Press Release

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies Randy Bell and Bart Lanni will be honored by Christopher Street West, the nonprofit community-based organization that produces the annual Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Parade and Festival in the City of West Hollywood each June. The deputies will receive the “Special Community Award” and will be honored at the June 8th “Mayor’s Reception” and will be featured in the June 12th Pride Parade.

Deputies Bell and Lanni are the creators and coordinators of an innovative jail program for homosexual men at Men’s Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles, who are housed in a segregated unit known as K-11. The program, SMART (Social Mentoring Academic and Rehabilitative Training), provides specialized training and education designed to reduce recidivism.

Nearly half of the gay male inmates in the K-11 Unit are methamphetamine users. Narcotics, prostitution, and related crimes are the dominant reasons for the incarceration of K-11 inmates. Inmates enrolled in the SMART Program are provided education in HIV and anger management, substance abuse counseling, computer literacy and GED classes.

Based on a 1985 court order, homosexual inmates are segregated from the general inmate population to reduce abuse by other inmates. The SMART Program was initiated on World AIDS Day, December 1, 1999. Prior to the creation of the SMART Program, the recidivism rate for gay male inmates was 94.7% of the average 310 inmates that are held in the K-11 Unit on a daily basis. For inmates who complete the 10 week course, recidivism drops to under 50%.

Since the SMART Program began, nearly 200 inmates have completed the program, about 15% of the total K-11 population. Eighteen inmates received their high school diploma and over 40 inmates have received GED certificates while in custody. Today, SMART conducts six classes daily with approximately 130 participants.

The K-11 Unit is one of only a handful of correctional facilities nationwide that permits the distribution of condoms to inmates as a strategy to prevent the spread of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.

“What Deputies Bell and Lanni have accomplished is truly exceptional and I am proud that the GLBT community is recognizing their efforts with this prestigious award,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca. “This unique program is so effective that it is being studied and copied by law enforcement agencies across the country. Randy Bell and Bart Lanni represent the finest qualities of law enforcement and are exemplary representatives of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.”