2 LAPD Officers Sickened Amid Filthy Station Conditions

LOS ANGELES, CA — The Los Angeles Police Department was fined for filthy conditions and the failure to train employees in handling exposure to bacterial disease just two weeks before two employees contracted typhoid fever.

The department's Central Station was being treated Thursday after two employees contracted the bacteria that causes typhoid fever. It remains unclear exactly how the person came in contact with the illness. According to the Los Angeles Times, the sickened employees are detectives. The Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union for most LAPD officers, indicated that a sworn employee had contracted the disease. LAPD officials confirmed Wednesday that a second employee at the station had developed symptoms consistent with the salmonella typhi bacteria, although an exact diagnosis had not yet been made. The apparent outbreak triggered criticism of the city amid concerns for the safety of officers and the public. It also comes in the wake of headlines about rat infestations at City Hall, a staph infection outbreak at the West Valley Station and the closure of a Westside jail due to bedbugs.

The department's Central Station is located at 251 E. Sixth St., near Skid Row, in downtown Los Angeles. The area has been struggling with rat and flea infestations along with cases of Typhus.

The Times reported Thursday that the LAPD was fined $5,425 by the state Department of Industrial Relations two weeks ago for failing to train employees about how typhus fever is transmitted, the symptoms of the illness or measures that can be taken to prevent it. The state also faulted the agency for not having an extermination program to control rats, fleas, roaches, gnats, mosquitoes or grasshoppers -- all of which were found at the station during a November inspection, The Times reported.

The LAPD declined to comment on the state fine.

In a statement issued Wednesday night, the LAPD said its "Facilities Management Division is working with the city's General Services Department to disinfect any work areas that may have been exposed and that work is expected to be completed (Wednesday) evening."

"The health and well-being of every LAPD employee is vital and we will be working diligently to ensure we are (creating) a safe work environment. Unfortunately, our police officers often patrol in adverse environments and can be exposed to various dangerous elements" according to the LAPD. "We have notified the Police Protective League as well as all of our employees working at Central Division about the outbreak and we have further provided them with strategies to stay healthy while we mitigate this issue."

According to the Centers for Disease Control, typhoid fever is not common in the United States, where about 350 people are diagnosed with the illness each year. Most of those cases involve people who have traveled outside the country.

Symptoms include sustained fever that can reach 104 degrees, weakness, stomach pain, headache, diarrhea or constipation, coughing and loss of appetite. The disease is treated with antibiotics.

Typhoid fever is different from typhus, which can spread to people from infected fleas and their feces.

Health officials in October announced there was a typhus outbreak in Los Angeles County, including in the downtown area of Skid Row, where an estimated 2,000 homeless people sleep.

An employee at City Hall East also came down with typhus.

In an interview with NBC4, Mayor Eric Garcetti said, "We always have to look out for our police officers. We care deeply about them, and that's why we should regularly making sure we're out there, tripling the amount of the cleanups we're doing.

"But we need also to make sure people aren't dumping things illegally, work with the county to make sure we have all of the vaccinations and all the health for our firefighters and police officers that are right there on the front line," he told the station.

The LAPPL called the typhoid fever case the latest outbreak affecting its membership in the last two years, which has seen cases of hepatitis A, MRSA, typhus and bedbugs.

"At this point we don't care who is at fault, we just want these toxic work sites cleaned and sanitized," according to a statement from the union's board of directors. "Officers worry enough about being shot or injured policing the streets of Los Angeles; they shouldn't also have to worry about being infected with diseases they can take home to their families simply by showing up to work. Our demand is simple: Clean it up and provide preventive measures before there is a massive outbreak."

Earlier this month, the LAPD closed its Pacific Station jail due to a bedbug infestation. Prior to that, three officers developed a highly contagious staph infection at the West Valley Station in Reseda. A police union officials said the infections were due to an encounter with a homeless person at the station.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin