Graphic footage of two deaths in Los Angeles Police Department custody has sparked calls for greater oversight, with Mayor Karen Bass questioning officer training adequacy. Experts note both incidents involved mental health crises — one at a San Fernando Valley jail involving Jose Carlos Hoyos-Munoz, 58, and another on a July 29 sidewalk where Alejandro Luis Garcia, 33, was shot after reportedly wielding a bat.

The July 15 jail footage shows Hoyos-Munoz, detained after a knife-wielding incident, being restrained with a spit sock and pinned face-down on a cot. He later died, though cause remains undisclosed. In the second case, officers confronted Garcia, shouting commands before opening fire.

Los Angeles police officials maintain both deaths are under internal and external review, with no charges filed. Detention officers are civilians trained in mental health response, while sworn officers receive at least 40 hours of crisis intervention training, with mental health professionals deployed on SWAT calls.

Retired Lt. Jeff Wenninger expressed concern that restraint methods may have restricted breathing. California’s 2021 law bans restraints posing substantial risk of ‘positional asphyxia’ following George Floyd’s death.