leah Marx began visiting Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles in 2010, it did not immediately raise alarm among the people who ran it. Most of the time, jailers just looked at her federal ID and let her in without asking why she was there. If they did, she said she was investigating a human trafficking case. It was a good-sounding story. Believable. Perfect to deter further questions."
"Marx seemed an improbable federal agent (at first, even to herself). She had been getting a master's degree in social work when someone suggested she try the FBI. She did not know they hired people like her. She was new to L.A., and living alone with her dog. As she gathered inmate stories, she made it a point to emphasize that their charges were irrelevant to her."
Leah Marx began visiting Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles in 2010, often admitted by jailers who accepted her federal ID without questioning. She used a believable human-trafficking cover story when asked. As an FBI agent with a social-work background, Marx pursued inmate complaints after receiving a detailed letter alleging jailer brutality. She and FBI colleagues conducted secret interviews to separate fact from rumor. The L.A. County Sheriff's Department ran the nation's largest jail system, with daily populations above 14,000. The system faced long-standing problems including violent and corrupt jailers, deputy gangs, and entrenched institutional culture resistant to reform.
#fbi-investigation #jail-brutality #los-angeles-county-sheriffs-department #institutional-corruption
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