LA IS NUMBER ONE!
While we await the final report by the Citizen’s Commission on Jail Violence-–the CCJV—which is due to be presented to the public on Sept. 28 (but could be delayed until Oct. 5), Sheriff Lee Baca has been attempting to get ahead of the story with a series of appearances, interviews and the like during which he has pronounced LASD’S jail violence problems as all but solved and the department’s force policies and practices as exemplary.
“All of the dynamics in the jail are fully understood, fully addressed and force is at an all time low,” Sheriff Baca told the LA County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
“We’re the best in the nation,” the sheriff continued, “and that includes Riker’s Island and Cook County, which others like to say are better models. But in fact they’re coming to us asking more about what we’re doing to improve the situation.”
Alrighty then.
It is probably relevant to mention here that, in the course of their investigations, commission staffers visited both Illinois’ Cook County’s jail system and New York’s Rikers Island jail complex, and consulted with both facilities’ directors and their staffs. In fact, two of the best known former heads of the NYC Department of Corrections—Marty Horn and Michael Jacobson—came to LA to testify before the jails commission about their own extensive collective experiences with corrections policy and what they observed about LA’s system. They were not particularly complimentary.
Ditto Matthew Cate, the head of the California Department of Corrections.
RADIO STRATEGIES
On Friday, the sheriff will appear on KPFK radio at 3 p.m. to talk with Earl Ofari Hutchinson’s show about the jails issue on The Hutchinson Report.
If the past is any guide, Hutchinson will discuss hard topics, but will not truly challenge the sheriff.
Or, as one LASD source said of the interview, “He’s going to the trenches and connecting with his community base.”
However, in contrast, neither the sheriff nor his spokesman Steve Whitmore were available to spend 15 minutes talking about the same issues with Warren Olney on Which Way LA? on Sept.10 on KCRW. (Warren is the most respectful of pros, but he does not let guests wriggle easily off hooks.)
And then, of course, there was Baca’s Op Ed in the LA Times last week in which he wrote:
When the American Civil Liberties Union first raised allegations of excessive force being used by deputies, I launched a full-scale investigation into each and every one. Because allegations and anecdotes are not the same as facts, it was important to discover what was true, and I think that when these investigations are completed, which I believe will be soon, the public will be surprised by the factual findings.
But I have not waited for the results of that investigation to take action to improve the jails. After I heard about the excessive force allegations, one of my first steps was to meet with more than 100 inmates and listen to their concerns……
“I LAUNCHED A FULL INVESTIGATION INTO EACH AND EVERY ONE”
Um, yeah. About Baca’s “full-scale investigation” into the allegations made in the various ACLU reports.
Let’s see, in September 2011, in reply to what was then the newest ACLU report detailing abuse in the jails (not to mention a plethora of negative media reports and a widening investigation by the FBI) the Daily Breeze reported the following about the sheriff’s opinion of the allegations:
Baca held a news conference following the release of a scathing report by the American Civil Liberties Union that he and his top commanders are willfully indifferent to claims that deputies viciously assault inmates on a routine basis.
“That is a very false allegation,” Baca said. “There are no gangs in the Sheriff’s Department working custody.”
And in reaction to that same ACLU report, the sheriff told the LA Times this:
“If an investigation reveals excessive force, that employee is discharged. The LASD is never hesitant to discipline itself,” Baca said, defending his department. “Investigating the facts is what gets the truth, That is what we do.”
Then the year before, in reaction to the ACLU’s 2010 report detailing allegations of a culture of violence, abuse and intimidation by deputies in the jails, Steve Whitmore told the Daily News:
“We believe that is not true,” Whitmore said.
“But don’t believe us. Go to the Office of Independent Review. The deputy sheriffs do not have that culture. All the complaints we get are thoroughly investigated, not only by the Sheriff’s Department, but are overseen by the OIR.”
And so on.
There are gobs of similarly colorful denials and dismissals of the ACLU’s yearly findings by the sheriff and/or his spokesperson, where those came from.
THIS IS NOT TO SAY THERE AREN’T IMPROVEMENTS
Let us also give credit where credit is due: Force is down the Men’s Central Jail and elsewhere in the county system. Plus the education based incarceration program that the sheriff is championing is truly an enlightened and important idea in incarceration policy.
In fact, the department will hold its next graduation for its jail-based “MERIT program—MERIT being short for “Maximizing Education, Reaching Individual Transformation”—this coming Thursday morning, September 20.
I hear they are very emotionally affecting occasions that mean a great deal to the inmates who take part. (Were I not in West Glacier, MT, I’d assuredly be there.)
But these essentially surface changes do not address the underlying culture of violence, abuse and us-versus-them mentality that the commissions’ investigators said infected the jails to a highly toxic degree and begin at very high levels in the department.
AND SO….WE WAIT FOR THE REPORT
Which brings us, again back to the commission and its looming report. If the CCJV follows the lead that has been set by the very bluntly stated findings of its investigators, presented on Sept. 7 (see WLA report), it will ask for some fairly large changes from the sheriff and his department—including some changes at the top.
If so, what will the sheriff do then? Will he thank everyone very much for their time and effort, and continue to say he’s got it all handled, that there’s nothing to see here, folks?
Regrettably, that is precisely what his performances this week and last would suggest.
But perhaps Lee Baca will surprise us. Perhaps he will genuinely become the transformational leader he has presented himself to be all these years.
As Jake said to Brett in the last line of The Sun Also Rises: Isn’t it pretty to think so?
(If you’d like to check out the sheriff’s conversation with the Supes, it begins on page 78 of the preliminary transcript of Tuesday’s meeting linked below.)
Preliminary Transcript – LA County Board of Supervisors' meeting 0 9-18-12
AND IN NON-LASD NEWS…..LA COUNTY PROBATION EXECUTIVE (AND FORMER STATE ASSEMBLYMAN), CARL WASHINGTON, ARRESTED FOR BANK FRAUD
We’ll be writing a lot more about LA County Probation this fall, but we cannot let this story pass about the arrest of Probation exec Carl Washington. It is covered well by Christina Villacort at the Daily News.
Here’s one small-but-startling clip from her story:
Washington is the 39th Probation employee arrested so far this year and he will not be the last, according to Chief Probation Officer Jerry Powers.
About half of the previous arrests were for driving under the influence.
There was one for attempted murder, and several for fraud and drug-related charges, most of which were allegedly committed while off duty.
“That’s about one arrest a week,” said Powers, who began running the department in January. “Certainly, 39 is way beyond reasonable or expected.”
That number is expected to go even higher, as Probation and the county Chief Executive Office have launched a crackdown on workers compensation fraud in the department.
The arrest numbers are, of course, slack-jaw-making. But the crackdown by Probation Chief Powers is good news. It’s about freaking time.
PS: I wonder how many of those arrestees—past and future—have been working with kids in juvenile probation.
Lol……..”Baca, at his best, comes off as extremely warm and likable. Bizarrely so.”
That’s called salesmanship. And people keep falling for it. He’s a good salesman. He just doesn’t have any idea how to produce a good product.
How long will people fail to be concerned about the product, focusing instead on the salesmanship ability of the salesman.
NO?
Example A:
“We’re the best in the nation” the sheriff continued, “and that includes Rikers Island and Cook County, which others like to say are better models. But in fact they’re coming to us asking us more about what were doing to improve the situation”.
Celeste, it would appear that the salesman Leroy Baca is saying it’s time for the ACLU, WLA, LA Times and the rest of the critics to put up or shut up. If the above statement is true, then the CCJV appears as nothing more than a witch hunt motivated by entities that are never satisfied unless there isn’t ANY force used by law enforcement.
Or is it simply just another attempt by a good salesman to sell a sub-par product?
Either way, I wonder how he feels about his decision to cozy up to the ACLU after being elected in 1998.
I wonder how the Undersheriff feels about it……NOT!!!!
Lee: What about ALL the other scandals? Baca is PATHETIC! Too little too late! This is similar to being in combat and asking for a tank and a moron in a tricycle shows up! Yes, they both have wheels but the moron is short on brains and help!
Ok moonbeam , go on with all that psudo liberal garbage that has always got the politicians/ media off your back in the past. You got one big problem though. That little tyrant who keeps highjacking the department for his own personal gain, and he’s deffinately not on the same feel good liberal fantasy page. If you want to survive Tanaka has to go..
Free-moan: aren’t there more important things going on in the world. Your not going to change anything with LASD. There are faults in every organization. Just leave it alone. Now go send that care package to your 3d striker boyfriend.
In the picture above doesn’t Baca just need a set of horns? LOL Please remember Leo Terrell has informed the LASD and the Feds of crimes that his clients are involved with. With that said the worst is yet to come. I lived through Arco-Narco and helped investigate the case. Arco-Narco was a walk in the park compared to this! The bigger picture is a system wide breakdown of LASD. I hope I’m wrong but my sixth sense warns me otherwise!
Drop the anti-Sheriff agenda and do about 10 minutes of journalism. What is the use of force rate at Cook County and Rykers Island per inmate? Post that. If LASD is so screwed up why is the Cook County and Rykers Island force rate several times higher than LASD? I have also asked you several times to post the use of force stats from Pitchess to Block to Baca to show the steady decline. You don’t post these because they don’t support your agenda.
I guarantee you that Earl Ofari Hutchinson would question your assessment of his challenging someone he interviews. He differs from you by getting and presenting all of the facts and then impartially questions someone.
If you ever want to move this blog out of your basement you need to acquire some impartiality and some investigative skills.
The Probation Department is just getting started on rooting out some of the bad apples. You have no idea what is still out there being investigated. Some of it is mind boggling, to be sure. Kudos to the new Chief for undertaking the enforcement of Professional Standards.
I’m quite sure that Celeste has the resources to contact the powers that be at Rykers Island and Cook County and determine if the sheriff’s statement is true.
If it IS true……then we have a witch hunt where the force issues are concerned.
I’ll bet you the department top brass at those facilities don’t give the ACLU free rein to walk around unescorted and solicit beefs in their facilities..
No matter the outcome of any of this, Baca only has himself to blame. He’s the one who made the call re: the ACLU.
It came back to bite him.
Gee, now who could have predicted that……
Delusional. To the public, this is what we have had to work for over the last 12 years, an out of touch and completely delusional Sheriff. Baca only hears what he wants to and disregards everything else. NOTE TO THE PUBLIC FROM BACA – YOU ARE STUPID PEOPLE AND YOU WILL BELIEVE WHAT I TELL YOU. GOT IT?
EDITOR’S NOTE:
For the record: Baca hasn’t “let the ACLU in.” He’s required to allow the So Cal ACLU reasonably unfettered access to the LA County jails as federal monitors because he has been ordered to do so by a federal judge.
This goes back to a 37-year old federal lawsuit—originally known as Rutherford v. Pitchess—that was settled in 1975. As part of its ruling in Rutherford, the court appointed the Southern California branch of the ACLU to monitor the jails to make sure the department did what it had agreed to do. This monitoring has been challenged and upheld through two subsequent sheriffs, Baca being the last. The federal judge overseeing the matter is U.S. District Judge Dean Pregerson, and he seems to be in no mood to lift the oversight requirement.
As for the use of force at the other facilities, the commission was provided with a detailed breakdown of force incidents and patterns from both Cook County and Rikers. I don’t think I have the Cook County figures with me in MT, but you can find some of the Rikers numbers in the transcript of the commission hearing testimony on August 3.
http://ccjv.lacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/CCJV-Transcript-8-3-12-UPDATED-FINAL-8-24-12.pdf
Also, those numbers may be in some of the supporting documents as well. (I don’t remember. But you can happily troll through the relevant pages if you’re so motivated. To do so, check out the various links here under “exhibits” http://ccjv.lacounty.gov/meetings/)
Listen, if this is a witch hunt, it’s quite a broad conspiracy involving the FBI, the LA press, the jails commission, which includes several conservative federal judges, one of them the former head of the DEA, the chief of police of Long Beach (who used to be the Assistant Chief of the LAPD)—along with the U.S. attorney’s office and a large group of still-working members of the LA County Sheriff’s department at Lt’s rank and above, who wrote reports sounding he alarm, plus the between 15 and 20 attorneys who served as pro-bono investigators for the commission.
Celeste: Good job! Never confuse the kool-aid drinkers with the facts! It makes them dizzy LOL There is no conspiracy just a few ass kissers that are sure to lose their spot in line to kiss Baca’s ring! As I said this has the potential of getting much worse!
Hardly a Kool-aid drinker friend…..lol…..read my posts in their entirety.
Celeste, IF the amount of force used at CJ is significantly less than Rykers Island or Cook County, or IF their is merit to his statement that the LASD is the best in the nation AND CAN BE BACKED UP WITH STATS when it comes to force per-capita………wouldn’t it be fair to say that the ACLU has bigger fish to fry regarding excessive force?
For the record. Somebody…ANYBODY….find one of my posts where I’m complimentary to the sheriff.
I’ve said continuously that he hasn’t done his job and should be held accountable.
He’s done just about everything EXCEPT what he was elected, and is being paid, to do.
Globe trotting the world and giving speeches while his own house has gone to hell.
Now tell me again Mr. London how I’m a Kool-aid drinker. You kinda ruin your credibility when you respond with b.s. like that…simply because I’m not in lock-step with your opinion(s).
BTW,
Check the archives. Nobody has been more critical of the Sheriff’s “I didn’t know but now I know and we’re moving forward so it’s all good” responses than I have.
Do some homework Mr. London.
You’ll find that to be true.
Or you can just shoot from the lip like #11.
I too amnot a big supporter of Lee and company. I’m tired of a certain poster who can’t get the Block era out of the mix. First it’s the race card, now force.
You know why there was more force? Deputies worked harder, didn’t text their whole shift, and had a department that wouldn’t bring up their PPI for a promotion or coveted transfer. It’s like playing cards. The more times you play, the chances of a blackjack occur.
The more citizen contacts (word used loosely), the chance of a use of force is inevitable.
Force is not a big thing if you use it correctly and for the right reasons. I’m not bragging, but I have never stood up as a defendant in federal court for an ass whipping, and I beat my fair share who needed it.
Now as predictible with some, the rhetoric will come back “that;s because I worked admin”.
With all the constraints cops have these days, why would would you work any harder if you still gt the same pay? That’s the beauty of civil service.
Why bury the fact that the force rate per inmate at Cook County and Rykers is several times higher than LASD on the comments page behind a link? Why don’t you write a story on that. You also left out the data that shows Cook County and Rykers have more far more officers per inmate than LASD. The headline should read:
LASD DEPUTIES KEEP FORCE FAR BELOW THE SECOND AND THIRD LARGEST JAIL SYSTEMS IN THE UNITED STATES WITH FAR FEWER PERSONNEL.
You do an injustice to the hard working deputies of LASD by omitting information that does not fit into your anti-LASD agenda.
Further to Follow – You are right. You dimed yourself off. The only thing you were beating in those admin jobs was eggs into omelets for breakfast. You have to make a hook to use force or end up in court. How is that white peace officers association going for you?
Oh no, here we go again. I hope this nightmare is over soon.
Balance: You make too much sense,stop it. Don’t burst the nay-sayer’s bubble!
When I worked CJ, I was told that we had about 4 times the inmate population of Riker’s largest facility with about 1/3 the staffing. In addition, most of the inmates walking main line (general population) in CJ would have been classified as “K10” at Riker’s and individually escorted in waistchains with a 3 to 1 officer to inmate ratio.
In my not so humble opinion, the vast majority of the people who complain about MCJ have absolutely no idea what it’s actually like inside and wouldn’t last a week working there.
FPK1……..We get it. FTF worked admin. We hear you. We know. It’s been made crystal clear.
Again and again and again and again.
Maybe you could address and debate FTF’s points/opinions/statements instead of bringing up his resume…..when everybody already knows it.
Or maybe not. It’s a free country. Maybe not for very much longer, but hey, smoke em while you got em.
#20……Thank You !!!!!
Sorry 20 and 21. I don’t check in here much. I didn’t know it was well known that Further to Follow was a non-field type. However, I did address his opinion. I told him he wasn’t qualified to have comments about force during arrests from his position inside. I also think his white peace officers association is racist. That is just my opinion. The next time I check in to this page I will comment on other subjects.
Thank you 20 and 21, enough said and maybe the buzzing flies over the caveman’s head will get swatted one day.
For everyone, my analogy bout a lennox deputy wanting to form a white peace officer’s association is no different than the bpoa, hpoa or wpoa. I don’t consider those racist, so why would management threaten to end the career of a deputy forming his own group?
Anyone has the power to act withing the law, policy and what is right for an organization, and i support that. I could care less what gender, color, sexual preference or whatever else the organization wants.
You see, I’m married to a woman of a different race than mine. It’s the person, not anything else that matters. Time to get back to the topic here.
Answereing the question, you are absolutely right about questioning the future of our free country.
Got a feeling things are gonna be real interesting over the next yar in our country and abroad.
Agreed! Get back on point. In our case to use stats from other agencies is useless, for two reasons. The Commission has already documented that the uses of force were either NOT reported or falsified. As my old prof would say “garbage in garbage out!” The Times had a small article about LASD admitting to changing the crime stats to make “Baca look good!” I spoke to two retired deps whose job was to report on station stats and were ordered to change the stats to accomplish the notion that all is well is LALA land. Second, was a common example on how managers and not leaders think and act. I was told to do a presentation on the crime stats for the City of Lynwood and the surrounding county areas. Now, stay with me you Baca supporters, when I was done the stats clearly showed more crime occurring in these areas. I was asked by the Assistant Sheriff (name not important) why weren’t these crimes rates similar to that of La Mirada and Norwalk as the stations were “similar in size?” If you have a crook running things it doesn’t matter what we do! The lying and deceit that has occurred hurts all of us! Remember my old prof “garbage in garbage out!” Just got called into another crisis meeting. Write later!!!Keep your powder dry
Okay, here’s something I haven’t seen touched on yet.
WHO CARES HOW MUCH FORCE WE HAVE? If the force is righteous, necessary and justified, I personally don’t care how we measure up against other agencies. We have our own problem sets, our own jails, and our own criminals, here in the gang capital of the world.
The problem as I see it is a Sheriff who says incredibly stupid things like suggesting there are no “Deputy Gangs” in custody. Yes there are. There are Deputy gangs out in patrol too. Does Baca even know that? The fact that Baca denies it means he’s either lying, or out of touch with his department. Either way, he has to go.
Stop the mindless back and forth bickering with each other, including the inappropriate personal slams at Celeste, and stick with trying to wrap our collective minds around these issues drowning our department.
Further to Follow – There is no room for a white police officers association in a modern day law enforcement agency. Not only is it racist, but it is insensitive and rude to people of color. You lose the trust of the community by forming that group.
I currently work MCJ and I actually think the Sheriff and Undersheriff are doing a great job. I don’t agree with the Town Hall Meetings and all the inmate love going on, but times have changed. There are over 700 HD cameras at MCJ, which cover every aspect of the jail. There isn’t another Sheriff’s Department in the nation that compares. Deputies here work hard and do more with less.
I was here through Olmstead, Cruz, and Ornales, I initially thought Olmstead was a great Captain, but I quickly learned that he was all talk. He was very approachable and it felt like I could talk to him for hours about work or personal issues. He made us (2000 and 3000 floor deputies) feel like we were doing a great job and that nothing was wrong. We all felt he was a great guy and he had our best interest at heart. Not once did he say there was a problem with deputy misconduct. He always said; just keep doing what you’re doing!
It wasn’t till everything turned to shit, then I realized his true colors. Some of the things I’ve heard him say are straight lies. He never expressed any concerns about deputy’s unjustified force or any force for that matter. I don’t know why he came out and slammed the department the way he did, but what I do know is that he is a two faced back stabbing son of a bitch.
Ok public, your opinion is certainly what it is. I’m puzzled, if I said the BPOA group is racist, does that make me a racist? Either way, there is no middle ground with you.
If I was in a position to form one, I can tell you my wife, who happens to be African American would support it just as the other ethnic organizations support their heritage and race. She actually believes the current organizations, including the one’s who represent her race create more division and inflammatory responses than if it weren’t in existance. I would ask your spin on that, but again this is off topic and i won’t detract anymore from the current posts
Further to Follow – Your wife is right. A white police officers association will create division and inflammatory responses. This is racist and the community is solidly against it. We don’t need a clique of white Sheriffs officers. I am against these cliques and so the the jail commission. Ask Reverend Cecil.
#25 London, agreed re: garbage in-garbage out.
#26…the ACLU and “social justice” do gooders are the ones who care about how much force is used. They never met an ass kicking they liked. They feel sorry for the poor, downtrodden inmates who they believe are in jail because of mostly socio-economic reasons. They don’t think about the 90% of poor people that DON’T go to jail.
#27…Soooo……Black poa’s ok. Hispanic poa’s ok. Women’s poa’s ok. White poa’s racist rude and insensitive…….keep kneeling at that altar of political correctness. Only one who has willingly and enthusiastically consumed the PC Kool-Aid can justify that in their minds.
And it is the epitome of hypocrisy. You’ve obviously come to terms with your hypocrisy and embrace it. That’s your right. It’s a free country.
News flash, ANY POA’S that are identified by race, gender or religion are divisive.
No matter how PC they are.
Have another glass of Kool-Aid and just keep telling yourself how progressive you are. Keep repeating the mantra. As long as you “feel good” about yourself, there’s no need to let logic or truth enter your thought process…..lol
Gotta give Public credit where credit is due. He/she didn’t bring up the GED thing in the last post. Didn’t remind us through not so subtle insinuations that in his/her opinion cops are a bunch of ignorant, uneducated morons.
Progress???
Amazing how there is an article, and room for discussion on the issues facing the department. Plenty of items presented for some real conversation.
But it always get hijacked by some people who want to vent about the world.
FTF-Get a life! Please. You are an angry person.
The Public- Get over yourself. If a white police officers association is offense to people of color understand a Black Peace Officer association is offensive to whites, when do you have to learn tolerance?
MCJ-Good Post. Thanks for the input. There is no doubt you and several hundred deputies go to work everyday and do more than your job. Thanks!!
But understand our department does have issues. The Sheriff is lost. We are a boat without a Captain and the First Mate thinks he is the Captain. There are a number of issues the line deputy does not (and maybe should not) know about.
Things have been going on that shouldn’t and people with integrity only want the Sheriff and the Executive Staff to have integrity and do what right. Sadly because of their egos the end result will be hugely embarrassing for all deputies no matter their color. Drop the patch I’m out
MCJ, I was at CJ with Clark, Olmstead and Cruz…
Lets start with “Deputies here work hard and do more with less” your kidding right? You might wanna ask Deputies at Century, SLA, and Compton about that statment. At any time during my stay at CJ I could walk onto 2-3 floors and find 5-6 Deputies sitting at the entrance doing crap…
“There isn’t another Sheriff’s Department in the nation that compares”…I agree with you here…
“I initially thought Olmstead was a great Captain, but I quickly learned that he was all talk”…So when did you “quickly” learn he was all talk because your next statement…”It wasn’t till everything turned to shit, then I realized his true colors” is years after he was Captain at CJ…
“Some of the things I’ve heard him say are straight lies” I’d love to hear what you have to say about his lies.
MCJ, since you have been at CJ for 5-6 years maybe you can enlighten us on what really happened at the CJ Christmas party?
FPK1, “I also think his white peace officers association is racist”. could you please elaborate on why it is racist?
left, you’re right about being off the topic, my bad, sorry to all.
If you knew me and many who work with and for me know I’m not an angry person, I just speak how I feel whether people think it’s PC or not. You see political correctness is a very vague suggestion of conduct that should not include walking on eggshells. I feel better when I speak my thoughts and I know I am sincere about it.
MCJ….Really? Well one would hopefully be on their best behavior when a camera lense is pointed at them at every turn inside the jails. But, then again…who knows these days.
I have to agree with #34 regarding asking other deputies in patrol about that statement regarding the work of MCJ deputies. There are plenty of hard working deputies at that jail, just please be careful how you phrase that on this blog though. JMO
Regarding special groups and organizations:
1. If you’re in law enforcement, you SHOULD be Tan and Green (or whatever the color of your uniform is) FIRST and FOREMOST!!! I have very little respect for those who are first this or that and then a cop second or third.
2. I don’t see a need for any special groups or organizations in law enforcement. BUT, if you decide to form one, it should be open to ALL personnel.
3. If one group gets to form an organization or hold an event or whatever, EVERY similar group SHOULD also have that right – yes, including Whites and Males!!!
4. In my opinion, perpetuating these special groups only serves to counter progress towards us coming together as a species but go ahead and keep doing what you’re doing, since it’s soooo important to you.
For what it’s worth, I’m considered a minority (especially in law enforcement work) but I was born, raised, and schooled here just like most of you.
PC is absolute BULLSHIT and is ruining our country.
#37 Sucks,
Well said. Here here.
When the BPOA, Hapcoa etc, has the annual Christmas Party go to it, I suggest bringing a book or your kindle to keep you company…. And if you are interacial try that one on for size. The warmth of open arms tells me “i’m Justlike dem”” uh huh
All of these “special” study groups only serve to divide the Dept. In a radio car or as a partner in custody, it never mattered, nor should it. Why do we have these study groups based on a racial divide? Why does this exist? I worked in South LA during the riots, and the men and women who fought next to me were what was important, not the rest of this bullshit!
Now let me get to the probation story and Carl Washington. Is this the same guy who ran Ujima Village and constantly complained about the Sheriff’s Dept? For those of you who never worked South of the I5/I14/210 Fwys, Ujima Village is not a musical group, it’s one of Century’s lightweight housing projects (Cen has several others)
#33 Left at the ball,
Of course the First Mate thinks/thought he is the Captain. Why would he not? He sees like everybody else that the Sheriff is/was too busy with what he considers/considered more important things to do than run the ship. He wasn’t elected to run the ship, but the Captain left it to him to run. The Captain was too busy doing the PR bullshit to run the ship. So, the First Mate becomes the de facto Captain of the ship.
If nothing else comes from these investigations/commissions, at least they have uncovered, without question that Baca was too preoccupied with other things than to:
1. “remember”…be told….or find out about the things that were troubling the LASD.
OR..
2. Make the problem a priority
OR..
3. Realize that he was being kept in the dark about it by his Command Staff.
There is no fourth explanation.
At least for a short time, Leroy Baca has had to forget about globe trotting the world, being the big shot giving speeches, getting patted on the back and pay attention to his own ship.
If anybody denies that Baca was doing this they are in a serious state of denial or are a serious boot licker who is only concerned with keeping his/her position.
Leroy Baca was an absentee Sheriff. That is undeniable. IT WAS HIS JOB TO KNOW!!!
But you can’t be aware of what’s happening on your own ship if you’re never on it.
You have to leave it to others.
From #39 Further to Follow: “i’m Justlike dem uh huh”.
This is why Further to Follow and the white police officer association/clique is racist. Here on a public website Further to Follow mocks the way he feels people of color speak. What do you think goes on behind closed doors with that clique? The KKK was also a white club that many police officers joined.
Oh, I remember Ujima Village well and those of us who worked that area know what it was like. If it is true Mr. Carl Washington ran it, then WOW!!! I would love to hear more about this investigation.
MCJ: You have a lot of guys on here who have put in their custody time and are now on the streets. We can’t go on lock down when short staffed, so save your “do more with less crap”! I put two years in custody and worked harder in one week as 162B as I ever did in custody. My buddy working the Lynwood City car was way busier then me! Save it Brother you have no idea.
Unless you were in the meetings and heard the private conversations with the top brass then you can’t comment on who’s lying and who tried to do the right thing. Did you hear the commissions questions and answers by our top managers? If you don’t see incompetent leadership to the level that anyone of us would be demoted then you live under a rock!
Any association, policy, or hiring standard based on race creates divide, destroys morale and tears down the demographic of the association itself.
@22 Years on Patrol, your observation — “Any association, policy, or hiring standard based on race creates divide, destroys morale and tears down the demographic of the association itself.” — is a profound statement that lends itself to several realities. One of which is that many of the institutions held so near and dear, including the U.S. of A, have been and are exactly what you describe—based on “race” [gender] that divides and destroys the association itself. Smarter folks than you or I haven’t figured out how to fix that. I wish we were all tan and green, but we’re not. The name calling and push back will continue. We have to agree to disagree. Meanwhile, the bigger issue, the one we can fix, is our current leadership. They need to go. Maybe then we can get back to what we do, enforce the law—not without error, but in good faith, and as fairly as possible. Anything else about who did what, when, and for how long doesn’t matter. Paul’s grand experiment failed. He doesn’t deserve to be sheriff. Neither does Leroy.
Further to Follow – What a great way to represent the department to the public. Racist mocking of the way you think someone speaks. There is no room for you or your old, angry, white male comments on the current LASD. And no, we also don’t need a White Peace Officers Association.
Who said I am mocking how people talk? You forgot who I’m married to. Again everyone is caught up in sensitivity and not laughing at themselves.
Public. Just as an fyi, how many times working patrol and custody, i was called “cracker”? It is just as bothersome as if I called someone the “n” word. But by God, if I did I would be fired so fast my eyes would detack from the retina.
But it’s ok to call me a “cracker”. Neither is right, but you are hell bent on any comments other than what fits your view. People like you scare me. Especially when picked as a juror.
At What? #46
Do you think if FTF changed your staements to say Black/Hispanic it would be ok?
Find a mirror and look into it and you will see a racist…
If you are a Deputy learn what a POE is because it is coimng to you many fold after everything is said and done…
BTW I’m Hispanic and so is my wife.
#46,
Just keep wearing those little girl panties and holding your breath, just waiting for somebody to say something you can be offended about. Wherein you try to back up your false assertions that anybody who is INSENSITIVE IN ANY WAY has to be a racist.
Big difference. Most REAL street cops are not real sensitive touchy feely types, you know, who worry on a daily basis about offending those of you wearing your little girl panties.
I don’t know FTF, so I don’t know if he is a racist or not.
You don’t know him either, so for you to make the claim that he is a racist, simply because he made a remark that offended your oh so delicate sensabilities shows us all just exactly where you’re coming from.
You’re most likely the type who loves the whole POE thing and the way it is insanely enforced by the LASD.
Hey, I got an idea. Just pretend FTF was trying to be funny. You know, like all the ultra-hip comedians who say things far more insensitive on a daily basis than what FTF said…but it’s dismissed by people like you because, hey, the comedian is just trying to “keep it real”.
Take your phony outrage to Starbucks and sell it to all your uber-progressive friends.
That shit won’t sell in a room full of street cops.
NO MATTER THEIR COLOR!!!!!!!
Your skin is soooo thin we can see right through you. As commenter #47 above so adeptly demonstrated.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
A friendly warning. Let’s please move off of this topic. I’m about to start wholesale deleting anything in the racist/not racist/you are so/I am are not/PC-sucks vein.
It’s played out and then some.
Thanks for your cooperation.
C.
Amen brothers and sisters, Amen. So I have a question. Regarding management, someone made a comment about Waldie and a Palm Springs adress. Is there anyone out there that is aware of a 23152(a)(b) vs hook in that area and booked as john doe then retired subsequent? Just asking as all this jail stuff seems to have manifested itself since the abrupt retirement