LASD Helps Families Plagued by Teen Drug Abuse Through Support and Guidance

Los Angeles Sheriff Department’s Juvenile Intervention Team help support families with support and guidance on teen drug use. The Team gives parents techniques on identifying drug use in their homes and how to address it. LASD personnel show up in plain cars and plain clothes to provide discretion for the families and council parents on how to stay informed about what their teens are doing. They also encourage more face-to-face time with their teens, because in today’s society children spend majority of their time with peers and on social media than with their parents. “We need to see our kids before they go to school, we need to see them when they get home, whenever we get that contact — and it has to be close contact, we can’t be across the room yelling at each other,” said Detective Bill Velek, a veteran with almost 20-year law enforcement experience.