California State Prison, Los Angeles County (LAC) is a male-only state prison located in the city of Lancaster, in

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...

. The only state prison located in the county, it is also referenced as Los Angeles County State Prison, CSP-Los Angeles County, and CSP-LAC. Only occasionally is the prison referred to as Lancaster State Prison, which was particularly avoided in 1992 partly to ease the stigma for Lancaster.

Facilities

As of Fiscal Year 2006/2007, LAC had a total of 1,519 staff and an annual operating budget of $100 million. As of September 2007, it had a design capacity of 2,300 but a total institution population of 4,976, for an occupancy rate of 216.3 percent.California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitatio
Monthly Report of Population as of Midnight September 30, 2007.
As of April 30, 2020, LAC was incarcerating people at 137.3% of its design capacity, with 3,158 occupants. LAC's include the following facilities:California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
California's Correctional Facilities
. 15 Oct 2007. * Level I housing: Open dormitories without a secure perimeter * Level IV housing: Cells, fenced or walled perimeters, electronic security, more staff and armed officers both inside and outside the installation * Reception Center (RC): provides short term housing to process, classify and evaluate incoming inmates

History

Before the prison opened in 1993, Los Angeles County hosted no prisons but accounted for forty percent of California's state-prison inmates. "Most of Lancaster's civic leaders and residents" opposed the building of the prison, and four inmates escaped from LAC in its first year of operation.Fox, Sue. "Prison, Lancaster Mend Fences and Build Tranquil Relationship". ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', May 14, 2000. Nevertheless, by 2000 city residents' opinions of the prison had improved so much that a proposal to increase the proportion of maximum-security inmates received little criticism. A 2006–2007 conversion "of roughly half of" LAC's facilities decreased the number of maximum-security inmates and increased the number of reception center inmates.Skeen, Jim. Conversion of A.V. "Prison Gets Support - Civic Leaders Say Change Will Lessen Crime in Area". ''Daily News of Los Angeles'', December 23, 2006. Since reception center inmates are at the prison for shorter times than maximum-security inmates, the conversion may "reduce the number of families that will relocate to the region to be near a family member who is in the prison" and "reduce the number of prisoners who will want to relocate to the area after serving their sentences or after being released on parole". In March 2021, Canadian singer

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

visited the prison with his wife Hailey and pastor Judah Smith at the invitation of Scott Budnick. Justin Bieber spoke to inmates about their faith and listened to their stories. In a statement on April 1, 2021, Bieber recounted his visit, saying "It was such an honor listening to their stories and seeing how strong their faith is."

Notable inmates

Current

Joe Son Joseph Hyungmin Son (; born November 20, 1970) is an American convicted felon, former actor, and former mixed martial artist, kickboxer, and professional wrestler. He competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and K-1 Kickboxing during ...

: Actor and former mixed martial artist. *Ali Abulaban, TikToker and convicted murderer

Former

* Loi Khac Nguyen: One of the perpetrators of the

1991 Sacramento hostage crisis On April 4, 1991, 41 employees and customers were taken hostage situation, hostage by four gunmen and held at a The Good Guys!, Good Guys! electronics store at the corner of 65th Street and Stockton Boulevard in Sacramento, California, near Flo ...

for which he was convicted of killing three people. Currently at California State Prison, Solano. * Big Lurch: Rapper and convicted murderer. * Robert John Bardo: Murdered actress

Rebecca Schaeffer Rebecca Lucile Schaeffer (November 6, 1967 – July 18, 1989) was an American actress and model. She began her career as a teen model before moving on to acting. In 1986, she landed the role of Patricia "Patti" Russell in the CBS comedy '' My Si ...

in 1989. Currently at Avenal State Prison. * Lawrence Phillips: Former professional football player. * Rene Enriquez: Mobster. * Robert Rozier: Former American football defensive end. Currently at Mule Creek State Prison. * Craig Coley: Wrongfully convicted of the 1978 murder of his ex girlfriend and her son before being pardoned and exonerated by CA governor

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

in 2017. * Samuel Little: Serial killer convicted of killing eight women, though he is suspected of killing as many as 90 in total.

References

External links

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Official website

��California Department of Corrections
Aerial view of the prison
{{Lancaster, California 1993 establishments in California Buildings and structures in Lancaster, California Prisons in Los Angeles County, California