LA DAILY NEWS ASKS WHY IT TOOK FOUR DAYS FOR LASD TO BOOT TOM ANGEL
Last week, news broke via the LA Times about racist, sexist, and anti-Muslim emails that Tom Angel, the chief of staff for LA County Sheriff Jim McDonnell, forwarded between 2012 and 2013 while he worked for the Burbank Police Department. At first, Sheriff McDonnell said he did not plan to discipline Angel because the incidents did not occur within the sheriff’s department. The news dismayed department members and advocates alike, who felt that not holding a higher-up like Angel responsible for his actions sent a questionable message to rank-and-file as well as the public.
Four days later, Angel tendered his resignation.
The LA Daily News editorial board wants to know: what took so long for McDonnell to dump Angel?
Police and sheriff’s departments must apply the law without discrimination. Being found to have passed along a joke like that raises serious doubt about at least one cop’s ability to do this.
We mean serious. This isn’t about political incorrectness, but about how the appearance of racism can jeopardize convictions, potentially helping criminals to go free and wasting public money.
The idea that a high-ranked official thinks the high incarceration rates of African Americans and Latinos is a topic for jest is especially harmful to an agency that runs the county jails. An agency trying to recover from, among other scandals, the finding that deputies engaged in racial profiling in the Antelope Valley.
[SNIP]
Now who’s disappointed? Only everybody who has seen McDonnell as an effective antidote to the corruption that grew under former Sheriff Lee Baca.
The good news is that McDonnell finally did recognize that Angel had to go, and the sheriff used the occasion of Angel’s resignation to announce that he would “turn this situation into a learning opportunity for all LASD personnel,” emphasize “ethnic sensitivity and professionalism,” and hold meetings with county groups to discuss tolerance.
The bad news is that McDonnell didn’t seem to recognize the severity of the problem until pressure from Muslim and minority leaders built up.
US REP. DARRELL ISSA CALLS ON CONGRESS TO COMBAT UNFAIR ASSET FORFEITURE PRACTICES
In California, police cannot keep assets under $25,000 unless the owner is convicted, and for amounts above $25,000, officers have to be able to give “clear and convincing evidence” beyond a reasonable doubt, that the cash or property was connected to a crime.
But California (and other states) circumvent their own forfeiture laws through the controversial federal Equitable Sharing Program, which authorizes local law enforcement agencies to bring feds into an investigation, and thus be able to skirt state restrictions against using seized money as revenue, with only “probable cause” that laws have been broken, not actual convictions. The federal program was suspended in December due to budget cuts, but was brought back to life last month.
In an op-ed for the LA Times, US Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California) urges Congress to take action against the Equitable Sharing Program, and calls for a higher burden of proof to be required before property can be seized, to thwart “treasure hunting” police who are “beefing up their budgets on the backs of innocent Americans.” Here’s a clip:
Civil asset forfeiture allows police to seize property as long as they believe that the assets in question were somehow connected to criminal activity.
“As long as they believe” — that’s the key part.
Authorities don’t have to actually prove the person was guilty of a crime. They don’t have to even file charges. The presumption of innocence is thrown to the wayside.
It’s an egregious violation of the 4th Amendment, but that’s not even the most glaring problem with the system.
Under current law, most states allow police departments to absorb up to 100% of the value of the confiscated property — whether it’s cash, cars, houses or guns — and use the proceeds to pad their budgets. It’s an obvious conflict of interest — and boy, is it profitable for law enforcement agencies.
In 2014, the latest year for which data is available, police officers took more property from American citizens under civil asset forfeiture ($5 billion) than criminals took in burglaries ($3.5 billion), according to research from the Institute for Justice.
Granted, there’s a lot of nuance to these statistics. The numbers don’t include state seizures — just federal seizures — and they exclude other types of theft, such as larceny. But the central point here remains: Civil asset forfeiture is dangerously profitable, prompting civic leaders, lawmakers and state legislatures to consider significant reform.
In 1994, California attempted to rein in civil asset forfeiture abuse, passing a bill that requires a criminal conviction before police can seize assets worth up to $25,000, and that caps the amount of money authorities can keep at no more than 65% of the total.
But unless Congress takes action, state efforts to stop civil forfeiture abuse mean very little.
LASD DEPUTIES SHOOT AT SUSPECTS IN MOVING CARS FAR MORE OFTEN THAN LAPD, DESPITE POLICY RESTRICTIONS
Back in 2005, both the Los Angeles Police Department and the LA County Sheriff’s Department made policies against shooting at moving vehicles.
But while the LAPD shot into vehicles only twice between 2010 and 2014, members of the LASD shot into moving cars at least nine times during that time, according to an investigation by KPCC’s Annie Gilbertson with Aaron Mendelson.
The deputies involved justified the shootings by saying that they feared they would be hit by the cars. In only one of the nine instances of LASD deputies shooting into cars was the suspect armed. “We are probably shooting at moving vehicles too much,” Assistant Sheriff Todd Rogers told KPCC.
WLA reported on one such shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old in Studio City by a deputy and a DEA agent in plainclothes. (Read the two-part story of the death of Zac Champommier: here and here.)
Here’s a clip from the KPCC story:
KPCC based its investigation on Los Angeles District Attorney narratives, civil litigation records, deputy discipline archives, press releases, interviews with individuals shot by officers and their family members as well as law enforcement officials and policy experts. Among the shootings since 2010:
– Deputy Benjamin Alvarado shot and wounded Darren Thompson after he fled a traffic stop in 2010. Deputies suspected him in a nearby burglary.
– Detective Rudolpho Santana fired at Anthony Michael Axe in 2012 after he fled a questioning about an assault with a firearm and backed his RV into a patrol car, which was positioned to block him in. Axe died.
– Deputy Cuauhtemoc Gonzalez shot and wounded Gonzalo Martinez in 2013. He was with a friend allegedly spray painting when the deputy arrived. The driver of the car said he was trying to get away when a deputy opened fire.
“I feel the department itself was using that excuse—that I was trying to run him over—when all I was doing was trying to leave,” said Michael Lobrono, a 38-year-old construction worker and delivery driver.
Lobrono was shot by Deputy Ray Huang in 2013. Huang had detained Lobrono’s girlfriend, Lisa Puente, in Walnut on suspicion of burglary and Lobrono pulled up to the scene in his truck.
“I got upset, and I flipped him off,” Lobrono said. Then he tried to speed off and the deputy opened fire. Deputy Huang said he was standing in the street near his patrol car when the truck came towards him, according to D.A. records.
Lobrono said he tried to duck, but a bullet penetrated the back of his arm and continued to tear through his flesh until it came to rest in his chest, where it remains today.
Huang did not respond to KPCC’s requests for comment, but told district attorney investigators he thought Lobrono was going to hit him with his truck.
Lobrono was still recovering when prosecutors charged him with “threat with a deadly weapon.” The “weapon” was his truck. A jury acquitted Loborno of criminal charges and he sued, alleging excessive force. He settled for $335,000 though county officials maintained the shooting was within policy.
“No systemic issues were identified,” wrote Scott Johnson, then captain of the Risk Management Bureau, to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors of the settlement in 2014. “Consequently no further personnel-related administrative action was taken, and no other corrective action measures are recommended nor contemplated.”
Sean Van Leeuwen, vice president of the deputies’ union, declined to comment on specific cases but said there are steps the Sheriff’s department can take to prevent shooting: “Training. Training. Training.”
“When was the last time you trained us on how to shoot at a moving vehicle or how to avoid shooting at a moving vehicle?” asked Van Leeuwen, who is also a field training officer. “The answer will probably be never.”
SF JAIL PROGRAM BRINGS VICTIMS AND OFFENDERS TOGETHER FOR HEALING THROUGH SHARING STORIES
As part of the Resolve To Stop Violence Program (RSVP), inmates at the San Francisco County Jail in San Bruno meet with victims of crime. Through these painful stories, the victims connect with the inmates—many of whom were often victims themselves before they became offenders.
In one such example, a father and son shared their story of trauma, abuse, crime, and ultimately, healing. Joe Loya Jr. was convicted of robbing multiple banks in the ’80s, and spent seven years in federal prison (including two years in solitary) but his story begins much earlier than that. When Joe Loya Jr. was nine years old, his mother died. Unable to process his grief, Joe Loya Sr., once a loving father, started beating his sons. After one particularly bad beating, Joe Loya Jr. stabbed his father in the neck
KQED’s Sandhya Dirks has the story. Here’s a clip:
After the beating, Joe Loya Sr. left the house. Joe Jr. remembers locking his brother in a bathroom and going to the kitchen and grabbing a steak knife. He describes going to his bedroom, hiding the knife underneath his pillow and then waiting for his father to come home. It was as if he took the lessons of violence he learned and put them to work.
“He comes to the bedroom door and it’s round two, I think. And I stand up and I pull out the knife. He tells me to put the knife down. One thing leads to another, we wrestle in the middle of the room, and I end up getting the better of him,” Joe Jr. says. He had stabbed his father in the neck.
He remembers twisting the blade, trying to break it off. He remembers his father falling on the ground, yelling out, “You killed me, you killed me!”
“So up until now, I’ve been a victim. And now like, whoa, that felt interesting. Everything comes out. And as soon as it hit, I felt power. And I liked that feeling,” Joe Jr. says.
Joe Jr. was not charged with anything, and after the stabbing he and his brother were sent to foster care for a little bit. He ended up back in his father’s house, but not for long. Soon he was out on his own, and he turned to crime, making victims as a way to never be one again.
The jail room is quiet. Some men stare at their feet, others watch Joe Jr. intensely. And then he does something I don’t think the men were expecting.
He invites his father to speak. “This is Joe Loya Sr.,” he tells them. “I love him very much — show him respect.”
Where Joe Jr., is big and brash, Joe Sr. is shorter, a slender man with an elegant figure. It doesn’t seem possible that this is the same man who was as violent as Joe Jr. described.
But Joe Sr. admits to what he did, everything. It wasn’t easy, and it didn’t happen overnight, but it was his idea to accompany his son on jail visits like this.
“I did beat him up, and I did punch him,” Joe Sr. says. “I never should have, that was way over the line. I was angry, I don’t want to go into details why, because it’s just an excuse, it’s just another excuse why I was angry. I hit him, and I remember very clearly that when he stabbed me, I was in shock.”
Joe Sr. touches the wound that his son left in the back of his neck. He says that every now and then he touches it, feels the scar, and it all comes flooding back — the fight, that night, all of it.
“When it happened I was completely in shock. But when he turned the knife, I said, ‘What an asshole.’ That’s how I felt. He didn’t have to turn the knife — he already had it in there.”
Joe Sr. says what he remembered then was a “moment of enormous clarity.”
He remembered when he was a young parent, not much older than 16, coming home from work, and little Joe Jr. was banging on his high chair, so thrilled to see his father.
“I said, ‘We’ve gone from that to this. Who’s responsible?’ ” Joe Sr. pounds his chest for emphasis. “I was.”
“I had a beautiful little guy that loved me, that when he saw me would run to me — Daddy, Daddy — and now he’s put a knife in my neck. There is no book that’s given to a child, ‘Here’s how you can dust your dad.’ Nobody gets that book. We make that book in the heart of a child.”
Now they are working to rewrite the ending as a love story. Joe Jr. says this rewriting is possible in part because he recognized that his father’s pain was so similar to his own, that they were both shaped by the loss of his mother. It’s possible in part because Joe had a daughter, and they made a decision — that it ends here.
But they had to start sharing their stories in words — rather than blows — in order to make that shift.
McD: All reactive and no proactive! But, that’s what liberals want. No different than Baca, Stonich, Waldie and Tanaka!
Rogers criticising deps in the field is like having Obama talk about tough it is to to a Navy Seal! Oh Brother!
Still On: Looks like the Daily News Editorial Board agreed with my comments.
Sheriff McDonnell: “I have no plans to discipline Tom Angel”. Great minds think alike.
The media is SO blind. McD wasn’t going to discipline Angel because NOTHING has changed. The upper echelon is immune from discipline, cronyism is alive and well and policy is only created for Sergeants and Deputies. Media, wake the fuck up!!!
The DOJ announced today incarcerated individuals released from prison will no longer be labeled as felons or inmates. The DOJ found the terms “disparaging”
and counter productive to rehabilitation. Sounds similiar to ELA when we were no longer allowed to refer to gang members as “cholos” in our crime broadcasts. Evidently,the Department didn’t want to offendr gang members.
I see that Tom Angel has received a lot of praise on the LASD FB page. Also noted was that the praise came from fellow executives. How bout us line guys. Angel was a politician and gave no love to line folks in trouble. He failed to lead by example, therefore he was forced to reign.
If a “War on Drugs” is designed to decrease the availability of illegal drugs on the streets and communities of the country, then it seems the Federal Asset Seizure laws were designed to increase the availability of illegal drugs.
There is no incentive to conduct investigations and collect evidence as thoroughly as would be necessary to result in successful criminal prosecution of defendants.
Once a source of illegal drugs to the street is identified, law enforcement determines when to close in and confiscate the supply.
In this case, the law incentivizes delaying the bust.
Confiscating large amounts of narcotics adds to cost paid by police for storage and eventual destruction.
Wait as long as practical while the illegal drugs are steadily sold off onto the streets for consumption in exchange for cash/assets the police get to keep and spend.
6: you have proof?
@Questions- Don’t question Todd Rogers’ ability in the field. He’s well worth his triple dip 500K a year in tax payer salaries. L.A. County (LASD), Calpers (Lakewood), LACERA (mama). Rogers for Undersheriff!!! 600K or bust!!! He’s worth every penny, just ask him. Source-Transparent California.
And then there were four. McDonnell is showing true colors and we don’t have the “he needs time and patience” crew up here anymore.
Turns out he is a dogmatic, tone deaf, lying executive. LASD has been saved!
@#9 –
Long Beach steam cleaned the engine compartment, rolled back the odometer and let the County voters drive off in old Chief McDonnell.
Long Beach was able to clear valuable space on the showroom floor and saved the cost of time left on his contract.
Long Beach took us for a ride on the McDonnell deal.
McDonnell showed LASD his true colors and verified what we’ve all feared. He’s just another Baca political hack, completely consumed by capitalizing on every single political opportunity. He also showed us that the Double Standard of Tanaka is still alive and thriving. I am convinced beyond any doubt that McDonnell knew of these emails from Burbank PD when he hired Angel. His first response to the Times was he was not going to take any action against Angel. Is that really the initial reaction to a scandal like this? I seriously think not, I think McDonnell knew this was coming and initially decided that he wasn’t going to do anything. Then, after a few days of intense media reporting, McDonnell took the political parachute and folded like a cheap suit. Would he have said the same thing if this involved a Sergeant from working SHB and got caught doing the same thing on fresh emails on a LASD computer? I echo Jack Dawson in #9, the time and patience is OVER. McDonnell kept the same faces in high places, he has the same double standards as Tanaka and is playing the same game of politics as Baca. Very, very little has changed but uniforms and logos, wow. And the real shame about all of this, the media has given McDonnell a pass on this fiasco. Just as they did with Baca.
Just watched Sheriff McDonnell on the 4 o’clock Channel 7 News where he was asked about why it took so long to make the decision about Tom Angel’s fate after LASD learned of the unprofessional emails that Angel had forwarded while assistant chief at Burbank PD.
Unfortunately for McDonnell, he doubled down on rationalizing the delay. In essence, Mr. Transparent explained that the complexity of labor law required additional research as to what statutes may or may not mandate, thus delaying the outcome. As I’ve said before, I personally like Tom, but, he screwed up. Rather than being guided by deeply held principles, the sheriff stuck his finger up in the air to see which way the winds were blowing. Once the initial kiss off was announced, an hellacious shitstorm developed forcing the sheriff’s hand. If a deputy, or a sergeant, or even a lieutenant, had done the same thing, on such a high-profile platform where the news media got wind of it, those lower-ranking individuals would have been ROD’d immediately and an IAB opened just as quickly. It doesn’t appear to be that complex as it’s done all the time to deputies, seargents, and even lieutenants. Why was this such a difficult and complex decision for the sheriff in this case? Because it was someone in his inner circle, and the sheriff “forgot” policy and procedure.
Rather than taking responsibility for his initially poor decision to let sleeping dogs lie, acknowledging he should have done it faster, and more decisively, the sheriff really looks bad on this one.
It took two days for Santa and his helpers to move operations to the North Pole base. The crew misses So Cal, but duty calls. Once ensconced in the new digs (actually VERY old digs which need some real refurbing), the internet connection was reestablished with the lower 48 and 11000 Wilshire Blvd (FBI’s LA Offices), and the Truth Squad was back in business.
In short order, the helpers found the following conversation had been recorded on the FBI Data Network. It had taken place this morning (Fri, May 6th) in Sheriff McDonnell’s office in the Hall of Justice and the topic of conversation was obviously an article in today’s LA Times regarding the LASD establishing a “Diversity Task Force” with the Muslim community.
Sheriff McDonnell: Come on in everyone, I want to talk to you about the Diversity Task Force we are implementing with the Muslim Community.
Undersheriff Tyler: Sheriff, I know you want to talk about our partnership with the Muslim Community, but Kelly also has something that he needs to talk to you regarding the LGBT community as well. His ideas are something that we probably should discuss as a management team and this might be a good time.
McDonnell: Fine, but first we need to deal with this POS that Tom left us.
Tyler: Sounds good boss.
McDonnell: As you know we need to heal the wounds that Tom’s jokes made with our Muslim brothers. I’ve had Mike Abdeen working night and day touching bases with his friends over there trying to mend fences.
Assistant Sheriff Harrington:(whispered) Who’s he?
Assistant Sheriff Barrantes: (whispered) Our resident Muslim.
Assistant Sheriff La Berge: (whispered) I’ve got one myself and it’s a she…
Tyler: (whispered) Shhhsh!
McDonnell: Anyway, I think we are making headway on the larger front and I need – the Diversity Task Force seems to be something that is going to put a finger in the dyke. So I need to know what we are doing within the organization to make sure we are treating our Muslim employees with respect. We don’t need to patching one hole and the damn breaks while we are distracted.
Assistant Sheriff Rogers: How many do we have boss?
McDonnell: How many of what?
Rogers: Muslim employees?
McDonnell: Tom…er…Todd, I was expecting YOU to tell US! You have the Personnel side!
Rogers: Yes sir, ah,…I was just working on that…..let me text Parker, he has those numbers.
McDonnell: And we need to know where they are assigned, so we can send a heads-up to those units for a little TLC for those employees. Now, Jocques, what are we doing to ensure ourselves that our field contacts with our Muslim friends are handled with sensitivity and understanding?
La Berge: Ah,….well sir, we have our monthly briefings on community sensitivities. That covers all of our ethnic communities: latino, blacks, gays, trangend…..
McDonnell: Not the usual stuff, specifically to our new target-partners, the Muslim COMMUNITY.
Harrington: (whispered) Where’s the Muslim community?
Barrantes: (whispered) There isn’t one – a figure of speech.
La Berge: Er,….I have my staff working on something as we speak.
McDonnell: Good. Custody?
Harrington: Yes sir?
McDonnell: What are you doing?
Harrington: We are working on prisoner-gender intake.
McDonnell: Gender intake?
Tyler: Sheriff, this is what I told you Kelly wanted to discuss with us.
McDonnell: We are talking about Muslims now, we’ll get to that. Tom…Todd, where ARE we with those number of employees?
Rogers: Sir, we have a problem.
McDonnell: Now what?
Rogers: Well it seems that we do not want to offend anyone when we hire them by asking them their religion. So we do not know who are Muslims nor how many Muslims are working for us. His best guess is a dozen.
McDonnell: Based on what? The number of head scarfs he’s seen worn in the workplace??????
Tyler: That would only cover the women.
LaBerge: Then multiply by 2!
laughter
McDonnell: THIS IS NOT A JOKE!
silence
McDonnell: Ok, we just need to put out a general policy REMINDING our employees how we treat and respect each other and to be sensitive to the feelings of our colleagues. Neal, you are working on that anyway, right?
Tyler: Yes sir, and we can make particular emphasis regarding Muslims. Now, can we discuss Kelly’s idea?
McDonnell: Fine, I just hope it is not another steaming turd you are about to lay on my desk.
Tyler: Ah,……..well…. maybe I should let Kelly explain.
Harrington: Well Sheriff, we’ve been thinking over on the custody side about gender identification.
McDonnell: You mean how we identify OURSELVES?
Harrington: Ah, no sir. How we identify a prisoner’s gender.
McDonnell: Ohhhk?
Harrington: Well sir, in the past, we’ve always assigned prisoner-gender based on their…..well…..their….body parts.
McDonnell: OOOOhhhkkkkkk?
Harrington: Ah, well sir,….ah, with the current environment in our community we thought it would be a good idea to….ah…..ask….ah, the inmate what gender they wanted to be classified as.
McDonnell: WHAT?????
Harrington: Yes sir. That way we can assign the inmate according to their own “feelings” of gender and not according to their birth certificate.
Barrantes: What if they change their mind? One day they say they are a male, the next day they say they are a female???
Tyler: Richard, I think the current term for that is “Gender Fluid”! I read an interesting article about that in…….
Harrington: That’s right! Sometimes we feel our feminine side, sometimes we feel our masculine side. People change. That’s why we are having so many issues in our society right now about which bathroom should be offered to the public. Look at what’s going on in North Carolina. We feel we could head off all that controversy by simply letting the inmates choose which gender they prefer to be housed with. If they change their minds, we simply move them to an area of the jail where they would feel more gender-appropriate. We’d be ahead of the curve with this one!
Barrantes: I’m thinking it’s about time to turn in my papers………….
LASD has gone from corruption and incompetence at the top to just plain incompetence. In a year and half, what have we accomplished? Well, we got a new uniform shirt. We have a budget crisis, yet we formed unfunded HTB which has it’s detectives running around looking for work because there is not enough work to justify the bureau’s existence,but looks good to the press. We have rid the Department of station and unit logos that have existed for decades, our line personnel are running ragged after being drafted and forced to work overtime, and deputies are afraid to do pro active police work for fear of being judged and disciplined by an executive who has not logged on in 20 years.
Sheriff, please find another agency to be in charge of to feed your ego or fulfill your need to be somebody. Your work at LASD is done. You are not an inspiration to your troops. Instead of healing a Department that needed healing, you have done the opposite.
There’s no Santa?: You’ve offered probably the best observation of the insanity of the bureaucratic mind. What you write is very entertaining but sadly, it’s quite an accurate depiction of the folks that are running the department.
Still On: Your boss is getting a lot of bad press on this site recently….time to come to his rescue. By the way…I think you are doing a great job at your new assignment. Not many people know we now have a Disinformation Bureau assigned to combat unscrupulous websites such as Witnessla. Keep up the good work!
With all the problems with overtime and the ability to fulfill contract obligations, it might be time to close down units and send personnel back to patrol or were they are needed. It has been done before and needs to be done again. Deputies are going to get hurt or killed if the forced overtime continues. Carping should not be relied upon to fix the budget. It has been to many years and it is a poor solution. We need a CPA in the executive ranks to figure things out. Oh wait, we had one.
@Interested Party You attributed the following statement to Sheriff McDonnell: The delay to act on Angel was due to the “complexity of labor law required additional research as to what statutes may or may not mandate.” Do you want to know how I know McDonnell was lying? Because Angel was an “at-will” employee, that’s how. Statutes don’t matter. He served at the pleasure of the Sheriff. Sad, no integrity. 600K Rogers is preparing to make his move!
Well, the frustration level inside LASD is off the charts. McD has come into an organization he knows absolutely nothing about with the highest of high expectations to clean LASD from the top, down. Instead, what we have is an individual who fell in love with the office, the politics, the perks, the power. What he found out is to retain the power, he must focus on the politics of Los Angeles County and not the organization. McDonnell was anointed, he was deemed to be the chosen one by the Democrat Party of Los Angeles County. He became a team player, he became a party member, he is now a part of the establishment party of Los Angeles County. His focus is on the next election, not the internal issues of LASD. There were choices, but the people were duped and now he has a job for as long as he wants it. He is part of the machine and he likes the boot lickers that come with it. LASD, if you had any thought of reform, forget it. That ship has sailed, the day after the election.
Santa: That was absolutely fantastic. keep up the good work, your little helpers have lots of work to do. And Stan: Yep, I could not have said it better. The Sheriff and his “court of misfits” have no idea how bad morale is, and it gets worse every day. I also heard the Sheriff promoted a Deputy on his uniform committee to Sergeant, and he has remained. It just boggles my mind.
I watched McDonnell on Ch7 News last night and my jaw absolutely fell to the floor. In my opinion, the man lied, flat out lied when asked why did it take so long for him to dump Tom Angel. Keep in mind, when asked by the LAT for his reaction to the emails, he replied unambiguously that he was not going to discipline Angel (another agency, a few years ago, not representative of the real Tom Angel, disappointed, etc). The Sheriff knew this was coming, he had time to decide what he was going to do. I submit to the jury of LASD, that response was NOT a reply to a cold call question about the emails, it was not a question out of the blue that caught him flat footed. So as stated before, the Sheriff rolled the dice and wanted this story to blow over and be forgotten. An amateur decision resulting in a shit storm of biblical proportions. So now the Sheriff conferred with Tom upon his return from Boston, there is no out, Tom and McDonnell knows what needs to be done, it’s over. Now McDonnell is in full political mode, full Baca mode; its pander, apologize and more pander to everyone. Task force programs, “partnerships,” “we are moving forward.” By the way, “moving forward” is political code for, “forget my huge fuck-up, forget my stupid decision to make this go away, watch the smoke and mirrors of making “the community ” feel important with meetings and meals.” Right out of the Baca playbook. And then there is the CH7 interview, “I had to check with labor laws, it is very complex, the public doesn’t understand.” Really Sheriff? Tom Angel was under contract, an at-will employee, no Civil Service standing at all. Tom did the right thing, you knew he would. So we went from, “I’m doing nothing,” to “I couldn’t do anything until my attorney told me my options because of labor laws.”
The coverup is always worse than the crime. You blew it Sheriff, you destroyed your credibility with us with this stupid caper and your double standard response. This is as stupid as Pandora’s Box. You best take a hard look at your inner circle of advisers, they served you a shit sandwich. Nothing changes.
Seriously, criticizing Assistant Sheriff Rogers for his wife’s disability retirement from LASD?? What a classless move.
Spade,
You thought McD was anything other than a political bird looking for a sweet limb to land on? You thought McD was REALLY about reforming the LASD? Really? I guess we will just chalk it up to you being an optimist, which caused you to be disappointed one more time.
Your comment about him being part of the LA D-Machine is 100% correct, as is your assertion that he will be sheriff for as long as he wants to be. The D-Machine will see to that.
All he has to do is avoid being personally involved in a major scandal, which isn’t difficult (Unless you’re Baca or Tanaka).
Yes, you are correct again, the D-Machine will overlook incompetence, ineptitude or the morale of his troops. It’s what they do.
@16 Bandwagon, I’m sure “my boss” is absolutely distraught over his terrible mistreatment by a dozen or so folks on this site. But really, is there any point to your life, other than trying to get me to engage you in a juvenile back-and-forth in the comment section on this site?
I also caught the CH7 live in studio. How disingenuous his response! The follow-up has now become a bigger deal than the initial infraction. What else can you say but dumb and dumber.
Really disappointed in McDonnell. Some tips going forward:
1) Filed under “Those who should have known better” is YOU, Sheriff, as in guaging colleagues’ and the public’s reaction to something you thought didn’t matter or would blow over. Big mistake. Huge!
2) Leave yourself an out. Your initial statement to LAT left you with absolutely no wiggle room. Hence, no one bought your (better late than never) on-air copy weasel. But nice try.
3) At election time, no one will be remembering Tom Angel’s name. But they will be remembering yours, for better or worse. In the meanwhile, it’s up to you.
I didn’t realize A/S was married?
Still On,
Don’t be a jackass and think this place doesn’t matter. We heard it from plenty of others who thought the same and they ended up out of there. I believe two of them are going to prison.
Sheriff McD is an ivory tower emperor, and we will get there too. He is making easy with lies like above. If it doesn’t matter so much, I’m sure we won’t see an email.
The Sheriff’s Channel 7 interview left me with a pit in my stomach. Holy smokes, if Angel would have been rank and file, I could practically write word for word the response. The statements about the complexity of labor laws were head scratchers for sure. I have no clue what he figured to gain by taking that stance. Not to mention, as others have pointed out, it being total horse shit.
Santa’s helpers made a late Friday afternoon sweep of the FBI’s Data Network and found this conversation which took place in the office of Undersheriff Neal Tyler at the Hall of Justice:
Assistant Sheriff Barrantes: Neal, you’ve got to step up.
Undersheriff Tyler: What do you mean?
Barrantes: I’m beginning to think I’m back on Spaceship Baca and you are Baca’s Stonich.
Tyler: In what way?
Barrantes: This is just how it was when Baca would go in to space and Stonich would sit there nodding his head affirming everything he said. “Yes, boss”. “Right-on boss”. “You are sooooo smart boss”. “Let me give you a big high-five over that one, boss”. And now you are going down that same path.
Tyler: Everything the Sheriff proposed made perfect sense. We seem to be over the hump with this Muslim thing.
Barrantes: That kinda of bugs me.
Tyler: What? Tom’s jokes?
Barrantes: No, the way the Sheriff layed it all on Tom. First, he said he was going to let it blow over and then when the heat got turned up, he rolled-over and threw Tom under the bus. He says “Tom left us with a POS.” Come on! I’m sure he knew all about those Burbank e-mails when Tom came over. Him and LaChasse are buddies and all this came up while Tom was still at Burbank. There is no way LaChasse and Tom – who is a stand-up guy – would not have told him about it before Tome came back. And NOW TOM left US with a POS? Who is HE kidding?
Tyler: Yeah, I know what you mean.
Barrantes: And this stuff about complicated employment laws? Tom served at McDonnell’s will. You screw up and you are gone. Simple as that, and everyone knows it. So, nobody in the organization believes it for one second. The Sheriff just plain looks bad. You know what they are going to say?
Tyler: McBaca?
Barrantes: Wouldn’t you? And another thing. Did you notice this entire ass-covering is all about Muslims? If you look at Tom’s jokes, he was an equal opportunity jokester. His jokes included blacks and his – and my – fellow latinos. Where’s the TLC the Sheriff is doling out for them? Where’s the extra “partnership” with the black or latin communities? I guess Muslims are the current squeaky wheel, so they get all the grease. Man, this thing just stinks – whether you are downwind from it or not. Yeah, it’s a steaming turd all right, but one of his own making.
Tyler: Maybe Tom should have sent out some jokes about the Irish or male whites or Donald Trump.
Barrantes: He probably did, but who cares, they’re all fair game – especially Trump!
laughter
Barrantes: He DID have some good ones!
Tyler: Yeah!
laughter
Barrantes: Anyway, Did you see the look in McDonnell’s eyes when Harrington started talking about this gender self-identification stuff?
Tyler: No
Barrantes: It’s the same look he gets every time we talk about custody stuff – or court services as well. His eyes just glaze over. He doesn’t have a clue – you can tell him the mouse ran up the clock-tower at CJ and he would believe you because he doesn’t know CJ doesn’t have a clock-tower!
Tyler: Well, he doesn’t have the same background…..
Barrantes: That’s my point. His TOTAL experience with jail management is what was spoon-fed to him by the attorneys running that commission looking in to Tanaka and CJ a few years ago. So he only heard what those attorneys wanted him to hear. Shit, he even bought off on that ridiculous notion of a two-tiered career track.
Tyler: You don’t think that’s working?
Barrantes: Hell no. When I worked there as a Lieutenant, the best people I had were deputies who had worked patrol and came back for various reasons. They had street smarts and were able to pass it along to the youngsters – who always got all worked up over “jail house felonies.” The patrol deps would pat the youngens on the heads, calm them down and explain the “big picture.” And of course all the Sergeants were patrol experienced and most had been FTO’s. I hear it is really sad now that the Sergeants over there have never been to patrol and some don’t even know how to properly fill out a ’49. How do you teach youngsters the ropes when you’ve never seen the “big picture” yourself? And as time goes by, it’s only going to get worse. This whole idea was bad from the beginning and Baca bought off on it because he was just trying to appease the media. That might have worked for the media – who always loves “new programs” – but it will hurt our operation in the long run.
Tyler: What do you expect me to do about it? That program is one of his pride and joys.
Barrantes: First, don’t get all wound up in something like gender self-identification. I know you look at it from an intellectual level, but you know it is as far out there as Baca’s idea about a CJ roof-wildlife conservation program. Speak up. Take the glaze out of the Sheriff’s eyes. Make him wake up to the fact that our “outside” expert maybe, just maybe, is trying something that won’t work. Harrington might know the state system, but it is far different than running a county jail the size of ours. He may be a good man, but for quite a while he is going to be as clueless as McDonnell is.
Tyler: Do you think that’s my role? To question….
Barrantes: Don’t you remember how we got here? Baca not giving a shit about running the workings of the department – and especially Custody Division. The only thing he cared about was using Custody to create social programs that would make him look like a great man to the media. That’s how he became “Sheriff of the Year” – just look at what they cited as his “accomplishments”. What a crock of shit that was. Anyway, he never actually cared about day-to-day operations And Stonich and his ilk never said a word – yes boss, great idea boss. No wonder eventually the Custody Division imploded.
Tyler: So, you want me to speak up when some of these hair-brained ideas are under discussion?
Barrantes: Neal, the last thing you should be talking about is hair…
@Santa – you caught some good stuff there… I’m sure the reels are still running..
It is so sad that the reality is that the LASD “leadership” continues to be nothing more than a collection of mindless “yes men”. It is common knowledge that they have not been promoted because they were ethical, free-thinking independent individuals who are looking out for the best interests of the department…rather, they were promoted because they can look the other way when required and do nothing when they are told to do so. In other words, they are the epitome of ethical and moral cowards. Every one of them who have stood by, for so many years, while so many ethical employees had their careers destroyed for “sport”, all of this being done while “in plain view” of the entire department. For this to happen, numerous people were involved at many levels, over a period of many years. Each and every one of them are ALL cowards. Every one of them needs to come to terms with their professional and personal cowardice. This would include all of those “leaders” of Captain rank and higher, from the early 2000’s, to present.
LA County Board of Supervisors – are you taking notes? Think “liability” …
And so the pattern continues – that McD (or rather “McBaca’) has set up the most important resource of the LASD – the Rank-and-File – to continue to bear the brunt of the sheer incompetence of the LASD “leadership”. How in this world of instant communication and video-everything, has this been allowed to continue?
The criminal “leadership” of LASD past continues to thrive, and collect 6-figure salaries, while their countless victims suffer. I hope they are held to answer at some point, very soon. There are many who are working to see it so!
How the Tanaka-loyalists who remain in control of the LASD, and those “loyalists” who are soon to promote to Commander and above positions, still have that control is because it has been freely given to them by the one person who vowed to the citizens of Los Angeles, to end the corruption – McDonnell.
So sad.
Still On: I thought we had a great relationship going. The sarcastic banter, etc…then you get all sensative on me…..what happened? Didn’t you get that promotion? By the way….no..this is all I have going in my life….so humor me.
Tom,
Since you are officially retired you might want to consider putting a joke book together. Think about it? I thought the jokes were real funny. All of them not just the Muslim jokes.
Still On: You have lost your sense of humor my friend. That’s a by product of working the 4th floor. First they take your sense of humor, then your integrity. Get out while you can!
How in the world does a captain get into Band 3 of a Commander’s list? Who made that honor list?
Bandwagon: you’ve lost me again. I’ve never worked on a 4th floor, much less “the” 4th floor. Who works on the 4th floor in HOJ anyway? Actually, come to think of it – I may have worked on the 4th floor of HOJJ back as an off-the-streeter. They had me copying microfiche or something in RIB on EMs. I guess that could have been the 4th floor. Who knows?
Still on; I also worked the “4th floor” as an off the streeter. Had me stuck inside the vault at Personnel. We are obviously aging ourselves!3