Sheriff Baca’s Mea Maxima Culpa

17 October 2011 |permalink | email article

When the news broke of a federal investigation into the conduct of several guards , the Los Angeles County sheriff, Lee Baca, reacted angrily, suggesting that the inquiry overstepped its authority. But last week, facing a mounting political firestorm, Baca switched gears and said he would agree to a jails inquiry and a special internal task force to dozens of allegations against prisoners that the American Civil Liberties Union included in a federal court filing last month.

In a biting self-critique Baca told the Los Angeles Times Sunday that at times his command staff has left him in the dark about the jails’ woes. “I wasn’t ignoring the jails; I just didn’t know…The truth is I should have known.” The newspaper said that Baca’s management problems at times extend beyond jail matters. While accepting blame for the jails’ problems, the sheriff didn’t hesitate to point the finger at his command staff.

He regretted he hadn’t instituted regular floor assignments at the Men’s Central Jail earlier, a reform which would have reduced the possibilityof deputies forming gang-like groups in the jail. But the proposal to begin the rotations was panned before it reached his desk. But his contention on last Tuesday night’s “Which Way” broadcast that then assistant Sheriff Paul Tanaka acted properly when Tanaka overruled a jail captain and blocked 2006 reform efforts that would have helped break up problematic deputy gang-like cliques inside the Men’s Central Jail underscores concerns about Baca’s ability to lead the Sheriff’s Department which operates the nation’s largest jail system. 

Baca has named Tanaka, mayor of Gardena, who he’s long groomed, as the new undersheriff with authority over the jails and most other departments, to lead an internal investigation. Some members of the County Board of Supervisors believe a public investigation is now warranted.

Times columnist Steve Lopez previously called for the sheriff to step down. “Either Baca didn’t know how bad things were happening under his nose or he did know and did virtually nothing about it. If it’s the first he’s incompetent. If it’s the second, he doesn’t deserve the job.” Calling him more shaman than sheriff Lopez credited him with being a leader in some ways, whether handing out badges and guns to celebrity pals, giving special treatment to acquaintances or getting more gifts than all the other county sheriffs combined.

Read ‘em and weep

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