LOS ANGELES COUNTY, NOW THERE’S A REALLY STRANGE LAND!

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, NOW THERE’S A REALLY STRANGE LAND!

(Los Angeles Times, Robert Faturechi, L.A. Daily Planet, Gordon Basichis)

(San Diego Union-Tribune, Tina Daunt, Frank Stoltze, Karin Klein, Frazer Chronicle)

You know, I just turned 70 last month, I’ve been around the block several times, had my problems physically and financially, but I figured I wasn’t much different than all the other poor jokers that attempted to navigate this life that we each are supposed to travel. I’ve done some good things and some bad, of course there are things that I would change…..if I we’re given a second chance…..however that doesn’t happen, at least in the real world.

I bring age as well as lifestyle into today’s equation because I just read an article in the Los Angeles Times concerning the hiring practices of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s hiring practices…..it seems that they’ll hire almost anybody…..(where do I sign up?) The starting pay for a patrolman is…..are you ready for this, $72,000…..a year.

Now don’t get me wrong, every job that I had during my working life, not one bullet was fired at me, nobody tried to carve me up like a holiday turkey, and with little exception I’ve dealt with, at the worst, middle class people.

I’m looking at a picture of the current head cop of L.A. County…..one Leroy David “Lee” Baca, and he looks like a chrome domed sour-puss, completely unhappy with his job, and probably his position in life. That plus the fact that the guy, Baca is older than me, he’ll be 72 years old at his next birthday in May of 2014, which makes me wonder exactly why the guy is still in a high profiled job?

Good (old) “Lee” has been on the job as county sheriff since he was first elected to the post in 1998, and has been employed by the county since 1965. Baca rose through the ranks of copdom over the next three decades, along the way he acquired degrees from East Los Angeles College, a Bachelor’s degree from California State University, a Master of Public Administration in 1973, and a Doctorate of Public Administration in 1993.

I guess Baca received his police training in an on the job direct experience kind of way…..maybe all of Los Angeles cops go through some sort of on the job program. I just kind of find it strange that the county’s top cop didn’t get a diploma from some sort of Police Academy.  

Clearly Baca was positioning himself for a high and mighty police post, which came with the death of his mentor, Sheriff Sherman Block, who died in office in October of 1998. Lee Baca was sworn into office on December 7, 1998.

SHERMAN BLOCK

Sherman Block, who preceded Lee Baca, died in office in October of 1998 after serving as L.A. county Sheriff since January 1982. He was picked by Sheriff Peter Pitchess. During Sherman’s tenure in office he became the highest paid elected official in the United States…..$232,000.

Above and beyond any achievements that Sheriff Block may have instituted in his department…..his paycheck loomed large. In 1982 his starting salary was $62,952, and by the time of his death he was making more than three times his initial salary. Sherman received a 5% pay increase every year during his employment, which did not include bonuses or pay raises.

There was a proposal by L.A. County’s Chief Administration Officer, David Janssen in 1995 that would cap the Sheriff’s salary at the $230,000 plateau. There would be no more 5% yearly raises, no bonuses and no additional raises. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the proposal.  

The death of Sheriff Block also broke another tradition in the department, that of the incumbent Sheriff selecting his successor. Talk about you’re politicking, I’m sure that many a sheriff spent hours, days and months campaigning for the position.

Another trait of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department was the length of time that incumbent Sheriffs served. This practice began with Eugene W. Biscailuz who served from 1932 to 1958, Pete Pitchess from 1958 to 1981, Block from 1982 until his death in 1998, and Lee Baca 1998 to the present. It seemed as if these guys got hold of the position and like a Bull Dog with a bone…..wouldn’t give it up.

QUESTIONED HIRING PRACTICES LONG-TIME

There have been grumblings about the Sheriff Department’s hiring practices since 2006, how recruits with criminal records, being fired from other law enforcement agencies, and had drug and alcohol problems. A report released by the county’s Office of Independent Review pointed out that the Sheriff’s Department loosened its hiring practices in 2006, and gave jobs to applicants who in previous years would have been rejected.

Since 2006 the department has hired more than 2,700 deputies over the past seven years following budget constraints that shrank the agency significantly. Not all of those officers hired had black marks on their applications, but when you hire more than 350 officers a year, the potential to have less than competent cops on the street increases exponentially.

Illegal drugs use, alcohol abuse, excessive force, assault charges, molestation, rape, and even convicted criminals were hired by the county. In affect what Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department did was to hire convicted drug users, alcohol abusers, and convicted criminals, give them a squad car and a gun…..and send them on their merry way to uphold law and order in the county.

Even Sheriff Baca acknowledged that there was human error in hiring practices. I would agree with the Sheriff, given the fact that at least one hire was known to have gang affiliation. The county hiring practices with regards to Sheriff’s officers seemed to be rolled back to the practices in the 1970’s and have been discontinued.

HOWEVER OLD HABITS SEEM HARD TO BREAK

Of the nearly 400 officers and supervisors from the Office of Public Safety who applied to the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department in 2010, about 280 were hired. Of that total, 188 were rejected for jobs at law enforcement agencies before being hired by Sheriff Baca’s department. 97 showed dishonesty, 92 were disciplined previously by other police agencies for significant misconduct on duty, 29 were fired or pressured to resign from previous law enforcement jobs, and 15 were flagged by background investigations for trying to manipulate the results of a polygraph exam.

One thing that can’t be argued is how people perform during their time on the job…..and how they deal with their personnel lives. Groping of young girls, drunkenness, harassment of inmates and street people are just a few of the allegations that were leveled at some of the new recruits that were added to the L.A. County cop-shop.

Is this a microcosm of how many departments in law enforcement run their recruiting efforts because of budget constraints…..I hope not…..but I wonder. Sheriff Baca has said that he was “unaware” of these poor decisions in the hiring practices…..that I doubt, I have never met a cop that didn’t covet control…..it’s inbred, I’ts taught and is a prerequisite for being a cop…..with little exception, cops think that people are guilty until they prove themselves innocent.

You’d think after all the adverse public relations that law enforcement has received in California there’d be a better overview of how cops act, and the procedures that they use…..however, I guess not…..Rodney King still lives there.

HAVE A NICE DAY!