EDITOR’S NOTE: The article below is another in WitnessLA’s LASD INVESTIGATIONS/Dangerous Jails series that probes the culture of violence and abuse that, for years, has been reported to exist inside the Los Angeles County Jail system—and the broader dysfunction inside the sheriff’s department that has allowed the abuse to flourish.
(You can find Part One of the series here, Part Two, here, Part Three here.)
This 10-month investigation, reported and written by Matt Fleischer, is the second investigative series to come out of the LA Justice Report, which was created through a partnership between WitnessLA and Spot.Us.
DANGEROUS JAILS PART 4: INTERNAL AFFAIRS
by Matthew Fleischer
LASD insiders say that, for years, Undersheriff Paul Tanaka—not Lee Baca—has ruled the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department though a system built of favoritism, pay-to-play campaign donations, and loyalty rewarded over competence.
Now he has assumed command of the department’s two internal investigative units—Internal Affairs and the Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau—a move that many close to the department view as a hostile takeover.
On May 15, 2011, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department quietly made a series of small, seemingly innocuous changes to its command structure. The Internal Affairs unit, which investigates violations of departmental policy, and the Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau, which looks into criminal acts that may have been committed by department personnel, were taken out from under the oversight of the Leadership and Training Division—where the twin divisions have been for nearly two decades—-and were placed under the control of the then-Assistant Sheriff, soon-to-be- Undersheriff, Paul Tanaka. In practical terms, this meant that, instead of the heads of the two bureaus reporting to Leadership and Training’s Chief, Roberta Abner, Tanaka appointed a brand new captain and commander from his own inner circle to head IA and report to him. At the same time, he selected a new captain to run ICIB, also reporting to him. Abner was taken out of the loop altogether, and a commander position overseeing ICIB was eliminated. Two levels of oversight and accountability in the system with which the department investigated itself vanished overnight.
To the casual observer, the moves might appear to be little more than the bureaucratic shuffling of departmental chess pieces. But to those inside the sheriff’s department, the sudden switch in oversight was alarming. As one former IA investigator explained, “To have a commander and a captain reporting directly to the Undersheriff…there’s no precedent for that.”
In order to check, the LA Justice Report called around to five law enforcement agencies across California—San Diego Sheriff’s Department; Orange County Sheriff’s Department; San Francisco Sheriff’s Department; Los Angeles Police Department; and the San Francisco Police Department–and found that only the SFSD has its “investigative services” unit report directly to someone as high up as the undersheriff without intervening layers. “We’re much smaller than LASD,” explained an SFSD spokesperson, “we only have about 850 employees. So it makes things more manageable.”
In a department of 18,000, like the LASD, the layered chain of command existed for good reason, according to our IA source (and validated by other department insiders with IA knowledge). “Personnel investigations are extremely in-depth. IA is a relatively large unit, with 35-40 people in it. You have to have time to oversee and manage them. But the undersheriff has constantly got an 800 pound gorilla banging on his head.”
So why the change?
LASD spokesman Captain Mike Parker explained in an email that the move was simply so the Sheriff could keep a better eye on the two bureaus. “All reorganization changes within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department are done at the direction of Sheriff Baca…Recent changes have been made to the oversight of Internal Affairs Bureau and Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau to increase accountability and efficiency, and to streamline the process.”
However, sources inside the department say the move had little to do with increased accountability, but rather was a realignment that allowed the undersheriff to protect any of his insiders that needed protecting.
As The LA Justice Report has previously reported, Tanaka has a history of rescuing, promoting and protecting supervisors with less-than-spectacular and often downright troubled performance records, people who then become his most loyal supporters.
There was, for example, Dan Cruz, the highest ranking member of the Sheriff’s Department to be put on leave for his role in the recent jail abuse scandal—and also a Tanaka appointee and loyal donor to the undersheriff’s political campaign in Gardena. Cruz arrived at CJ as an operations lieutenant with a checkered supervisory record. Nonetheless, he was promoted to captain and put in charge of the already troubled Men’s Central Jail. Deputy-on-inmate force incidents spiked almost immediately under his watch. The situation was desperate enough that Cruz’s direct supervisor, Commander Bob Olmsted, told Tanaka directly of problems inside the jail under Cruz—and told Lee Baca as well. Olmsted says he was ignored.
If supervisors like Olmsted came to Tanaka with reports of uncontrolled violence and were waved away, how will the undersheriff respond to critical IA and ICIB investigations into favored people and groups his department?
“I think we should be concerned,” says the ACLU’s Peter Eliasberg. “The reality is that one of the key components in dealing with deputy use of force on inmates is a system that provides for appropriate discipline of deputies. If you have someone at the top overseeing that system who’s not aggressively committed to policing what deputies are doing, that’s a very bad thing.”
KEEP YOUR ENEMIES CLOSER
Part of the problem with the undersheriff’s takeover of the two bureaus, sources tell the LA Justice Report, is the fact that Tanaka has openly, and vociferously, expressed his contempt for IA throughout his career.
In early 2007, LASD Internal Affairs Sergeant Larry Landreth was named the lead investigator of an extremely sensitive case. An LASD deputy trainee had been caught on a wiretap allegedly giving information to the Mexican Mafia. The incident had the makings of a huge scandal for the department, and the brass were all over Landreth to look into this case as quickly and as thoroughly as possible.
Shortly before the investigation began, Paul Tanaka—who was then the assistant sheriff–called Landreth into his office for a closed-door meeting. The meeting began in a normal manner. Tanaka stressed the importance of the case, and gave Landreth his blessing to investigate aggressively.
Tanaka then said something Landreth wasn’t expecting. “He looked at me straight-faced,” Landreth, now retired, tells the LA Justice Report, “and said ‘This is the only time you’re going to see me be an advocate of IA, because I hate you fuckers.’
Startled by the outburst, Landreth scanned Tanaka’s face for a trace of humor but found none.
“You take pride in your job,” says Landreth, “and to be called a ‘fucker’ to my face out of nowhere…It was an affront.”
He asked Tanaka what, exactly, his problem was with Internal Affairs? Landreth and his colleagues had noticed that Tanaka seemed unwilling to promote out of IA–despite the unit being among the most important in the department, and traditionally considered a career enhancing stepping stone in the LASD.
Landreth says he reminded Tanaka that the purpose of IA was far more than proving wrongdoing. It was also bureau in the department with the power to protect innocent deputies who get falsely accused of misbehavior—which happens, says Landreth “all the time.” It is IA’s job to launch the investigations that clear these deputies’ names.
“It is just as important to free the innocent as it is to punish the guilty,” says Landreth.
But Tanaka wouldn’t hear any of it. Pressed by Landreth, Tanaka muttered vaguely that he’d had some bad run-ins with IA back in the 80’s–and that soured him on the unit. He referenced an incident at Men’s Central Jail early in his career, but provided no details.
THE SHOOTING
Tanaka’s worst “run-in” with IA in the 1980s is well known. In 1988 he was the senior officer on the scene when five Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed an unarmed Korean immigrant named Hong Pyo Lee after a car chase found Lee cornered at a dead-end street. The group of deputies fired fifteen rounds at 21-year-old Lee, hitting him 9 times in the back and neck. Tanaka and the other four deputies claimed they shot because Lee was attempting to hit them with his car. However, Long Beach police officer Richard R. Boatwright, who witnessed the shooting, said in a sworn deposition that Lee’s car was moving away from deputies when the shooting began. “We just observed the sheriffs execute somebody,” Boatwright said he told his partner. LA County paid Lee’s family $1 short of a $1 million in a settlement after the shooting.
Then in 1993, sources tell us, Tanaka was reportedly shipped to West Hollywood station as a disciplinary measure for using harsh and inappropriate language to berate a female deputy at Century station, where Tanaka was a lieutenant.
“He’s been carrying a grudge around for more than 20 years,” says Landreth. “That should not be the position of any department head.” And certainly not the man leading the department’s two internal investigative units.
The encounter with Landreth is one of a number of occasions in which Tanaka reportedly badmouthed IA in front of other department personnel. In 2005, Tanaka called a “deputies only” meeting at Century Station in Inglewood, which was, at the time, struggling with violence stemming from a deputy gang called The Regulators—who, like the better known deputy gang of the 1980s to 1990’s era, the Vikings, were notorious for finding weak supervisors they could gang up on and control. Tanaka’s message to this troublesome group: “I never liked IA. Never liked the way they do business.”
“He signs off on discipline,” says a department source familiar with Century Station and the Regulators, “he can’t say that.”
Century’s captain at the time, Steve Roller, agreed—and wrote a memo critical of Tanaka’s statements that he sent up the chain of command. The memo was harsh enough, sources say, that Lee Baca himself visited Century to do damage control.
A few months later, Roller was unexpectedly transferred out of Century while away on an Alaskan cruise. Several sources tell The LA Justice Report that it was the captain’s aggressive, by-the-books ways that got him ”rolled up”—as it was a supervisory style that clashed with Paul Tanaka’s vision for how to run a high profile station like Century.
As we reported in Dangerous Jails, Part 3, department sources cite multiple incidents in which Undersheriff Tanaka has told deputies in the department to “work in they grey”—a skate the edge style of policing that essentially translates to “do whatever it takes.”
The LA Justice Report spoke with three former IA investigators who each made clear that “working in the grey” policing, and aggressive internal affairs monitoring of departmental wrongdoing are irreconcilable. Robust internal affairs and deputies told by their undersheriff to push the boundaries of departmental policy cannot coexist. Something has to give. And by all accounts, when it comes to Paul Tanaka, it will be IA, not the deputies under his wing who are forced to cede ground.
HANDCUFFING THE ADULTS
An example of the slippery slope that comes with ceding this supervisory ground occurred in 2006, when Paul Tanaka called an impromptu meeting for all the supervisors inside Men’s Central Jail. Tanaka was then the assistant sheriff in charge of custody and the meeting was not unexpected. There had been a string of high profile violent incidents in the jail that had drawn the scrutiny of the LA County Board of Supervisors, the ACLU and the media.
As The LA Justice Report has previously reported, CJ’s then-captain John Clark traced much of the violence back to bands of deputies who were forming gang-like cliques on the second, third and fourth floors of the jail—the 3000 Boys, et al. Modeled after the law-suit producing deputy cliques of the previous decades, like the Vikings, these cliques featured special tattoos, threw gang-like hand signs and, in some cases, refused to socialize with “rival” cliques within the department. In the case of the 3000 Boys and the matching group from the 2nd floor, the 2000 Boys, the cliques had also recently started waiting for their entire crew to get off work—sometimes lingering for hours at a time—before leaving the station together en masse. This was not only a violation of departmental policy, but it was eerie gang-like behavior intended to intimidate—to show both inmates and supervisors alike who really ran the jail.
“You had guys taking off one or two hours early so they could leave with their crew,” says one former CJ supervisor (who asked that we not give his rank for fear of being identified). “This is what gangs do.”
It was in this climate, that Paul Tanaka called his meeting. Our source, who was in the room that day, tells us that, instead of demanding better supervision of the increasingly out-of-control deputies—whose actions have now been reported by The LA Justice report here, along with the ACLU, the LA Weekly, KTLA and the LA Times, not to mention an ongoing series of high ticket law suits, and an investigation by the FBI—Tanaka told everyone to back off.
“I want you supervisors to stay out of the way and let the deputies do their jobs,” Tanaka said. “Your type of supervision is like a dinosaur. You remind me of my father.”
Our source says Tanaka was particularly livid at the suggestion that deputies in cliques like the 3,000 Boys were acting like gangsters. “How dare any supervisor refer to a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputy as a gang member.”
Tanaka then made a cradling gesture with his hands. “This is Generation Y. You will coddle these men.”
Our source says that he and his fellow CJ supervisors were shocked at the counter-disciplinary instructions. Here was one of the most powerful men in the department essentially telling them to not do their jobs—not to provide boundaries, and guidance for these inexperienced deputies. Many of these men and women were a few months out of the Sheriff’s Academy and were not just risking doing harm to inmates, but also—if their mistakes were big enough— potentially sacrificing their careers. This is why a big law enforcement agency like the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department has structural fail safes: Just because the assistant sheriff wanted lax supervision, didn’t mean IA or ICIB couldn’t investigate these same deputies for wrongdoing, if their actions were serious and well documented.
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“We weren’t trying to be autocratic,” says our source. “We’re a paramilitary organization. There are rules and regulations. We need discipline. And that discipline had broken down.
“Tanaka’s intervention put handcuffs on all of us.”
Sources tell us Tanaka’s hands-free management style is nothing new—it dates back to his days as a sergeant at Lynwood station in the late-80’s early 90’s. According to a source who worked at Lynwood, Tanaka was the supervisor of choice for deputies who were “sergeant shopping”—looking for a supervisor mostly likely to give permission or protection. This was particularly true with members of the Vikings, of whom Tanaka was, by then, a tattooed member.
[For more on the undersheriff and the Vikings see the sidebar below]
Since Tanaka was just a sergeant, back then, he wouldn’t have had the “juice” to head off something as serious as an IA investigation. But in basic disciplinary battles between deputies and fellow sergeants, Tanaka nearly always sided with deputies—in the process, eroding the authority of supervision at the station.
“He was emotionally close with these guys,” explains our source. “They bonded. He was one of them. He was too immature and not intellectually aware enough to realize the inherent problems with this arrangement. Departmental standards were not being enforced.”
“They’d go running to him like Mommy,” says another LASD source from Tanaka’s Lynwood days. “Tanaka sold out his fellow supervisors to curry favor with the Vikings. It breeds arrogance on steroids. Because these guys know, even if they’re in the wrong, someone has their back. It’s the same story today with the 3,000 Boys. This is a pattern with Tanaka.”
CONTROL ISSUES
So why does a man who has repeatedly made known to all his dislike of Internal Affairs, and aggressive supervision of deputies, suddenly wish to have power over over the unit responsible for investigating departmental misdeeds?
The three former LASD Internal Affairs investigators we spoke to all told us versions of the same thing: “It’s about control.”
These former IA investigators, as well as other sources inside the department, point to the questionable timing of Tanaka’s takeover—a few weeks after his high school friend Bernice Abraham was put on leave when federal investigators notified Sheriff’s officials that Abram’s voice may have been heard on a narcotics wiretap relating to an investigation of a Compton drug ring. Abram had been the head of Carson Station and a close ally of Tanaka. She has contributed to his Gardena political campaigns since 2004.
“Ever since Abram was relieved of duty, things changed,” says one LASD supervisor.
According to the supervisor, prior to Tanaka’s takeover of IA and ICIB, whenever someone in the department was arrested or put on leave, a departmental memo called a “confidential operational log,” which summarized the circumstances surrounding the action, would go out to LASD supervisors with the rank of captain or higher. However, a confidential operational log was never sent out about Abram, nor, according to our insider, have any others been sent since Tanaka became Undersheriff.
“People inquiring about [Abram], mostly out of concern, were quickly told to ‘mind their own business.’
“All this did was weaken trust within the department,” he says. “There was no more transparency and many felt, and feel, that there is something to hide, not only as it relates to Bernice Abram, but to others and any potential future investigations.”
“It was standard operating procedure, no big deal,” says another former LASD higher-up of the confidential operational logs, “the way business was done. Now it’s all about trying to stifle information from getting outside the organization.”
DOUBLE STANDARDS
Multiple sources tell us they worry there is a standard of permissiveness for some people—namely Tanaka insiders—-that doesn’t apply to others in the department. They argue that there were instances of the Undersheriff and other LASD brass applying pressure on IA investigations even before Tanaka took direct control of the bureau. As an example, they point to an investigation into the May 9, 2005 shooting of Winston Hayes by LASD deputies. Hayes was a black motorist who, high on drugs, led Sheriff’s deputies on a low-speed pursuit through Compton. Deputies eventually pulled Hayes over, and advanced in his direction. Then, claiming he tried to run them down, deputies fired 120 shots at Hayes’ car, hitting him nine times and his vehicle 66 more times. In the crossfire, the deputies also managed to shoot one of their own officers (non-fatally), plus strafe several squad cars with 11 rounds. Another 11 bullets slammed into surrounding homes.
The incident prompted a gigantic community backlash and cost LA County $1,326,468.60 when a jury, after watching a citizen video of the incident, agreed that officers had used excessive force on Hayes, who miraculously survived the barrage. All deputies involved in the incident were given 15-day suspensions stemming from an Internal Affairs review, as was the sergeant who directed the chase over the police radio.
Yet two different sources tell us that the watch commander on the incident, a lieutenant out of Compton station, not only escaped any kind of sanctions, he was never made a subject of investigation by Internal Affairs—despite the fact that he was in the field and on the radio during the chase. According to our sources, this lieutenant upped the urgency of the chase by hopping on the radio to list Hayes’ past crimes as events were still unfolding.
“He absolutely inflamed the situation,” says one LASD insider with knowledge of the incident.
Sources say IA investigators attempted to interview the lieutenant as a subject, but were pressured by higher-ups to stay away. Landreth was one of the lead IA investigators on the Compton shooting, and he confirms our sources’ story. Departmental policy and the Policeman’s Bill of Rights prevent Landreth from discussing the case with us in detail, or naming the lieutenant in question, but other sources tell us the lieutenant was James Hellmold—one of Paul Tanaka’s leading campaign contributors and a former driver to Sheriff Lee Baca.
“Tanaka and Baca put Hellmold off in the corner and let the Sergeants take the fall,” says a former high-ranking insider with knowledge of the situation. “He absolutely should have been the subject of an IA investigation.”
Hellmold’s free pass earned him the nickname “Teflon Lieutenant” among those with knowledge of the shooting. A little more than a year after the incident, Hellmold was promoted to captain and placed in charge of Century Station. He has since risen to the rank of commander and is one of four commanders leading Baca’s panel to investigate jail violence.
However, Hellmold’s Teflon dodge happened under the old IA system–where an investigator like Landreth had the option going to his chief to try to earn the backing of a command staff ally. Under the new system, the only recourse an investigator would have would be to go straight to Paul Tanaka.
“If he’s stacking the deck with ‘his’ people in there,” says one former Internal Affairs investigator, “then I don’t have any faith in IA.”
EPILOGUE
On December 19 of 2011, the LA Justice Report submitted a series of questions to the LA Sheriff’s Department regarding Paul Tanaka’s takeover of Internal Affairs and Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau—and his notorious dislike for IA.
On January 4, 2012, two weeks after our conversation with Parker, Internal Affairs was put back under the umbrella of Chief Roberta Abner and the Leadership and Training Division. Internal Criminal Investigations remains under the control of Undersheriff Tanaka. How much or little unofficial influence over Internal Affairs that Paul Tanaka retains is unknown.
Editor’s Notes:
TANAKA & THE VIKINGS
In 1987, the year before the Hong Pyo Lee shooting, Paul Tanaka was asked to join the Vikings, the now notorious group of deputies operating out of the Lynwood station, whose members sported numbered Viking tattoos on their ankles, threw gang signs—L for Lynwood—occasionally spray-painted Vikings tags in the Lynwood area to mark their “turf,” and bragged openly about harassing supervisors who tried to reign them in until those supervisors transferred away from Lynwood. Tanaka was one of the group’s very few non-Caucasian members.
In the early 1990’s, members of the same Lynwood Vikings were the primary defendants in a massive class action suit against the department alleging a widespread pattern of brutality against Lynwood residents.
The suit resulted in a $9 million settlement and drew unusually harsh “findings of fact” from two sets of presiding judges.
U.S. District Court Judge Terry Hatter stated that a “neo-Nazi, white supremacist gang” of deputies–the Vikings–exists at the Lynwood station with the knowledge of department officials. “Policy makers” in the department, Hatter said, “tacitly authorize deputies’ unconstitutional behavior.”
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed. These deputies, wrote the 9th Circuit of the Lynwood Vikings, “…regularly disregard the civil rights of individuals they have sworn to protect.” They engaged in misconduct “both malicious and pervasive…” Black and hispanic men were “repeatedly arrested without cause and severely beaten at the Lynwood station, the County jail, and the ‘Operations Safe Streets’ trailer.” The court described “instances where deputies placed the muzzle of a firearm in a suspect’s ear, mouth or behind his head, and threatened to pull the trigger, or actually fired the gun without discharging a bullet…” and more.
The list of court-determined “facts” went on and on..
Tanaka was already a Viking at the time the lawsuit was filed, but was not one of those named in the complaint. However, we spoke to two of the attorneys who filled the lawsuit, as well as to department insiders with direct knowledge of the Vikings, all of whom confirmed Tanaka’s involvement with the group during his Lynwood years.
“[Tanaka] was well known as a member of the Vikings and what they stand for,” said former LASD lieutenant, Roger Clark. Now retired, Clark acts an expert witness who is frequently called to testify about his knowledge of law enforcement subcultures and what he calls “peer clans,” like the Vikings and the 3000 Boys. “There’s always been a tension in the department between people who are willing to bend the rules and those who are not.” Undersheriff Paul Tanaka, said Clark, falls firmly on the rule-bending side of the equation.
DANGEROUS JAILS – PART 5: COMING NEXT MONTH
THE PHOTOS: From Top to Bottom: Paul Tanaka, Cecil Rhambo and fellow deputies at the Carson Station flashing “C” for Carson, circa early to mid 1980s; frame of citizen’s video of Lynnwood deputy flashing Viking sign, “L” for Lynwood, circa late 1980s.
I’d like you to post the donations to Tanaka. It’s public record anyway. It would be interesting to see those that donated, how much and how often, and the promotions that followed over the past 10 years. Hellmold is only one example of going from a sergeant at around $90k per year to his recent promotion to commander less than 10 years later, jumping his salary up to over $180k.
Ken McWaid would be a good example of someone who has made it well known that he’d do anything to be “in Tanaka’s car.” He’s been trying to buy another promotion to captain and will say and do anything to anyone to get it (as long as it pleases Tanaka).
These same people will start to try and hide future donations by using family, organizing fund raisers, etc. Some have already started that practice.
Hi Christy, Thanks for pushing on that issue. We’ve been planning to do so. They’ll go up with Part 5.
You could’ve went further in depth about the transfer of IA and ICIB to Tanaka’s control. Such as taking a look at employees placed there to investigate and supervise those investigators since he took control. Also, don’t be so sure that IA was taken out of his purview.
I hear Ken McWaid did a kitchen remodel on Tanaka’s Gardena home while he was a sergeant. After the project was completed (for next to nothing) McWaid was promoted to lieutenant. “What ever it takes, ” eh Ken?
I want to thank paul Tenaka and leroy baca for investigating all of these allegations, to either deny them or prove them, just like they would do to anyone of us unprotected members of the Sheriff’s Department. I also want to thank them for after 25 years of service, to the Sheriff’s Department and community for embarrassing me to my family and friends and making all of my efforts and risking my life, to be all for nothing. I now feel like a piece of garbage for my association with you. Thank you.
[…] Department for the dangerous state of the county jail system, the LA Justice Report has launched the fourth part of its investigative series into the deep internal problems within the department. Once again, […]
Well Done, Wake up Sheriff and look at the evidence on Tanaka.
Picture above throwing gang signs
Gets a Viking Tatoo as a Sergeant (Unheard of)
Under old administartion removed from a job for not disciplining deps
Gets rescued by you
As Assistant Sheriff repeatedly tells supervisors to let deps work in “Gray” area. No Such thing
Rolls up John Clark for doing his job at Central Jail
Holds Meeting with Jail Supervisors and tells them to back off deps.
Selects supervisors to work jails not the Captains
Has secret group with numbered coins as Undersheriff
History of despising Internal Affairs.
Promotes his Sgt aide to LT and sends him to ICIB
Selects another supervisor who was fired using N word and won job back and sends him to ICIB
SHERIFF: Feds will call this a pattern and practice of 25 years of gang like mentality and condoning abuse and illegal arrests.
PAY TO PLAY
Sheriff, look at Tanaka’s Donor list. almost 100% have been promoted or in very coveted jobs.
Captain Antuna: Between him and family donated 5000.00 He was a jail Lt who went to Station Operations and then Mr Waldie’s Aide, really
Captain Nee: Heavy donated to campaign. At MCJ as Lt had the highest amount of missing force packages and late work, but made statement like many do, I dont work for XXXXXX I work for Tanaka. chain of command has been eroded.
Commander Hellmold: Donor and master suck up. Was a deputy in 2000 and now a commander. Impossible, even more as a male white. No way he gained experienced needed as he wasnt in ranks long enough.
Chief Lopez: 1000 Donor. Was removed from Century Station and now over whole regiion.
Captain Abram: High School friend and donor and heavily involved in Tanaka’s campaign. This one back fired, Relieved of Duty and could be facing prison.
How many more examples u need, i’m tired of typing.
The LA Times made the Sheriff a documented liar. the Sheriff sings praises about Olmstead and tries to hire back and now is defaming him for being disloyal to him and Tanaka
Tanaka is ripping the heart, soul and hope out of 99% of the Department. His 1Pct is controlling everything.
When Tanaka took over as Undersheriff the current secretary had 50 YEARS on LASD and had 6 weeks till retirement and he made this wonderful lady move her stuff and she was devastated. How is that for character and treatment of employees.
The good thing about all of this is you or Tanaka will not be the Sheriff in 2014. ,,,,,I know ,,,u tripped in a life boat and couldnt help the others…
LA’s Sinking Cruise Liner …. Just my opinion but unfortunately I think it is going to take more than a blog to bring this regime down. How many are reading this blog that are not LASD current or retired? This is floating around rampant within the Department but how many actual la county voters are reading this? Probably not enough.
Just my opinion but unfortunately I think it is going to take more than a blog to bring this regime down. How many are reading this blog that are not LASD current or retired? This is floating around rampant within the Department but how many actual la county voters are reading this? Probably not enough.
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HBO should do a mini-series on the LASD, Ken Watanabe as Tanaka would be awesome.
The fact that in the last 14 years the department has lost it’s credibility within the Law Enforcement community with Leroy Baca at the helm,is not shocking at all. The best most personnel can do is survive their career and continue doing their jobs using the set of values and morals they were raised with prior to becomming law enforcement. Clearly the FBI should be investigating this Department for violations of the RICO ACT.
While much attention has been focused on Tanaka the bottom line blame rests with Baca. Leroy has never been a real street cop. His forte and experience was in “community relations” where he was quick to throw real cops under the bus. It was there he refined his “it’s all about me”, politically correct, I’ll do anything to get ahead mentality. Not being a competent leader he entrusted the actual running of the Department to suck ups–first Walde and then Tanaka. Tanaka knews he can get away with anything and is a greedy, selfish, unprofessional power broker.
Look at how long it has taken to resolve the Abrams mess. Over 10 months and it is still buried in IA. Talk about a cover up…there is one for the record books. Tanaka and Baca both need to be thrown out. I would not be surprised to see the Feds take both Tanaka and Baca to a Federal Grand Jury—and it would serve them both right. They have destroyed a once proud and professional law enforcement agency.
Wow! this is mind blowing. How can the sheriff not see the writing on the wall. Hey sancho, since Francesco Schettino (captin of the costa concordia) is out of a job, maybe HBO can hire him to play Lee Baca.
Sheriff. all the cards are on the table. your move. All eyes are on you! Whadya gonna do???
This is more than just a blog imho. I’m not a fan of the ACLU, but when they reference witness LA in their law suit, that makes it more than just a blog. If you’d like to see for yourself, the court document is available on their website.
Looks like the sheriffs cowardice has just bought us a federal consent decree. Baca’s legacy will be the sheriff who didnt have the fortitude as a leader to change the culture of the jails, so the ACLU had to step in and do it for him. Nice going! should be wonderful for morale.
We miss you PJP…
To prevent Tanaka from taking over as Sheriff by winning the election requires our concerted effort. Get them where the pocket hurts.
– No need to discredit him because he does that very well on his own. Bring out in the open to the broader public his misdeeds. Don’t use smear tactics. Stay professional. Start with getting ALADS, POPA, POALAC, and other law enforcement related support orgainizations on board with NOT endorsing him for office. Remember a “No” from them is just as good as a vote of no confidence. When the public at large sees this, they will reassess and ultimately make a more informed decision whether to vote for a candidate who cannot be trusted by his own peers/subordinates.
– Publicize to the contract cities, in addition to appointed and elected officials at the city, county, and state officials, about with his ineptness, dishonesty and incommpetence.
– Select and support a viable candidate, one who through the years have been tried and true to him/herself. The risks are there for the candidate who is still a department member because if it doesn’t work out, there WILL be a blood letting – GUARANTEED.
– It will be difficult to sway certain minority communities from supporting Tanaka because he and Daddy Baca have entrenched and embedded themselves so deep in these enclaves. Baca went as far as marrying into the culture to gain the Asian support through his wife.
– Just be careful about what you do because Tanaka has strategically placed his cronies and snitches throughout the Department, even at the deputy and sergeant levels. He has made the selection process and interviews a joke. There have been many instances where viable candidates have to jump through the hoops to apply for a specialized position (submitting resumes, formal interviews), but yet Tanaka’s underlings get the job even without having to apply and through a mere phone call by him.
MORE TO FOLLOW….
If you are not a member of the sheriff’s department, you’d likely find all of this difficult to consume, but rest assured, the information is accurate. Close your eyes and invision this–Paul Tanaka is an organ grinder, standing in front of sheriff’s headquarters with his trained monkey attached to a leash. That monkey is Sheriff Leroy Baca!
I was recently in the presence of Tanaka and watched him from across the room. Paul is a frail man who seems to be rapidly aging. I watched him light his cigar with his small, gray hands. He slowly puffed on his cigar in an almost provocative manner as he scanned the room, slowly exhaling. That nervous twitch of his, where he continually draws the corners of his mouth downwards while he moves his head from side to side while adjusting his shirt collar, seemed to be an almost uncontrollable tic. I sense Mr. Tanaka, dispute all of his arrogance, knows the end game is about to be sprung by outside forces he cannot control, the Feds.
Although I have seen him mock the FBI and make public comments in meetings that his phone is bugged, I sense he is very concerned. Tanaka’s statement to the IA Sergeant that they are “fuckers” and “sound like my Father,” is a picture window into his psyche and perhaps why he is what he is. Tanaka was probably the kid at school who had his lunch money taken away, ridiculed because of his stature and mocked by others. His father was most likely a disciplinarian, holding his son to a cultural standard he resisted. He did not like to be told what to do.
As a deputy, Tanaka really was never “a cop,” because he just didn’t fit in, did not have the intellect nor skills to be nothing more than an administrator. But instead of reliving his childhood as the odd man out, he found friendship with deputies who were gunslingers and bullies. His rank as a sergeant and lieutenant along with his unrestrained support by Baca allowed him to make things happen for the bullies. They knew Tanaka would “take care of them” because of his backing, and Tanaka knew he would be always be supported and liked by the very people he feared.
Tanaka has historically turned his back on his peer supervisor and managers who were truly doing “the right thing” because Paul found a acceptance with “his crew.” Who was using who? His tattoo speaks volumes of his ethics. All of the good people Tanaka has hurt, the careers he destroyed were all to prove that he can do as he wishes as well as solidify the support of what someone mentioned, “The 1 percenters.”
Tanaka’s megalomania manifested very early in his career. His bouts of uncontrollable rage is used as a tool by him to keep people in check. Even his inner circle knows it is just a matter of time before all of this ends, in Sheriff Corona style. His outer circle of support will slap him on the back and say, “Don’t worry Paul, you’ll be out in 12 years. We will be here if you need anything,” and then whisper to themselves, “Now what are we going to do?” Yes, as I attend these meetings and watch all of the suck up interactions, the ring kissing, the cigar smoking, I do know that before I retire in a few years, this is all going to go away. Then the 99% will have their day.
To Mr. Fleischer, the 99% of this organization owe you a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. But know that without your efforts along with other media outlets, the deep dirty wide-open secret of Mr. Tanaka has seen much needed daylight. It is only a matter of time.
Dear God,
If I or my spouse – who is also on the Department – happen to die today, we don’t want Mr. Baca or Tanaka at our funeral. If they show up, let those of us who are living turn our back toward them because we don’t wear the same badge that we have sworn to honor. We honor our badge, our job and what both stands for. They have tarnished theirs.
Amen!
Another source of information for a pattern and practice action regarding specific dates/time/names of person(s) involved (in prior “bad acts”) would be included in the public information documents filed as part of the many recent civil actions by victim employees, who have prevailed against the executives of LASD. You don’t even have to go back too far.
Ok, I have worked under Block, Baca and now Tanaka’s rule. I still consider LASD my extended, sometimes disfunctional family and this disturbs me that LASD’s dirty laundry is being aired to the public. Puting the embarrassing stuff aside (like pictures of immature deputies throwing up gang signs 25 years ago), it is true and unfair that under Tanaka you will not get promoted or get into a coveted position unless you are “in the car”. Hate to tell you this, but that was true with Block and when Baca and Waldie were driving the car also. If you want to play the promotion game, forget about hard work, you better learn how to kiss ass, and kiss ass well … otherwise keep your mouth shut and be proud of the work you the other 90% of the deputies do on this department.
Sadly, I agree with many of the negative things being said here, but I must side with Tanaka on his opinion and reorganization of Internal Affairs and his long standing grudge. Only those who have been though it know what he is talking about when he calls the old IA the F word.
The old IA, before the re-organization under Tanaka, was by far the most corrupt, I should say, the only universally corrupt unit within LASD. It was the fast track to promotion by proving your loyalty by sacrificing a deputy for the top brass. Internally generated “Investigations” (not citizen complaints) were initiated based on personal grudges, political motives, desire to silence outspoken deputies, returning favors or blocking promotions. The “investigations” were more often than not fabricated or embelished by supervisors and top brass that dragged on sometimes for years, often as payback for deputies that did nothing more than “disrespect” or “piss off” a supervisor, or someone with a “strong personality” they felt they could not “control”. Top brass knew that they could create false or exaggerate allegations of misconduct against any employee on a whim without any personal or negative consequence to them. IA was mearly used as a tool to get rid of or “humble” unpopular deputies by harrassing them with trumped up allegations, placing them under duress, ruining their reputations, denying them opportunities and eventually getting them to quit or go off on stress or medical leave.
In defense of Mr. Tanaka, I applaud him for reforming IA and wanting direct oversight. He clearly knows what I am saying here and has good reason to keep a close eye on the “F—r’s” that have recklessly ruined so many careers and lives of good deputies over the years.
Now, at least LASD employees know that they won’t be targeted by IA unless they actually did something wrong, and if they did, then they should be thoroughly and objectively investigated and punished accordingly. Like I said before, only those that have been through it know what I’m talking about.
Seems like some folks have an ax to grind… I prefer hard facts. MP has obviously stepped on the wrong side of the department at one point in time, hence the lengthy diatribe on the evils of IAB. I can say I worked the unit for years… and I can say for a fact that far more careers were saved than lost on my watch. I would challenge anyone to show concrete evidence of “founded” trumped up charges, and not just angry accusations and some poor deputy being placed, “under duress”. Like I said, let’s have some facts, folks. As far as I’m concerned, anyone who thinks that allowing Mr. T to have absolute oversight over IAB is hiding a crack pipe somewhere close at hand.
A sad commentary in deed. This once, (but could be again)proud, professional example of Law Enforcement has entered into what seems to be the abyss of troubled waters that are far too deep to reconcile without substantial paradigm changes from the TOP down. Applause to the very insightful “Soon To Be Retired”. . .not only for the psch. evaluation of “Mr.T”, (which I found to be exceptionally accurate), but for the obvious mental consternation created for those who will destroy hundreds of synapses trying to “Identify The Enemy Within”…..VERY Nicely done !
The once proud LASD began to lose its luster when the last spade full of soil was tossed on PJP’s grave. Block was OK but don’t think he was ever a real cop, more of a politician. As for Baca I believe that he’s nothing more than a pathetic piece of crap masquerading as a cop. If what these articles say is even a little accurate then the Department is in a huge mess and someone, the Feds perhaps, better step in and do some house cleaning. If laws broken then a little prosecution should be in order. Both Baca and Tanaka would look better in prison garb and they do in the uniform of the LASD. Been retired for a couple of decades…glad I’m out of there. Bless those who are still doing the job honestly and responsibly.
I have to echo the “Falcon’s” comments regarding Mr. M.P.
I too, worked I.A. for years and although I found that the assignment was the “PIN that Burst My innocence button” in terms of what deputies, sergeants and above would & could do to violate Department policies and the Law, I was just as impressed with the efforts that went forward to “CLEAR” a members name. I firmly believe that on average, 50 % of the cases I handled CLEARED the member of wrong doing. What was equally frustrating, was not being able to go after those that made the false allegations ! By the way, prior to my employ at I.A.B. (there’s a hint as to how long ago that was), I had been on the other side of the “Interview Table as either a “subject” (with time off) or an A.L.A.D.S. Rep. Defending the department member. So, start getting your stuff together Mr. M.P. & ya won’t have to worry about I.A.
I love all these “anonymous” comments of disgruntled lazy people, angry about being checked for their career failures. Everyone knows who you are, ie Ronnie Williams,”Lazy Larry” Landreth, Bob “Video Recruit” Olmsted, combined with the cast of characters who ran for Sheriff and lost, or didn’t get promoted.
Hmmm, what do they all have in common? Ray “no-show” Leyva’s longstanding rep of sleeping on-duty in ELA and calling in sick/injured, Ronnie “violating” the Pastor’s young daughter, or the rest of the do-nothings who never took anyone to jail, then get upset when they are held accountable by the Sheriff or Tanaka for long term injuries or sub-par work.
Everyone knows Tanaka’s “inner-circle” all have pretty good records so the only way to discredit is to allege “pay to get promoted.” Maybe a Pulitzer Prize for breaking a “corruption” story. I can see the WATERGATE style headlines… “DEPUTY DONATES $100 TO A FRIEND RUNNING FOR LOCAL CITY COUNCIL RACE.” Really?? I mean at least go and find someone who gave like alot of money–comical.
Fleischer, I dont blame you. Actually you’re pretty thorough and touch on relevant information. In fact, I encourage you to figure it all out. Tanaka and his “inner circle” are definitely not afraid to run a check on weak players. Did it ever occur that Olmsted and Clark were in charge when things supposedly went sideways? Pretty relevant considering their weakness is why Chief Burns and Tanaka rolled them up to begin with. But ACLU loves this more because they want a $$ payoff at the expense of hardworking young jail deputies defending themselves. Now all of a sudden all those old-burnouts upset with Baca and Tanaka claim they did it better when they worked. Don’t you guys remember what killers and thugs can act like? Oh wait, no you wouldn’t know.
It’s all good. The professionals will do the right thing and make improvements where needed. The weaklings will sneak around and create drama. They have plenty of time now ever since they got run.
Mr. Falcone and Mr. Eye,
Well, well, it’s nice to see some former IA folks chiming in defending your bureau. You don’t know me or know anything about me, so it’s funny that you would jump to the conclusion that I somehow need to “get my stuff together” or “stepped on the wrong side”. With that said I will give you the benifit of the doubt that you might be a couple of the “good guys” at IA and really did have deputies best interests in mind.
Since you are speculating here, let me clarify why I have an “axe to grind” … many years ago as a naive young deputy, I thought I was doing the right thing by reluctantly reporting an “OG” supervisor engaged in criminal conduct. His punishment was an admin transfer. My reward was fighting numerous IA’s for 3 years after being told my career was ruined for what I had done because his friend was a chief. Ridiculous, fabricated internal complaints and investigations against me came one after another.
Each “investigation” was initiated by a Chief and a Captain who just happened to be old radio car partners of this POS with a badge. One particular IA investigator, also former partners of the other three that handled one of my “cases” was quickly promoted and taken under the wing of his friend, the captain. Eventually, I prevaled each time at the third grievance level and never recieved any discipline. The fight was exhausting and the damage irreparable.
So yes, I am bitter. And if you were sitting in front me and told me this kind of crap doesn’t/didn’t go on at IAB, I would call you both liars to your faces.
Opinions are based on experiences. So you have yours, and I have mine. Don’t be so quick to judge.
Well said, MP. With your experiences, you might consider pointing the blame where it belongs; the POS captain and chief and other supervisors who initiated the crap charges against you … not the poor slugs doing the grunt work, either at IAB or anywhere else on the LASD. I also agree with you that each regime has had its issues, be it PJP or Block or our current sheriff. It doesn’t make things any better for those who are on the wrong end of the ax, be it you, or me, or anyone else. And just to set the record straight, I never got a damned thing from my time at IA, other than headaches and heartaches.
The Feds aren’t concerned with lazy people or the preacher’s daughter. Even if the contribution is only $100.00, there’s often more to local politics than meets the eye. As usual, it’s best to follow the money, or at the very least, examine how campaign funds are raised and distributed. For example, just consider the issue of bundling, one of several campaign iniquities.
For the uninitiated, bundling refers to the activity of fundraisers who pool a large number of campaign contributions from political action committees (PACs) and individuals, i.e., a bundler is an individual who gathers contributions from a large number of people and donates the money all at once to a campaign. The bundler often enjoys prominence in the campaign and can gain access to the candidate to make a plea for his/her special interest.
Bundlers, who are often businessmen, or independently wealthy people, are able to funnel far more money to campaigns than they could personally give under campaign finance laws. Secondly, bundlers often use fundraising representatives of the campaign to gather, raise, and distribute the funds. Meanwhile, to ensure the bundler receives the credit for the money raised, the donation checks are often annotated with a numerical code that identifies the bundler responsible for the funds.
While there are disclosure requirements for bundling, they only go into effect when a bundler personally hands over checks. Most campaigns get around the disclosure provision by not having the bundler ever touch the checks. Mandatory disclosure of all bundled contributions – regardless of whether the bundler touches them – is the very least that can be done to address this loophole. Campaign contributions are regulated by the FEC. Violations are a Federal offense.
Bundlers play an enormous role in determining the success of political campaigns and are apt to receive preferential treatment if their candidate wins. Bundlers who direct money to candidates tend to be first in line for plum positions, political appointments, or government contracts beyond the normal open bidding process. Businessmen, lobbyists, and other political insiders are more likely to receive preferential treatment from elected officials if they raised large amounts of money for them.
Once campaigns make an oral or written agreement designating a person as a fundraiser and provide the fundraiser with some form of tracking mechanism, the campaigns are required to disclose the details of that person’s fundraising success as part of the campaign’s filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Disclosure reports on bundlers should contain the following:
•The name, address, occupation and employer of each bundler;
•Each contribution of more than $200 raised by the bundler;
•The original source and date of each contribution of more than $200 raised by the bundler;
•Total contributions raised by the bundler for each reporting period.
This opens the books for all to see who raised large sums of campaign money for the candidate.
Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations require some campaigns to disclose the names of bundlers as well as all the sources of bundled contributions – but only if the bundler physically delivers the checks to the campaign. This practice is known under FEC regulations as “earmarking” of campaign contributions through a “conduit” (i.e. bundler).
Under existing FEC regulations, an “earmarked” contribution is defined as:
“a designation, instruction, or encumbrance, whether direct or indirect, express or implied, oral or written, which results in all or any part of a contribution or expenditure being made to, or expended on behalf of, a clearly identified candidate or a candidate’s authorized committee.”
A “conduit” is defined as:
“any person who receives and forwards an earmarked contribution to a candidate or a candidate’s authorized committee…”
Several exceptions are provided for the definition of a conduit or intermediary. For example, a fundraising representative of the campaign is not classified as a conduit, nor is a fundraising firm that is retained by the candidate.
The key exception subject to abuse is that a “fundraising representative” so designated by a campaign is exempt from the definition of conduit. This is a reasonable exception for genuine fundraising officers and outside fundraising firms employed by a campaign, but the current regulatory language allows a campaign to designate anyone as a “fundraising representative,” ostensibly allowing that person to work off the books without disclosure.
Equally as troublesome, are those individuals whose donations exceed the minimum contributions mandated by the FEC. Illegally concealing their identity behind the names of multiple donors who they reimburse later, these influence peddlers are at the heart of political corruption.
Any local politician, who heads a major agency with an entrenched bureaucracy, has access to the basic components required to create the infrastructure for an extraordinary fundraising apparatus, especially if key employees therein are successfully co-opted with ‘pay for play’ overtures consistent with cronyism.
Over a period of time, the creation, operation, and scope of such a political machine would prove staggering, particularly if an individual/executive/leader has significant influence over several work stations, departments, or bureaus. The employees provide the fodder for political malfeasance akin to Tammany Hall.
Inside the organization, the extent of this entity’s reach would be pervasive and most likely corrosive. Moreover, its influence outside the organization could prove troubling absent ethical restraints or respect for good governance. Legally or not, such ‘leaders’ are bound by morals not to exploit or take advantage just because they can.
One would hope that mere access to such resources would not give rise to a cabal eager to take undue advantage and promulgate its own agenda. Pivotal to this machination is a phalanx of like-minded individuals/employees who are ready and willing to be the political shock troops for such a maneuver. Individuals of this ilk would probably be renowned within the cabal for their association with the leader/executive, their fundraising efforts, and their abject self-serving loyalty.
Unfettered by even basic ethical restraints, an individual engaged in these activities would be hard-pressed not to take ‘a little off the top’ for themselves or engage in other larceny. Exposed to the full light of day and subsequent prosecution, such an individual could precipitate the collapse of the entire enterprise.
To mitigate the demise of this house of cards, no doubt the leader/executive would be forced to pull out all the stops, even going so far as to quash or undermine any meaningful investigation(s), i.e., transferring employees responsible for internal oversight, restructuring the organizational chart so that dominion for the investigation(s) fell within the purview of those loyal to the leader/executive. The control of accurate information would be imperative. Damage control would include distancing the organization from the incident/employee, while simultaneously stating that a full investigating was in progress.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, every effort will be made to separate the errant employee from service and continue forward. Undoubtedly, there will be much gnashing of teeth while other individuals/employees, oppressed by the cabal, use its ensuing distress to mount their own challenge. The concerned leader/excutive cannot hope to stop a stream of informants from contacting the local, state, and federal entities that possess the statutory authority to intervene. Every newspaper and television news show will be filled with current and archival accounts of impropriety, litigation, and mismanagement.
At the end of the day, it will only be a matter of ‘when’ the full story unravels, not if.
To mitigate the demise of this house of cards, no doubt the leader/executive would be forced to pull out all the stops, even going so far as to quash or undermine any meaningful investigation(s), i.e., transferring employees responsible for internal oversight, restructuring the organizational chart so that dominion for the investigation(s) fell within the purview of those loyal to the leader/executive. The control of accurate information would be imperative. Damage control would include distancing the organization from the incident/employee, while simultaneously stating that a full investigating was in progress……………….
This is exactly what has gone on a IAB over the last year and a half. Whether you love or hate Tanaka et al, you can’t dispute clear factual information. Wrong is wrong. Plain and simple.
LAB is way too funny. Not only is he smoking some strong stuff, he anonymously talks trash about real people. I notice the emphasis on the word “weak” throughout his drivel, so I’m guessing he has one of those numbered cigar coins and is part of Tanaka’s glee club.
Memo to you: what you call “everyone knows” is not universal knowledge, but self-delusions of grandeur. Your “heroes” may be running around the eighth floor, shining their stars and bars, but they fail to impress real cops. Maybe if those folks were as smart as LAB claims, they wouldn’t need Tanaka to give them the answers to promotional tests. Ooops, did I say that?
Re: MP’s 1228 and 1818 hrs. comments about “only universally corrupt unit” (IAB) –
MP – Your bitterness over being scrutinized due to multiple IAB level investigations is somewhat understandable. No deputy likes to go through being investigated, whether it’s because of an SCR complaint, a force investigation, a unit level admin or an IAB case. I’ve been the subject of an SCR or two and I was also the subject of an IAB level investigation once in my career with LASD. I hear you on the dislike of the pressure, embarrassment and stress involved, whether the case ends up founded or unfounded. However, your first diatribe blames IAB for raking you over the coals. It’s a bureau MP, and it has people who work there whose task it is to conduct investigations, which entails gathering information and compiling the information into a casebook for review by your unit commander, your division chief, and if severe enough intended discipline for a “founded” investigation, by U/S and A/S ranks. Where you take the wrong turn in the road of your misguided rant about IAB allegedly being the “only universally corrupt unit ” is that IAB sergeants can’t take an OBS; they’re only assigned calls. No one at IAB initiates or seeks or asks for an employee to be investigated.
IAB cases are started following a request by YOUR DIVISION/REGION CHIEF. The cases are then assigned to an investigator. After the investigator has completed the case and submitted it to his/her lieutenant for review, the casebook is sent to your unit commander for his/her review. YOUR CAPTAIN reviews and recommends to your DIVISION/REGION CHIEF to determine allegations of violations of department policy to be either “founded,” or “unfounded,” or even “unresolved.” If severe enough discipline for a founded investigation, the A/S and U/S have to sign off on it. Where you went wrong in blaming a “corrupt” IAB is, no IAB sergeant, lieutenant or their captain has power to determine whether or not the allegations made by YOUR CAPTAIN and seconded by YOUR CHIEF, are founded, unfounded or unresolved.
Since you indicated you were the subject of three IAB’s, state law (POBR – CAL Gov’t Code 3304) entitles you to have representation (usually an ALADS attorney) sit with you during your audio-recorded interview. If the IAB sergeant felt like smacking you around to squeeze the truth out of you if he/she thought you were holding out, your friendly Green and Shinee attorney would put a stop to that. Dick and Mitch and Elizabeth and Helen and Deborah don’t take abuse of their clients lightly. MP, it just doesn’t happen – your attorney is sitting right there next to you!
If after case completion and review by your brass determines you’re GULITY as CHARGED of some MP&P section, IAB makes a copy of the entire case and provides copies of all audio recordings of all witnesses and your subject interview and MDT records, radio traffic and video footage, etc., so you can either fall on your sword and try a plea-deal with your Chief at your Skelly hearing to reduce discipline, or show additional information which proves to your Chief that his initial finding of “founded” was errant.
I read how you extrapolated and speculated that somehow, not only did IAB initiate one or more of your cases, but also determined you were guilty of the allegations, and that they did so while conspiring with other corrupt elements in the department. Come on, man! IAB didn’t have that power before Paul became Leroy’s campaign CPA or after.
MP, I understand your sentiments about disliking the process and being the subject in an investigation, but you weren’t specific about what you were alleged to have done. Based on what you wrote, all you did was condemn the entire bureau of people and denigrate their work by spraying out a bunch of wild, vague, conspiracy-type suppositions and then failing to link it to IAB (“the most universally corrupt unit”). You really didn’t establish your reasonable cause here, MP. It sounds like your beef should more properly be placed with the “POS with a badge” and your captain and chief who allegedly requested an IAB on you with ulterior motives. Check the MP&P and check out how admins are generated and who has the power and jurisdiction to order one. It ain’t IAB!
LAB, you must be one of the many people that opened up his piggy bank, emptied his bank account, and got a loan from the credit union for your daddy Paul to promote you. It will come out in part 5, so you might as well identify yourself. While you spew lies, falsehoods, innuendos, others are reporting facts, issues that can be backed up by evidence. You on the other hand, have whatever your Daddy told you to say. I suspect that you don’t even know any of these gentleman or their work history, because if you did, you wouldn’t talk that punk crap.
Most of the people in your daddy’s crew are admin slugs and traffic deputies that never did any real police work and I suppose you fit in that category. Paul never did any real police work, oh, you didn’t know that about your beloved leader , did you? No you wouldn’t, because you probably haven’t been around long enough to know anything but what Paul tells you.
You’re afraid that when your beloved Paul falls that you’re going to have to shop around for a new daddy because you probably were never a good cop yourself. Don’t be a hater because all this REAL, CONCRETE information is coming out and it is threatening your meager existence. MAN UP!
LAB, stop drinking the coolaid and smoking that crack and deal with the realization that you, your daddy (Paul), and his CREW are going to get exposed and everyone on the LASD are going to know who you all are.
This is a novel idea, Why don’t you tell everyone that everything in Parts, 1,2,3,and 4 are lies and untrue. You can’t, can you? People like you bore the rest of us because the truth scares you.
Lastly, I know that any one of those men you slandered would love for you to identify youself so they could discuss your issues with them face to face, but I know you won’t because your DADDY wouldn’t. Being a PUNK is GENETIC.
It is bad enough that the author of this “investigative” report has an obvious axe to grind against the department, and all law enforcement, for that matter. The real shame is in the comments from supposed department members, bitching about who got promoted and how embarassing it is that IA is being run differently than other departments (gasp!).
It would seem that more than a few of these members are holding some pretty heavy grudges. Maybe in at least some cases, their own failures and shortcomings are partly to blame….
The fact that supposed deputy sheriffs are taking to an anti-police website to assist in the defamation of the department is shameful and apalling. This department definitely has its flaws, but they should be debated over the hood of a radio car, not in a forum hosted by those who have only contempt for our profession.
779: you need to start with the first installment of this story and work your way to where we are now. Take off the blinders and see the light of reality that is shining. It’s more than a gripe or grudge. It has been a way of life for too many people for too long a time. And I don’t think any chats over the hood of a radio car will take away from the fact that the FBI is breathing down our necks. They don’t show up for fun, and they don’t waste resources on “iffy” cases or BS allegations. Time to wake up and smell the coffee.
Dear 779,
I don’t generally get in the middle of discussions in the comment section, but your blanket accusation that WitnessLA is an “anti-police website” is, honestly, laughable. Or better put, it simply shows your lack of knowledge of and experience with the site.
As it happens, we are blessed to have friends, extremely helpful sources, and ardent readers, all through law enforcement—and correlative fields—in this city and county, including at the highest levels of those fields.
You clearly don’t like our approach or agree with many of the things written here. No problem. We respect and value differing opinions.
But regarding this series, here’s the hard truth: despite the fact that the vast majority of the men and women wearing the LASD badge are deeply ethical, hardworking and courageous people to whom the rest of us in the county owe a daily debt of gratitude, the sheriff’s department is badly in need of reform. Unfortunately, it does not appear that the reform will take place without sustained pressure from the outside.
If you find anything we have written to be in factual error, we would very much welcome a correction. We work very hard to get things right, but sometimes we miss things.
However, frankly, we have much, much more information than we have been able to post thus far. This series is far from being over.
And FYI, the folks quoted by name in these stories and the commenters who have posted on these threads are just a fraction of the number of those from Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department—currently employed and retired—who have contacted us with their thoughts, leads, information, and stories. To try to dismiss them as a coterie of disgruntled individuals with axes to grind is a criticism that is quite simply to place yourself at odds with the facts.
In more than 30 years as a reporter/editor/teacher of journalism in Los Angeles I’ve never had more people reach out around a single issue.
That should tell you something.
It tells us a great deal.
Sincerely yours,
Celeste Fremon
PS: A small factual correction for LAB: like ’em or loath ’em, the ACLU is a nonprofit org. thus does not sue for monetary judgements. Whenever they sue it is to get court-ordered reform and/or change in a policy.
779 – My goodness, another defender of Mafia-style management! I agree – it’s a shame the dirty laundry has to be splathered publicly.
I remember a day when you could get to a unit, work hard, learn as much as you could, see the larger picture of how your contribution helped make the jails and streets, the department and your unit better, and worked well with your coworkers to gain satisfaction and everyone’s respect. Remember the day when you could study for a test, place high enough on the list, and be assured a promotion? I remember a day when based on your productivity, the amount and diversity of experience, your reputation, and the education you completed at an on-campus college or university, absent getting into trouble somehow or establishing yourself as a malcontent, you were pretty well assured of transfer to a specialized unit and ultimately, promotion. Under Baca/Tanaka, one needs no completed college education, need not have sufficient varied experience, and definitely not be required to possess the respect of their peers and unit supervisors and captain to gain assignment to a coveted position, or to hop-scotch, fast-tracked through numerous plum assignments before being bumped to the next rank.
779, we’re not blind. We have seen how criminal organizations work and we’ve seen the similarities in how Tanaka operates. Your defense of Paul and your criticism of the vast majority of the LASD workforce who are not in the car are abhorrent and you should be ashamed of yourself. It’s sad you, along with too many others who are easily bought with assignment to a coveted job or a promotion or a cigar, have completely stripped yourselves of whatever personal ethics and integrity you may have once possessed. I’m gone now, but I am concerned for my friends and the employees I don’t know, who have to tolerate this crap every day, so some little man, can pretend he’s big! There are too many hundreds of examples that substantiate the horrific environment Paul, under Leroy’s acquiescence, have amassed. You’d be wise to re-think your support of Paul based on the cookies he’s fed you. You can’t make chocolate chips cookies out of something that stinks!
I totally agree with 779. The department isnt perfect, but I fully believe this is the greatest department in the nation. The Sheriff and executives have made this department into what it is today. Its been my experience throughout my 25 years on the department that the lazy ones are the ones that complain. The executives that retired and are complaining were power hungry. How can you blast the department after becoming a captain, commander or chief! The Sheriff made them into what they were /are. I think that one of them is again power hungry and will say or do anything to make the Sheriff or the department look bad in order to run for office during the next election. Ive read alot of these articles and know that most of the information contained in them is either exaggerated or down right false.
You’re right 779. Problem is, you can’t speak up across the hood of a radio car anymore. Your career will be over. The U/S runs things with an iron fist. That’s his management style and his perogative. He’s in charge.
Let’s make no mistake about what’s going on here. FOR II has historically had the most promotions and assignments to coveted jobs on LASD, and rightly so. Their job on patrol is tougher and more dangerous than any other region. The self-motivated, agressive deps. (for the most part) are the ones who go there. It makes sense that they would have the most promotions to coveted spots. Before anybody flies off the handle telling me I’m drinking cool-aid or smoking a $25 rock or Paul is my daddy etc. etc., I’M A CAREER FORIII deputy. Don’t know Paul, never was in his car, and got nuttin comin from him or those in his car. After all, in his eyes and those in his car I’m an FORIII slug.
That’s the problem, right there in a nutshell. He tends to paint everybody in FORIII with a broad brush and considers every one of them slugs. So do those in his car.
So what’s happened now is the inner-dept. rivalry that has ALWAYS BEEN THERE has been ramped up tenfold. There is now the attitude from the top that if you didn’t work the ghetto, you aint shit. In many cases true. Not true in every single and separate case. So what’s happening now is you have SOME motivated, maybe even squared away people from the other two regions who feel they have been slighted (and they probably have) because they never worked a ghetto station. That’s Paul’s decision, and him and those in his inner circle make no bones about it that that’s how things roll now. The food chain has gone from region two people at the top, region one people next, and region three people waiting at the end to this: Region two people and Paul’s donors/friends (regardless of what region they work) get ALL the love. There are some “less than stellar” in this group that have been blessed by Paul over some other people not in the car that are more qualified candidates.
Come on, Commander Hellmold was a Sgt. in 2000. In 2011 he’s a Commander? Really? Don’t know the guy. Those that I work with that do know him say he’s squared away. But from Sgt. to Commander in 11 years? Wow. That’s incredible. Maybe he deserved it. Don’t know.
What I do know is this. Any time a manager rules with an iron fist style, showing blatant favortism/cronyism, those that are not blessed are going to LOOK FOR A FORUM TO AIR THEIR GRIEVANCES. They are going to look for a forum that is safe, they have to re: career survival. No different than the hard charging ghetto cops who are in the car. They look for protection from Paul. He gives it to them. Who has the backs of those that aren’t in the car?
Before some of you with the hook-up respond with the sour grapes/you’re a slug etc. accusations etc, let me say this. I don’t want in the car, never tried agressively to promote and, furhtermore, if I had my choice of whether or not Baca or Tanaka was the Sheriff, I would take Tanaka hands down. It’s Baca’s fault that things have deteriorated so badly. He’s in charge. Sadly.
779 is exactly right in my opinion. It is appalling that the members of this once reveered agency have taken to an anti-LE website to air their grievances.
But THAT is Tanaka’s fault, it’s his decision to have an iron fist management style. His choice. There are repercussions for it.
For you street cops that are in the car, that will defend Paul whatever he does, let me make an observation right here, one that you may have forgotten/never realized.
Paul is a politician. Plain and simple. Always has been. For Christ sakes, he was/is the Mayor of Gardena.
For all you hard charging motivated ghetto working cops doing the Lords work, you’re working for a guy that took the same career path, and did one of the same things off the job, that Larry Waldie did. lol. That has to hurt. Sorry for the low blow, but it’s true.
That’s right, Larry Waldie was the U/S, and Larry Waldie was the Mayor of Walnut.
So what is the average street cops opinion of Waldie? lol, rhetorical question!
Do you really think Paul is anything more than a politician? Do you really think he is “one of you”, or do you think he uses you while living vicariously through you?
When it’s convienent he has your back, but there will be times when he puts his political career first. THAT’S WHAT A POLITICIAN DOES.
Stop with the “Paul is one of us” attitude. How many of you came on the LASD with the goal of becoming Sheriff from day one on the job? How many of you have run for Mayor of any city?
Come on. Get real.
What does right and wrong have to do with a website being against law enforcement? Good God, we’re cops. Aren’t we bigger than that? U couldn’t keep this stuff in house anymore, if u wanted to. Hey dummy, the house is on fire and everybody in L.A. is watching. Those weak interviews and excuses from Baca and Whitmore suck. If Paul’s the man, put him on TV and let him talk. Send the junior varsity home. The only thing the brass use a radio car for is a photo op. Executives trying to go 10-8 with SEB deputies backing them up in a plainwrap is a joke. Super duper task force, education based this and that. Gimme a break. Pull Paul out the bunker and tell him to get busy.
Does this sound like a street cop or a politician? He is an accountant. He was Chief of Admin. Services so he could work with numbers. Mayor of Gardena. His rap sheet as a cop?
2 yrs. El Segundo P.D.
5 yrs. LASD deputy (minimum time required) promoted to Sgt.
4 yrs. Sgt. promoted to Lt. (What’s the average time at Sgt. efore being promoted to Lt.)?
8 yrs. Lt. That’s when his career hit a snag under Block.
(Baca wins the election over a dead guy, and Tanaka is soon promoted to Capt.)
2 yrs. Capt.
1 yr. Commander
3 yrs. Chief (Admin Services)
2005 Asst. Sheriff.
2011 (When Waldie finally had to go) Undersheriff.
I’m going with politician. I don’t know a single “street cop” with a resume that resembles anything close to that. A few Street cops get to the rank of Captain MAYBE. To promote past that you have to play politics big time, which street cops are loathe to do. A very few reach the inner circle, but they don’t last. Dennis Dahlman is a prime example.
However, the upper ranks are filled with career climbers with similar resumes. That’s ok, that’s the career path they chose. Kudos to them for making it. Let’s not pretend that Paul Tanaka is is not one of them.
I’m curious. Ok so Olmstead wanted to take corrective action and supposedly tried but could not catch the ear of the Sheriff. Okay what’s the Sheriff have to do with him acting like the Commander he was and controlling the situation. He was in charge when video cameras sat in a corner uninstalled and when force packages sat incomplete. So isn’t he as much to blame as Baca or Tanaka? He should’ve starting implementing what he knew was right whether he had the backing of those higher in the command chain or not. Then if he was not allowed to implement those changes he claims he so desperately wanted he could’ve run to the media just as he is doing now. I’m no fan of Baca or Tanaka I think they both are shady but I’m also no fan of Olmstead because instead of collecting that fat paycheck and talking now that he’s retired he should’ve been trying to handle business when he was still employed. Easy to Monday morning quarterback while sitting in your living room in your recliner.
Having once worked IAB for many years, I can say during my time I never “railroaded” anyone, nor was I aware of any of my peers doing so. The nature of the work performed at IAB (investigations of conduct and force) allows personnel access to every corner of the Department. Seeing how all areas of the department are run and what the concerns of executives are used to make IAB personnel excellent candidates for Lieutenant/Captain. What was once an outstanding source of talented people has been denigrated by Mr. Tanaka and friends.
The Undersheriff appears to be the consummate micro-manager with an inferiority complex. All the comments already mentioned are common knowledge to anyone “not in the car.” While it is unfortunate this is being aired outside the department, failure on the part of the Sheriff to honestly look at what has and continues to occur necessitates such measures.
“He should’ve starting implementing what he knew was right whether he had the backing of those higher in the command chain or not”
To Impartial Voice
Olmstead didn’t attain the rank of Commander by going against the grain as a Captain and doing things without running them up the flagpole. He could’ve. But that isn’t the way to do things if you plan on promoting again or keeping your job. You know that. How many Captains or Commanders do you know that just go their own way and do what they think is right or things their own way without the ok of the brass above them?
Newsflash. It costs money to bring in the techs to install those cameras. When the brass above Olmstead gets the bill without them previously giving him the ok to spend on the installation? Nope. Captains and Commanders don’t do that. That’s how they got to be Captains and Commanders. They don’t spend any money without previous approval and they don’t make any decisions that could piss those above them off. If they did that, their career would have ended at Lieutenant. They run everything up the flagpole. What you are suggesting Olmstead should’ve done is an unreasonable expectation to have on somebody who played the game of doing what the brass okayed, instead of what was right. You expect Olmstead to do what a “loose cannon”, “cowboy” or “renegade” would do. He didn’t make Commander doing the right thing. He made it by playing their game.
Exactly my point Unreasonale Expectation. What I mean by this is he played the game too. So he could climb just as the others. So now that he has finished his part of the game he writes Op Ed pieces in the times? He is no better than the others in my opinion.
As far as installing those cameras, they had already been purchased. The installation would have been done by FSB Sheriff employees already on the payroll. No extra cost was needed for an outside vendor.
In closing I question Olmstead because if he was so so concerned he would’ve been that renegade but instead he did what was best for him and his career he spoke up supposedly then shut up so he could climb, climb, climb. When he ran out of ladder rungs he retired and became the LA Times best friend. Hmmmmm.
Don’t play impartial if ur not. Its not that kinda party. Olmer tried to censure Cruz. He was blocked. PT sent his own guy over there and verified Cruz’s b.s., and tried to kick Cruz upstairs to save him. He basically told Olmer to ‘bite me.’ Funny thing about Olmer, he was actually at Firestone back in the day and worked for a living, not at Recruitment. So which is it — are you mad cuz PT’s a flake or cuz Olmer went public and didn’t let Leroy and PT throw him under the bus?
And now, people who have been shafted, real or imagined, by Tanaka will try and shaft him. Paul used his power in the dept. to shaft some people. Now, when given the chance, they will retaliate through whatever source is available and try to shaft him. Such is the nature of politics. Paul has chosen to be a politician. We shouldn’t shed too many tears for him. He’s had a damn good run. Especially for a guy who’s career, according to a lot of informed people, was once over at Lieutenant.
Thank you all for your spirited replies. The passion we all share for the department and our profession is a great thing, no matter where you stand. As I previously stated, our department is not without its flaws, like any large organization. But the one thing we have always done better than the rest is to be open to making changes or improvements. Maybe not always as fast as we should, but its always on the table. We are generally proactive, which is often in contrast to other agencies that are largely reactive. Whether you like the man or not, that is exactly the way Tanaka does business. He also puts a great deal of department resources and focuses heavily on the combating of violent street gangs and other criminal groups. I’m sorry, but no matter what his motivations are, I cannot fault the man for trying to protect the public.
And before everyone starts taking shots, let me just say Tanaka has no idea who I am and has never done a thing for me. I do, however, have a great deal of respect for some of the ideas he and some of the people mentioned in these articles have come up with. Most of them have no idea who I am either. All of you who disagree with me, that is okay. I would like to think we are all working to accomplish the same mission.
One last thing…Ms. Fremon, thank you for taking the time to personally respond to my post. I sincerely respect the passion you and your colleagues put into your writing and your chosen career. Thank you also for the kind words regarding members of our department. Please understand, however, how some of this feature could be seen as anti law enforcement by those working in this profession. It would appear that every allegation made has been deemed completely accurate by this site. Cops all know that accusations are often lies and exaggerations. That is a sad fact of human nature. You seem to be taking the accounts of criminals and scorned ex employees as the absolute gospel without perhaps questioning their true motivation. It would appear that they are getting the benefit of the doubt, unlike the names being dragged through the mud with no mercy. Ma’am, I would only ask that you realize how many of these people mentioned, along with many others, have truly dedicated all of themselves to this department and to a career in law enforcement. We all do our best every day. I would like to think they do as well.
I still can’t believe that Mr. Tanaka took control over the Internal Affairs unit for “better accountability” and “efficiency.” Then, AFTER reporters call asking about the move, it quickly and quietly gets switched back? Funny. I wonder what changed. So now it’s going back to less accountability and efficiency? It goes back to the same chief, so that can’t be it. Hmmmm. Sounds like someone tried to take too much control and, as someone earlier stated, tried to micro-manage and protect those he wants to without any accountability or fairness; and got caught. Looks and smells terrible.
779, it’s a little late to be contrite and noble. You already insulted your host and called her anti-law enforcement. Your buddy Steve said the folks complaining about Paul were power hungry and wanted to run for sheriff themselves. I guess that spot is reserved for Paul. You said the malcontents failed because of their own shortcomings. I guess that means you know them all. If the information she put out there is inaccurate, if there are lies and exaggerations, refute them. Don’t ‘poison’ the well, and appeal to the ‘brotherhood’ of law enforcement to bail you out. That’s dumb. No good cop is going to go for that. We deal in information, not fiction. If the information isn’t there, we go find the facts. So far the only argument I’ve heard is don’t air our laundry in public on this site. We all started with a pistol, a set of handcuffs, and a radio car. If we’re smart enough to take folks to jail, we’re smart enough to figure who’s blowing smoke up our skirt, too. Change isn’t easy, just necessary.
779, Thanks so much for your measured yet heartfelt comments.
And again, anything specific that you—or anyone else— find(s) we’ve gotten wrong or that seems hopelessly skewed, or that you think we need to know, don’t hesitate to email me privately, anonymously or otherwise.
For what it’s worth, I have law enforcement in my family. (In South Dakota, not California.) My closest cousin, my second brother, just retired from the Sheriff’s Department in Rapid City, S.D.. He was legendarily good in Rapid, which is not an easy jurisdiction. His eldest son was a Deputy Sheriff. Both the best men you’d ever want to meet.
But, the abuse in the jails has got to stop. And after years of documentation, the sheriff, and those to whom he delegates, have failed to do anything about it. However, when Matt and I pulled on that jails thread, a whole lot of other stuff fell down. And it isn’t pretty.
So here’s where we find ourselves.
Have a good Sunday night everyone.
DREAM TEAM TO FIX THE JAILS?–WHAT A DREAM. HELLMOLD EXPOSED FOR SKATING ON THAT COMPTON SHOOTING AND STILL COVERING UP BAD DEPUTY SHOOTINGS IN LYNWOOD. PARRA NEVER WORKED BEYOND THE SCHEDULING OFFICE AND THEN FASTTRACKED AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHERS. THE NEXT STORY COMING IS THE INFAMOUS JOE FENNELL WHO WAS IN CHARGE OF HIRING OF ALL OF THESE BELOW STANDARD EMPLOYEES NOW SMUGGLING DRUGS AND BEATING PEOPLE. ALL TO IMPRESS EXECS IN MEETING A QUOTA. JOE WAS WARNED THEY WILL USE YOU AND NOW HE WILL SEE WHO GETS BLAMED ABOUT THE HIRING PRACTICES. NOBODY REALLY HEARD OF GUYOVICH BECAUSE SHE ONLY WORKED ADMINISTRATIVE JOBS, BUT SHE WAS ALSO INVOLVED IN THE RUSH-JOB HIRING SCAM.
When the PT cruiser TC’s into that ethical dilemma brick wall, I hope you all are wearing seatbelts. If you are not, your stogie might get rammed down your throats, as you impact the windshield. The question is, how many clowns actually fit in that thing? Ringling Bros is dying to know.
Don’t type with the Caps lock on, it hurts my eyes!
As a retired LASD Homicide Detective, it deeply saddens me to see my former Department undergoing internal corruption investigations. Under PJP and SB this never would have happened. Sure, the Department was not perfect, but almost everyone took great pride in being a member, and in performing their assignments in the best possible manner. After Leroy won his election against the recently deceased Sheriff Block, the Department changed, and for the worst. I’m glad I was already retired. Baca is a liberal sham. He has never been a true LEO.
Stabbing backs has always been his forte. I witnessed it for many years. I did my best to not even be in the same room with the clown. I guess he has cloned others like him;
Tanaka and gang. Sounds as if they all need immediate psych
evals. On one hand they pretend to be intellectual administrators, and on the other they foster the low-life gang mentality.
Hopefully, the citizens of L.A. County will be perceptive enough to vote them ALL out.
I have never been ashamed of LASD, but I feel empathy for it now. The GOOD working Deputies deserve better leadership. Go Bulldogs!!
I’d bet my engraved Colt Python that through all of this drama Leroy Baca is reelected. I’d bet my National Match M1A1 that it happens by a landslide. I’d bet my Wilson 1911 that he throws some sacrificial lambs to the media in the process to quiet them down.
Safe bets all. The public doesn’t pay attention to this stuff. Only the people that are affected by it get involved in this drama. The average citizen in LA County could care less. Sad but true. Here is the biggie. I’d bet my grandpa’s M1 Garand that through all of this Leroy baca will continue to stand in front of the cameras with a straight face and tell us all how he has the most transparent Sheriff’s Dept. in the world.
This is what we get for hiring and promoting sub-standard personnel for so many years. In my opinion, I don’t think we’re even close to hitting bottom yet.
Does anyone remember a guy named Howard Earle, and how he endeavored to change the Department back in the early 70’s?
I believe what is happening now is the long-term fruition of his influence.
Leroy was one of his major proteges. Enough said!!
Maybe Leroy can beseech allah for guidance in these troubled political times. He seems to favor that way of thinking.
Comp Shooter ……..
I think you hit the bullseye with that post. This is internal drama whether true or not. The public at large will care less.
All of this is really disturbing….I worked 30 years for LASD and was proud every moment…I hooked and booked and sent many criminals to prison….I was proud of the fact that I was making LA County a little safer for the citizens…I spent many days off in court, worked all holidays and weekends and loved every minute…I was a street cop and proud of it…I didn’t get much sleep over the years but it was my job…I was a Training Officer for 10 years because I loved training the new guys right….I enjoyed seeing them blossom into field deputies…Now it takes 2000.00 dollars to get off of training at East LA Station…if you become one of the boys, if not they roll you up just because…You cant wear a jacket at ELA on Early mornings if you are cold because it is not macho….The Mexican Mafia (deputy group) runs Century station and other stations, ie the Regulators of Century Stations. In my day we all wore tan and green and it didn’t matter where you worked, we were a family…Now if you don’t train at a ghetto station, Region II you are laughed at or not respected….
There is this big thing around the department about Disrespect….Some Latin and Anglo deputies act just like gang members…it is embarrassing and a shame….Tanaka did ruin the Dept…Where are you Capt Abram…..??????
Keep the comments coming. This is great bathroom material.
How about the new deputy clique at San Dimas station called the “RANGERS”. Look at the tatoo which was designed by AJ and a member of the “REGULATORS”. Supervisors at San Dimas pull your head out of your ass and dont be pressured by deputies that think they are above others because they have been empowered by a certain top jackass….
How about some balance in your reporting? Maybe you could do a story about the 15 lives saved by Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies in different incidents during one 28 hour period this week.- http://local.nixle.com/alert/4778066/
LASD Helmet Camera VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jetV81NH4Zk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZNws-j0qY0
This might give your other stories more credibility and less of an agenda.
Dear Balance, at the risk of sounding defensive, we’re not profiling the sheriff’s department as a whole, it’s an investigative series on specific problems within the department. Of course we know that the department is filled with heroic men and women who accomplish things every single day of the year for which the rest of us—if we have any sense—should be deeply grateful.
Maybe we need to say that more often.
In any case, these are GREAT videos! I’ll definitely put them up. Thanks for linking them! And please bring on anything else of this nature in the future. I don’t guarantee to post everything. But I’ll do what I can.
Sheriff Baca is and always has been a politician since he ran against the late Sheriff Block. Don’t knock retired employees for speaking out now that their jobs are no longer in jeopardy. Don’t knock the writers of this article for printing truths that Tanaka’s boys and girls don’t want to admit to. I have been on for 25 years and I have heard the ‘do what is necessary’ (grey job) from an executive. I expressed that I don’t work in the grey because I have family responsibilities (not to get sued) and my career has stalled ever since. No one went out to hurt me or put IAB cases on me but the support faded. I am only wondering why there is no word about the Captain at Carson Station. What is going on with her case? She brought the main suspect in the drug investigation to Carson Station as her guest and introduced him as her boyfriend’s son. She was not only in PK’s car, she was riding shotgun! I pray for her, Tanaka, and the leaders under him that if and when they fall, it is not to hell!
Celeste Freeman,
You probably will not post this comment and it really doesn’t matter because I speak to you directly. I have read your articles and read the blogs to include your responses to the comment of 779 above. The reality as you refer to above is you have never worked the Jails of La County. You have never worked the streets of La County nor have you been Johnny or Suzzie on the spot, when a violent criminal confronts you as the Cop.
The ACLU, and all the other “fight for human rights” groups, say their purpose is not monetary and not political and not self-driven but deep down inside, those who hide behind the theory of righteousness know the reality. In today’s times, we as a society have gotten away from right and wrong. We have gotten away from common sense and consequences for actions. My purpose for writing to you is not to poll discussion or defend cops. It’s not to make some political statement. I take the time to write this for you. As you say above, you may not agree with me and I respect that. But if you are a champion for those who cannot voice for themselves, then maybe this will perk some thought within your own head.
Working the jails I observed firsthand the essence of violence and pure evil that exists in today’s society. I watched as the gangs “true criminal street gangs” flaunt their power against other inmates and staff. I refer to the common inmate, in for various crimes ranging from drugs to dui or domestic violence. The inmate who isn’t a violent predator with no conscious. I remember when the ACLU was against racial segregation in the jails during the period when dorm riots over race wars were common place. I remember having long talks with inmates, regular people, Black, White, Hispanic and Asian all who wanted the segregation. They wanted the segregation because the racial wars going on inside the jails placed their lives in immediate danger. They didn’t care about courts, civil claims, or case law, they wanted to survive. They knew they were going to be put in a dorm with hundreds of other inmates of different races during a time of racial war. They knew they had no control over their situation and they looked to the deputies for protection against the violent animals I referred to above.
But, the ACLU fought for “reform” human rights and was relentless until the racial segregation was terminated. The reality is, the ACLU placed the common man or woman in immediate danger with their fight for rights campaign. I remember hearing the pleads from Black, White, Hispanic and Asian inmates as they were all put back together in dorms where the most violent of men controlled their survival through gang numbers. I remember regular black inmates pleading with us not to put them in the mixed dorms as the Hispanic race far outnumbered the rest. I remember hearing the common man plead as he knew he was going to be forced to join in on the side of his race for a chance to survive, fully knowing if he did not join his own race they would take him out or beat him to the point of unconsciousness.
Being a deputy is a job, it pays the bills like many jobs Americans choose every day. The difference is the deputy knows the reality of each situation without all the court restrictions on concealing facts to comply with court procedures. The deputy spearates the facts from the shit just like all the inmates do. Both the deputy and the inmate are in the situation so the liberal crap isn’t even a topic of discussion. The deputy sees the inmate, smells the inmate, and sees the fear in their eyes when confronted with reality of being in jail with pure animals who prey on those weaker or in less numbers. That inmate, who makes up for the majority, or at least the silent minority begs to have the Sheriff control the jails. He/she begs for one reason, survival. All the mumbo jumbo that special interest scream about means nothing to the black male inmate being forced into a dorm of Mexican mafia members who outnumber his race 5 to 1 based on non-segregation racial mumbo jumbo . They count on the deputies to demand control for pure survival.
So, what do we do as a society, we react to individual cases on circumstantial opinions and change the entire structure under the umbrella of “human rights.” Now, the deputies don’t run the jail, the gangs within the jails do. Not Deputy gangs as the media refers to, but real criminal street gangs with animal like emotions. For god sakes, watch gangland on cable…. It’s a documentary too. It shows the power struggle between gangs and the staff. Believe it or not it’s pretty darn accurate.
But when that animal who would kill his own young just for fun violently confronts a deputy and the deputy defends him or herself, the special interest haze the truth and make the deputy the bad guy and the predicator the poor helpless victim. I wonder why law enforcement officers are choosing more and more to just punch their ticket and go home. Maybe because its accepted as part of the job if the inmate beats or kills the deputy but if the inmate has injuries then lets portray him as the victim. I wonder why cops aren’t running to the fire as quickly as in past generations. Maybe it’s because in past generations the people actually called the bullshit what it is, bullshit.
I remember working the streets, rolling up on that gang member who immediately turned and ran placing both hands in his waistband. I remember why I chased over the fence and down the alley at night, so the citizen, the old man, the little girl did not have to be victimized. I remember making entry into a house I didn’t know during a search warrant and confronting armed violent predators and the emotion I felt of “I may die right now.” It’s ironic how the tuff gang member will take the cops life without thought and punch you in the mouth without thought, but cries for mommy when the deputy punches back. Then, the slap in the face is when the media and special interest turn the violent gang member into this poor defenseless human being under the color of human rights.
Now, imagine yourself Celeste, in a tan and green uniform working the streets of Lynwood or Compton. You get the call to respond to the family disturbance and because you’re a deputy to have to go, you can’t just say, “I’ll pass on this call” like some cases the ACLU chooses not to get involved with. You shall involve yourself in every call you receive as a deputy. When you arrive there is a victim you do not know who has been stabbed numerous times and is bleeding out in the street. You apply pressure to the wound, you coordinate responding units, you request medical for the victim and then you move forward attempting to confront the suspect so he/she cannot victimize another person. The suspect is a violent gang member, armed with a butcher knife and under the influence of PCP. You don’t have all this information confirmed when you contact him but have to process it in the two seconds before he starts running towards you. Now, all the recent media attention given to “poor innocent man shot by cops” who by the way had a gun, headlines flash in your head and the recent policy changes to the Sheriff’s department force options due to neighborhood outcry for reform, run through your mind, all the while the armed suspect is running at you. Yeah he is 600 230lbs and you are 506 145lbs but you know the media twist will be “poor inmate beaten by rouge cop” so you hesitate.
Guess what Celiste, now your partner gets to go to your house and tell your mom and dad their daughter was killed while protecting and serving. Will your mom and dad find solitude in the fact inmate #123456 had injuries after a confrontation with a deputy so that deputy was relieved of duty, which is the reason you hesitated and lost your life?
The situations where deputies make poor choices and choose to break the law or violate rights legitimately deserved reform. What about the reform the ACLU needs in choosing who they choose to champion. Maybe the ACLU needs to do their research on the allegations of misconduct before attempting to sway public opinion without cause.
I hope you are never in the situation where you have firsthand knowledge of what I am talking about being a victim by the percentage of the population that feeds on the weak.
I leave you with one comment, “There is no nice way to arrest/subdue a dangerous violent person who refuses to submit to the authority arresting him.” There is no nice way to make everyone safe without matching force with force to those victimizing those weaker than they. If the ACLU and public interest entities truly care about the public and human rights then maybe they should keep in mind cops are humans too.
San Dimas Rangers? Seriously?
Dear Served Well,
Your comments are much appreciated. Although we disagree on certain things, if we talked personally, I think you’d find that our perspectives aren’t as far apart as you’d think.
By the way, I don’t know what the solution is on the segregation issue, given the control exerted by the prison gangs over the state and county facilities. It’s a longer conversation, but—agreed— we can’t go around endangering people because of the Supreme Court decision. It took Texas over 20 years to safely integrate their prisons—and they weren’t dealing with anything close to the situation we have in Calif…
Here are a few questions:
I’ll answer the first one, ACLU “do gooders’ can answer the second one, and Celeste, if you would be so kind as to answer the third.
1. Can you control violent predators without using violence?
The answer: (obvious to me) NO.
Of course there is a “culture of violence” among some of the deputies at the jail. They have no choice. If they show weakness, in any form, at any time, the violent predators will seize on it and exploit it.
Here’s what many people and the ACLU “do gooders” fail to realize.
Violent predators see a reluctance to use violence by cops/prison guards as a sign of weakness.
2. What is it that you think keeps a hard core predator looking at a 25 to life sentence from assaulting another inmate or a deputy? (this one will be multiple choice):
A. Because the law says they are not allowed to do so
B. Because they are afraid they will get charged with another crime
C. Because they don’t want to go to solitary
D. Because the deputies will beat their ass and then do B and C.
It’s not that hard to figure out why deputies who are face to face, within arms reach and in harms way of violent predators every day, end up becoming violent themselves.
If the ACLU do gooder types wanted to really look at “deputy vs. inmate violence” they would compare apples to apples.
I’ll bet there’s almost never an ass kicking that goes down in the part of the jail where inmates get released.
I’ll bet there’s also very few ass kickings that happen in the housing units that house gay inmates.
I’ll bet there’s very few ass kickings going down in any low security housing areas.
Gee whiz by golly, I’ll bet that you find that the majority of ass kickings are going down in those housing areas that have high security, hard core, predatory type inmates.
I’m sure there will be the exceptions that prove the rule, and you can be sure that these are the ass kickings that the ACLU will hone in on like a lazer sighted smart bomb, in order to “prove” that “deputy on inmate violence” is prolific and “has become a culture” in the Sheriff’s Dept.
3. Your threads have mentioned the deputies that work the 2000 and 3000 parts of the jail. What kind of inmates are housed there?
Hi Celeste:
Just for the sake of clarification, particularly as it relates to the comments of Well Served, we’re not talking about “routine” uses of force that every cop knows is a consequence of protecting our society, are we? What is being debated are the under-reported, over-the-top, questionable uses of force that appear to have occurred within the LA County jail system, right?
Yes, a lot of force is used in custodial settings, and the majority of it simply cannot be avoided. What concerns society is the force that is arguably the result of “contempt of cop” or similar instances of abuse, am I right? Whenever I have been confronted with the need to use force, I have never, ever stopped to ask myself what the ACLU, LA Times, WitnessLA, OIR, my mom, or anyone else will think about what I am about to do. That’s because I was confident that if I had evaluated all my options and followed my training, any subsequent use of force would fall well within Department policy. If something I had done turned out to be different than what the Department had trained me to do, I was also confident that I would be able to explain the reasonableness of my actions.
I know that a number of people are a bit upset over the publishing of the jails stories, and are reacting on a number of levels about what they perceive as an attack on their profession… which is not something I see as happening. Based on the information that is available, or that has recently come to light, it would be something akin to malpractice for a responsible media entity to simply ignore what appears to be a problem with a huge public organization. If everything turns out to have been an exercise in futility (which I personally doubt) then this will have at least sparked a great deal of valuable public debate.
Very nicely said, Falcone. Thank you.
The perception is that some entities are more concerned with abuse of inmates than they are with the victims of said inmates. There is also the perception that some entities are more concerned about criminals than they are the cops who, of which 99%, protect the public and do the right thing, and make the right decision 99% of the time.
I myself have a hard time grieving for inmates that are perhaps “abused” by cops. Why? Like Chris Rock, I find it pretty easy to keep from getting my ass kicked by the cops. So does 99% of the population.
I’ll revert back to what I told people when asked my opinion about the Rodney King incident back in the day.
If your wife or daughter was broke down at 2 am. on the 5 freeway, would you want Rodney King, the robber and wife beater to pull up behind her; or would you want one of those cops you’re so anxious to see go to prison for kicking his ass to pull up behind her?
Kinda puts things in a new perspective doesn’t it? And anybody, even the ACLU do gooders that would tell you that they would rather have Rodney King pull up behind her is a liar. Either that or they have no grasp on reality.
Some times SOME of the good guys do bad things. They should be held accountable. SOME times there are bad guys that make into the ranks of the good guys. But let’s not forget, as a rule, who the good guys are. And let’s definitely not take the side of bad guys over the good guys. I think the law enforcement community sees the ACLU and websites like this as taking sides with the bad guys.
Just my opinion.
Opinions vary.
As a deputy as well, I think Answering The Question makes a good point, and I totally agree with Falcone about the goal and value of these articles. I think this series of reporting and frankly the ACLU’s involvement here can be a real positive for the department. However, if we pause to think what a Sim City-like world fashioned from the ACLU’s worldview would look like, I mean, it’s laughable. It would be a Lord of the Flies-like anarchy. The ACLU is all about criticism on single issues; they are not about practical solutions to real problems. And this is why people who get their hands dirty in any profession have trouble taking the ACLU seriously. While I agree we have real leadership and cultural issues regarding custody in particular, the fundamental problem is how we can best process and store a range of offenders (pre- and post-trial), including many of whom are complete, unbridled savages–and how we can do so in an environment of reduced spending, antiquated facilities, and a highly litigious environment where everyone has an opinion, an attorney and, they believe, the moral high ground.
Frankly, I don’t think the answer lies in a consent decree or federal monitoring. The problem isn’t with the department’s fundamental culture or the rank and file, or even our force options or policies, in general. Yes, there are some leadership problems and management problems, and this series will help the department purge some elements and get healthier.
The real problem is the sheer volume of offenders the LA County Jail system must process and store and the public’s general lack of regard for how that is done so long as they and their property are safe. In short, funding is inadequate and supervision takes a back seat to results. Moreover, if you’re a gangster, you’re expected to put in work in the jail as much as you would on the street, and frankly to be harder, so the inmates have an incentive to act out. In this environment, rehabilitation is virtually impossible and the best deputies can do is try to keep the constant custody simmer from coming to a boil.
Though I’ve read all the articles and comments in this series, I’m yet to see any practical solutions proposed to the real problems at hand. I’m certainly not expecting to get them from the federal government or the ACLU. I think the Jails Commission is our best shot at positive change.
Real gang members, ACLU, ESD videos as a justification, can you be any more simple minded. ESD is an elite rescue detail of course that is a positive thing. Tattooed custody FNG’s who know nothing about being cops and patrol deputies handing out curbside justice, and the unfair treatment of the other 15,000 hard working members of the department is what this was supposed to be about. Please don’t confuse the issue with the tired ACLU, Yagman, Allred, Liberal bashing. That is too easy. Everyone hates them, the problem is the leadership (or lack thereof) and all the suck asses who benefit time and time again, at the expense of our hard work. I feel sorry for the future of this department, ifit doesn’t get fixed soon. OCCUPY LASD 2012
If the rumors I’ve been hearing are true, we are headed full steam straight for that iceberg ahead. Stand by to stand by.
Lets go back a couple years. R.Williams, Johnny G. and Ralph Martin. All three hated pro active Deputies, loved to talk about themselves and never cared about anyone. Most current Commanders, outstanding people who care.
Lets go forward, Current angry LASD, go 10-8 and stop your sniveling. EX-LASD go on with your retirement and get ready for the next Laughlin “Round-up.”
Occupy LASD – I cannot agree with your comment. I don’t see anything simple minded about pointing out the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department saved 15 lives in just ONE 28 hour period last week. That should be the news headline. 15 people were given the opportunity to go home to their families because of the efforts of the same Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department that you are describing as having a lack of leadership. This is the very leadership who hired, organized, funded and provided the life saving training to the deputies that saved all of those lives. This is the same leadership who instituted the LASD core values that make life saving such a priority at LASD.
Can you show me any statistics of any other law enforcement agency in the nation that comes close to the amount of life saving that the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department does on a regular basis? I am guessing the LASD leadership must be doing something right if they are running a department that is one of the leaders in the nation at saving lives. If they are doing something incorrectly in custody it should be fixed. I do not condone excess force by anyone. However, if our priorities are straight, there should be 20 pages of articles on LASD deputies saving lives to every one page of articles on excess force in the jails. There should be about a two line limit to any article dealing with people complaining they didn’t get promoted even though they are the best and smartest law enforcement officer in the world, but somehow no one noticed.
Keep in mind, the 15 people who had their lives saved, were given the chance to go on with their lives and to become doctors, attorneys, deputy sheriffs, journalists, politicians etc. They will be some of our future community leaders. The deputies who saved their lives all came from the same custody facilities that you describe as consisting of “tattooed FNG’s who know nothing about being cops”. It sounds to me like someone else may know nothing about being a cop.
^^^^ Typical response of a supervisor at briefing who is hearing things that make him uncomfortable. A short, anecdotal statement to tell you why everything is ok and better now, that doesn’t address one single specific issue that’s been brought up.
Go 10-8, there’s a HUGE difference between sniveling and voicing displeasure with things that need to be addressed. If it makes you uncomfortable, this is a briefing that you are not required to attend. Suggesting we should cease from voicing our opinions? Seriously?
Tell you what, why don’t you just quit your company man mantra and head out the back door and go 10-7 and head to the next execs. retirement party to schmooze with the rest of your buddies who want to hear your opinion. This obviously isn’t the forum where your salesmanship will work.
^^^ My statement was for #74 “Go 10-8” two statements up. Somebody slid in above me. Slow typist.
Balance please, I think that is precisely what you lack. Memo to koolaid drinkers like yourself: hard working deputies have been saving lives since 1850, and they didn’t need the blessing of our executives in order to do it. Good things do happen in this department, and mostly it occurs in spite of our failed leadership, not because of it.
To quote you: “This is the very leadership who hired, organized, funded and provided the life saving training to the deputies that saved all of those lives. This is the same leadership who instituted the LASD core values that make life saving such a priority at LASD.” This is the same leadership who hired the black tar burrito deputy, all the 3000 Boys, and a myriad of deputies who have been relieved of duty and/or fired over the last four years for smuggling drugs into the jail system.
We have many problems, all fixable. Without admitting the extent of the problems, that fabled leadership you cherish so dearly will remain the only obstacle to reform our organization and repair our damaged image.
First of all thank you to Celeste, Matt, and the others involved behind the scenes who are dealing with a difficult and distasteful set of issues while analyzing the Sheriff’s Department. Please keep the investigation going. Hopefully Part 5 will disclose the Public Records Act information that we have been awaiting. Really curious to see how the dots connect to the below information I will discuss and the now deleted Executive Staff Meeting email site that was in the Department’s Outlook email system. I’m sure there will also be numerous donations and people who paid for their promotions and coveted positions that will not be covered in any Public Records. Shall we call this Pay Gate?
It’s totally amazing reading these comments. Some outstanding and absolutely true points made by many. It is obvious some will not admit the nepotism, cronyism, and favoritism that has existed for the last 12 plus years. You have to be blind, deaf, dumb, or so deep in the Tanaka car not to admit the truth. By the way, has anyone heard from the unions, (ALADS, PPOA), or from the Office of Independent Review (Mike Gennaco)? They know about it. Unfortunately a paragraph in your monthly publication will not get it done. The fact that you are worried about your contract not being renewed (OIR) is not reason to turn your shoulder to the problem. One of the reasons why you (OIR) were hired by the Board of Supervisors was to deal with Departmental issues, not to turn your cheek and hide.
Yes, there is a good chance that Sheriff Baca will get re-elected and survive this, that Undersheriff Tanaka will continue his control and mistreatment of people and their careers, and that the Tanaka loyalists will continue on with their mistreatment of people and their unethical practices. What Tanaka did to Gladys Toguchi was incredible and just shows you what type of SOB he really is.
We must work together and not against each other and we must up the ante and show the main stream media, the Board of Supervisors, the F.B.I, and the everyday tax payer how the long standing internal workings of the Department executives has turned into criminal matters, some of which has already been exposed in previous articles and the various comments. Maybe when the following is investigated we won’t have to worry about any re-election. (Note- some of the following will be written in such a way as to educate the general public besides the members of the Department).
Approximately 3-5 years ago the Sheriff’s Department engaged in an intense hiring frenzy and was competing with the Los Angeles Police Department for many of these new hires. Several of our Background Investigators, who had disqualified candidates, later found many of these disqualified candidates had been mysteriously approved for hire and were allowed into the academy for training. Many of these new hires, who had been disqualified for criminal misconduct, narcotics use, psychological reasons, and poor employment history etc., are now part of the supervisory nightmares facing the Department, especially in the jails, and bringing discredit to our Department and law enforcement in general. A Captain and Commander, along with then Assistant Sheriff Paul Tanaka, who controls and manages almost all personnel hires, transfers, and promotions, were behind this hiring practice. It helped make us look good as we were viewed as hiring more candidates than the L.A.P.D. Many of these new hires are tattooed, gangbanging type individuals who are one step from being on the other side of the fence of lawlessness. The current use of force and violence on prisoners in the jails, and the Christmas Parties beating of other personnel from Men’s Central Jail are just tip of the iceberg examples.
Since the death of Sheriff Sherman Block on October 29, 1998, the Department has been increasingly managed by corruption, nepotism, cronyism, and favoritism, mostly from the top four executives (Sheriff Leroy Baca, Undersheriff’s Larry Waldie and Paul Tanaka, and Assistant Sheriff Cecil Rambo) of the Department. Although Sheriff Baca, is the figurehead of the Department, the Department has been mostly managed and controlled by the current Undersheriff, Paul Tanaka. He has systematically, for years, placed young, inexperienced, less tenured, less deserving, less educated, people in place to succeed by giving them prime assignments, transfers, and promotions. He has cultivated these individuals from some of his prior work assignments such as the COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) Bureau, Lennox Station, Carson, and Personnel Bureau to name a few. He chooses people that he feels will show allegiance to him and offer information and support for his endeavor to control the Department. He will place them in positions ranging from a few weeks to a few months and move them to another coveted assignment, or promote them, again to coveted assignments. These individuals, are viewed as “being in the car”, and act as his spies and satellites for him. These young, inexperienced, and unethical managers will be in place for years to come and the same culture that has developed today will exist for quite a while. He has done this with the control of Personnel Bureau, gang units, crime fighting units, and Field Operations Region II stations to name a few. With the recent placement of one of his loyalists, Commander Joe Hartshorne as his Commander, in the Undersheriff’s office, he now strategically controls all of the Internal Affairs Bureau (even with the recent realignment back to the Training and Leadership Division) and Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau investigations and outcomes, including all law suits and civil litigations issues.
What the above behavior and environment does is create situations where inexperienced and unethical supervisors are placed in positions of supervision and control and they are only there for a short period of time before they are moved again and again, and then replaced by more Tanaka loyalists. This creates an environment where they do not remain long enough to be held accountable and responsible for their actions and supervision. Case in point, please check how many Sergeants and Lieutenants in recent years have been transferred in to the Men’s Central Jail and how long they stayed and how soon they were promoted or received prime job assignments. For example, in April of 2006, then Sergeants Kevin Hebert and Christopher Nee were promoted to Lieutenant and sent to the Men’s Central Jail with specific instructions from then Assistant Sheriff Paul Tanaka to “clean up Central Jail”. As they worked under the Operations Lieutenant at that time, Daniel Cruz, they delayed, lost, and or destroyed numerous administrative use of force investigations that were never completed and mysteriously were lost from the files. One female Sergeant (Kristy Criner-Cruz) had 11 force investigations disappear and she was never able to complete them. She was recently questioned about this and she refused to answer and has been off stress ever since. She now stays home with her relieved of duty husband, Captain Cruz, who ironically still has his silver Crown Victoria County take home car parked in his driveway at his residence. As has been recently written, a review of the incredible decline of the use of force incidents starting in 2006 and 2007 at the Men’s Central Jail resulted from this criminal destruction of force packages. It should be noted that there are rumored to currently be at least a whopping 164 force incident investigations missing from the Men’s Central Jail. Lieutenant Hebert was then transferred in 2007 to Century Station and immediately appointed as the Operation’s Lieutenant, which is very uncommon. After a short stint there Hebert was transferred back to Personnel Administration as the Operation’s Lieutenant, where he had worked under Assistant Sheriff Tanaka as a Sergeant, and was shortly thereafter promoted to Captain and remained in Personnel Administration, again very uncommon. He was able to continue his control of all personnel transfers, assignments, promotions, promotional exams etc. for then Assistant Sheriff Tanaka. Lieutenant Hebert, with minimal experience, minimal time in grade, and lack of any advanced education, etc., was able to quickly promote in 2010 to Captain due to his allegiance to Tanaka. Lieutenant Christopher Nee, was just recently promoted to Captain of Temple Station.
This same cycle of brief assignment of a select group of individuals has occurred at Lennox, Century, and Compton Stations, as well as Operation Safe Streets Bureau, to name a few. This is called getting their “tickets punched” so these select individuals appear to have vast experience and assignments. Some very ethical and outstanding Lieutenants, with more than 10 years of experience as Lieutenants, and with outstanding performance, well rounded experience, and advanced education, have been constantly passed over for promotion to Captain and or assignment to prime positions. A review of Sergeant and Lieutenant transfers and promotions for the last 10-12 years with Personnel Administration Bureau records will reveal this trend. Additionally, some other key positions to review are Tanaka’s Sergeant/Lieutenant aide positions while he was Chief, Assistant Sheriff, and now Undersheriff, and other top Executive aides positions, Operations Sergeant and Operations Lieutenant positions mostly in Field Operations Region II , COPS Bureau assignments, OSS/GET (Operation Safe Streets / Gang Enforcement Team), and Special Enforcement Bureau, to name a few. Sheriff Baca allows this type of behavior from Undersheriff Tanaka and he continues to promote him with this knowledge, knowing that morale is adversely affected and most personnel disdain this type of inferior treatment.
On another note, several issues of corruption, misappropriation of money, and other illegal activities have or are occurring, again involving several of the top executives and their loyalists who have knowledge. The following are examples to investigate:
-Recently, a large amount of money was found missing and misappropriated from the Aero Bureau. Current Undersheriff Tanaka, with his experience and degree from Loyola Marymount University as a certified public accountant, has swindled money from several recent helicopter contracts and by other means. He has done this with the assistance of the Captain of Aero Bureau, Louis Duran, and his Operation’s Lieutenant Robert Wheat. Wheat’s connection to Tanaka goes back to the days when Tanaka was a Lieutenant at Lennox Station and Wheat was a deputy there in the early 1990’s. Also, some select and loyal supervisors to Tanaka, with Lieutenant Wheat being one of them, have been the recipients of at least $70,000.00 in unjustified overtime. Tanaka uses this money from the Aero Bureau as his “slush fund”.
-Department vehicles (radio cars) that were to be sold at auction after they reached approximately 150,000 miles, and many that were new or fairly new, have been found to be sold to the City of Gardena and then resold to Taiwan or China. Ironically, Undersheriff Tanaka is a City Council member in the City of Gardena and has been the Mayor of Gardena in the past. There is word that the Federal Bureau of Investigation or I.C.E. agents have been investigating this and questioned and detained former Undersheriff Larry Waldie at the Los Angeles International Airport several months ago prior to his retirement. He claimed he had no luggage while supposedly making a one week trip to Taiwan or China and while he was in the company of a Taiwanese or Chinese businessman whose laptop revealed the destinations of several of these Departmental vehicles.
– Commander David Waters, who is a Tanaka loyalist and commands the Administrative Services Division, has used concrete paid for by the Sheriff’s Department to pour his concrete patio slab at his home. He has also had a County air conditioning unit installed at his mother’s residence. Civilian Facilities Maintenance employees have witnessed these incidents and have had issues with how he promotes the civilians in his unit. He has taken the same approach as Tanaka in regard to promoting those loyalists who are not always equipped to run their area of responsibility and who are promoted over more senior, experienced, and deserving employees.
The following are additional areas and problems to investigate:
-As is evidenced above, Departmental Executives do not practice what they preach when they talk about treatment of their own personnel, ethics, honesty, and core values. No wonder that some of our personnel have veered off course and forgot why they took an oath.
– If you are not a favored and desired employee with Undersheriff Tanaka, he will remember anything you did that may have upset him, and he will be vindictive and retaliate against you at some time, even numerous years later when the opportunity presents itself.
– During the months of May and June of this past year (2011) several well respected and tenured Lieutenants, who were not favorably viewed by Undersheriff Tanaka, and right before his very recent promotion to Undersheriff, were forcibly removed or attempted to be removed from their coveted positions beginning in May of this year. Some of these moves or attempts were due in part to the recent Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff’s (ALADS) union management assessment survey that revealed negative performance and comments about some Captains. This created a firestorm as Sheriff Baca had to resort to addressing this practice of trying to move Lieutenants instead of addressing the poor performance of Captains, at the Department’s Management conference in June. A review with Personnel Administration of transfers during this time period and an inquiry with those Lieutenants will reveal some astonishing mistreatment of some outstanding employees.
– During the preparation for recent promotional exams in the last few years for Sergeant and Lieutenant several selected personnel were called in to Tanaka’s office and told what areas to study for the exams. On one test for Sergeant, 10 females were called in and 5 of the 10 refused his offer and stated if they were promoted they wanted to do it with honor and on their own. The other 5 accepted the preferential treatment. Similar incidents have occurred on other promotional exams prior to this one as well, which includes the revealing of exam answers prior to the exams to select personnel.
– Sheriff Baca has escaped arrest during numerous domestic violence incidents that have occurred at his residence over the years. This involved call for services directed to the San Marino Police Department, who requested help from Temple Sheriff’s Station. Proper procedures and state law requirements were not followed.
– During various meetings Undersheriff Tanaka has violated the Department’s policy and Core Values and used profanity, embarrassed personnel in front of others, yelled, screamed, and ridiculed without justification. This has occurred in such meetings as the weekly Monday gang meetings held by Tanaka. Personnel are afraid to speak up or take action in fear of his retaliation, or since they have been promoted or rewarded by him, do nothing about his outrageous behavior.
– Many of Undersheriff Tanaka’s promotional recipients have mysteriously avoided discipline for their past misdeeds and poor performance. For example, in May 2005 there was a deputy-involved shooting in Compton Station’s jurisdiction where a dozen deputies fired over 100 rounds at an SUV at the end of a slow moving pursuit. One involved deputy was shot by another involved deputy. Many rounds struck and penetrated residences nearby. This incident received extraordinary press coverage and corresponding community outrage because of the number of rounds fired and since much of the pursuit was video recorded. The Watch Commander for that incident was then probationary Lt. James Hellmold (a generous Tanaka for Gardena City Council campaign donor). Despite being in the field in his radio car transmitting over the radio to field units involved during the pursuit, prior to the shooting, and by department policy – charged with overall command of the pursuit – he was never made a subject in the investigation of this field incident gone wildly awry. The involved deputies and their field sergeant were investigated and received discipline, but the lieutenant “in command” of and actively participating in the incident not only was not disciplined, but never even investigated as a subject. A relatively short time after the incident, he was transferred to the Undersheriff’s office as an aide. He has since been promoted to Captain and just recently was promoted to Commander, all incredibly in an extremely short period of time.
The information provided here is just a quick snap shot of the poor management and corruption that a few executives have placed over the Department, while the rest of us suffer from their indiscretions. This culture has been allowed to exist, since most people are afraid of Undersheriff Tanaka and this goes back for years as he held the positions of Assistant Sheriff and Chief. Assistant Sheriff Cecil Rhambo is his right hand man now and buffers him from any interference and is deeply involved in many of these matters, while Sheriff Baca rarely corrects these misdeeds and thoroughly has knowledge of what is occurring. This information is interconnected to several issues and problems that the Department is now facing and which has appeared in the media and has brought about Federal probes etc. Ironically, how the Department has been treating its personnel and dealing with its internal policy and procedures, has now affected how it deals with and is perceived by the community in various ways. It’s time for these individuals to be held accountable and removed from their positions. Please help us remove the top unethical managers of the Department who are tearing our Department down by the minute and are embarrassing the hell out of us.
#79, GOD BLESS YOU. KEEP IT COMING. KOOL AID DRINKERS, READ IT AND WEEP.
My – my – my . . . sounds like someone has had a video cam, microphone & tape recorder in his pocket for a long time to have gleaned such “in depth” information about all these miss deeds. Obviously someone VERY Close to the “eye of the storm”.
But the “actual truth is”. . . . the same crap happened with ALL previous administrations as well to one degree or another
LONG Story short – as has been pointed out earlier, NOTHING WILL HAPPEN to REMOVE the “problem Children” (in spite of evidence that is gleaned, LIKE THE D.A. IN SEVERAL CRIMINAL CASES, IF THERE’S not ENOUGH TO “GET A CONVICTION”. . .THERE WON’T EVEN BE A FILING .It’s been tried before, AND UNFORTUNATELY, to no avail! SEMPER FI !
You know whats funny about the above comment besides the fact that most of it is rumors and BS. There’s not one mention of the person most responsible for what occurred at Men’s Centeral Jail. You must be a tight with “marv” (Assistant Sheriff Marvin Cavanaugh). I know that most of you might say, wow, I didn’t know there was two assistant sheriffs. That’s because Marv is hardly at work. He works whats known as a 4/6 schedule. 6 hours a day four days a week with a 2 hour lunches. He’s been asleep at the wheel for quite sometime.
While he was Assistant Sheriff, he used his position of power to get his daughter out of jail. She was arrested for several serious felonies.
He also used his position of power to have his son (Lt. Cavanaugh) transfered from a patrol assignment to court services so he could work dayshift hours with weekends off.
His has a practice of promoting friends and family. It’s called the friends and family plan. A/S Cavanaugh is known for it.
He usually leaves a pretty good paper trail.. someone needs to check his email to reveal somemore of his scandel.
You talk about the use of force cases at MCJ. It was 73 cases. out of the 73, 27 were on Captain Clark’s Watch, 34 were on Olmstead’s watch and 12 were on Dan Cruz’s Watch. Its funny how Olmstead has been crying the most and disrespecting the department when he is the one who had the biggest problems during his watch.
“you can’t handle the truth” sounds like a lazy turd that didn’t get promoted.
too late for damage control . . . cat’s outta the bag.
Wow, just finished reading, “You Can’t Handle The Truth”. Good for you. There are many of us who agree with you.
I was still writing this in response to “779.
As a recently retired member, your remarks referring to those commenting here as “bitching” about the Department and/or “holding grudges” couldn’t be the furthest thing from the truth.
Perhaps you haven’t kept up with current events, or you’ve been smoking too many of Tanaka’s cigars, but the truth sometimes hurts. For the first time, members are being given an opportunity to express what so many of us have wanted to say, but were afraid of retribution by Tanaka’s regime. And not just for ourselves, but for our spouses as well, as many of us have spouses/family on the Department.
To say that it was an honor to wear the badge is an understatement. I proudly and honorably wore my badge and dedicated over 30 years of my life to the Sheriff’s Department. Eight of our family members, including my husband, dedicated our lives to law enforcement. Five of those members also served in the military, including my husband (two Vietnam War veterans and one Iraqui War veteran).
This may sound like “bragging rights”, but I wanted to make the point that we are not individuals with an “ax to grind”, “bitter”, “malcontents”, yada, yada, yada. We’ve willingly served our country and communities with pride.
As 90% of LASD members do, every day, either in uniform or plainclothes, we’ve all put in the long hours, weekends, holidays, time away from family, and so on. We’ve all made sacrifices, sometimes to the detriment of our families and even our health. How many partners and/or fellow deputies did we know who were alcoholics…to say nothing of the “safety hazards”…this profession takes a toll in more ways than one. But we’ve LOVED our job. Worked some great assignments. Worked with some great people. Have great memories of BakerToVegas over the years. It was a family event for many of us. And for others, well, suffice to say, “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”!
Those of us who are fortunate and blessed enough to retire in good health are in the minority.
But the L.A.Co. Sheriff’s Department is not what it once was. The truth that is being told by many here, needs to be told. Baca and Tanaka have tarnished the badge that so many of us proudly wore. Baca has either intentionally kept himself in the dark about Tanaka’s actions, so he can claim he didn’t know, or he’s a very stupid man. Either way, the buck stops with HIM and there’s only one sheriff in town.
The corruption and lack of leadership that transcends the Department has been festering for years. Baca now spends more time “jetsetting” around the globe; who made him the world’s sheriff? He should be doing what he gets well paid to do and that is to lead the world’s largest sheriff’s department! The environment created by deputies at CJ, not all, but in particular the 3000 boys, is an embarrassment to those of us who had pride in our Department. The gang-like behavior, tattoos; it’s hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Ask yourself, would you want your son(s) or daughter(s) working among these “thugs” and “bullies” who defy supervision and have been given “carte blanche” by Tanaka to do “whatever” and supervisors should “get out of the way”. Strong verbiage to describe our own, but when deputies brutally beat not only inmates but each other, these words aptly describe them.
Captain Clark and some of his lieutenants were trying to do the right thing by holding deputies accountable; and do their job. But Tanaka stood in the way of supervision. Clark ended up getting transferred. Some lieutenants retired and were undeservingly maligned. Well, so much for their years of dedication and service. Now, Baca claims he didn’t know about the problems within the jail(s)…that’s a flat out LIE.
Last time I checked, this was a paramilitary organization, (or so we were told in the academy). And oh yeah, a little something referred to as “chain of command”. Not in Tanaka’s world. In Tanaka’s world, he instructs MCJ deputies to circumvent their direct supervisor (sergeant, lieutenant, etc) and e-mail him (Tanaka) directly whenever they want to “whine” about a supervisor. We all know his history and background of how his career rose from the dead, resurrected by Baca..when he had been banished to custody by Block.
This Department is in serious need of some house cleaning. We should all welcome and be open to this. This is not about “screwing” deputies. This is about toppling an arrogant regime, so embedded in their “kingdom”, surrounded by loyal “soldiers” who would instantly become sacrificial lambs when Baca and Tanaka’s luxury liner starts to sink.
Thank you to those who have stepped forward and thank you Matt and Celeste for writing about this. Please continue. Most of us care, even now, still care about the LASD. We care about future generations that will be a part of the Department, including our offspring. We want a Department they can be proud of.
I personally worked with some of those named, including Larry Landreth, Ray Leyva and Bob Olmstead. Larry was one of the most hard-working, tenacious and dedicated investigators I had the privilege of working with in Detective Division. I’ve worked with and have known Ray Leyva for many years and consider him an honorable man. Bob Olmstead is a good man and leader and all ought to be commended for having the courage to come forward. No, they didn’t ask me to write this and don’t even know who’s writing this. I haven’t spoken to any of them in years.
On a closing note, let’s pass on the word about WitnessLA. In addition, let’s pressure ALADS, PPOA, etc, into NOT endorsing/supporting Baca or Tanaka…if they refuse, hit them where it hurts, in the pocketbook: cancel your retiree dues!
As for “Go 10-8″…enjoying retirement thank you very much!!
LMB …..
Please tell me you truly don’t believe what you just typed. We all know that what ‘You Can’t Handle The Truth’ typed is right on the money and it is more than just a rumor.
This has gone on for years even before Tanaka’s car started rolling along. The only difference now is that when it was done in the past it was done with a little more tact. Now Tanaka and his crew rams it down your throat with a ‘I don’t give a crap’ attitude.
If u got to where u are by working instead of schmoozing, u know how ur suspect acts when u hit him with the facts? He cops that u can’t prove it attitude? Or he says everybody else was doing it, but him. Then u jack him with a few more details and he rolls over on everybody, including the guy on the grassy knoll. What’s changed? Cavanaugh was an empty suit when he got appointed. So now, the kool aid kids wanna throw each other under the bus, right? Suggestion: Don’t wait too long. The Feds’ll be cutting deals like a hooker selling used cars, but the last one through the door ain’t got nothing coming. By the way, those fake Christian fellas who make a big show of thee-ing and thou-ing, oughta ask Jesus for a good attorney . . . I’m just sayin’
Cavanaugh can’t get his car washed unless he asks Tanaka for permission. He did all he could do to get his special friend Ault promoted as well as others only to be told to sit in the corner and be a good boy. Cavanaugh has stated many times he wants to be carried out of his office with his boots on. Someone do his family a favor and make sure his pants are pulled up. Marv, just retire and enjoy your time with your wife.
LMB …Hmmmm
“A lazy turd that didn’t get promoted”
What’s the difference between that and someone that gets promoted not for what they know but because they worked at a specific place, for specific people, and can’t form a single intelligent thought on their own if their lives depended on it?
Wait before you call me a lazy turd too …. I’ve worked all the same assignments as these non-thinking, do anything without question employees and I got promoted as well. The only difference is I did it on my own merit without getting the answers to the test ahead of time. Because of this I can sleep well at night. I’m sure a few people are having nightmares right about now. How long will it be before they start pointing fingers and throwing each other under the bus? Too bad because some were actually good people that got sucked in.
Re: Seasoned Detective’s comments –
I agree with all you said. As far as pressuring the unions, well, they’ve already been approached for their assistance and PPOA for sure, has fallen flat as far as consistently being there for their members.
I have a buddy still working who got a call after hours one night informing him he was being moved out of his operations position because “Mr. Tanaka” wanted to put someone else in the position he had held for three years. Yes, lieutenants can be transferred, but without good cause?
What prompted the move you ask? A few days prior to the roll-up phone call, the ALADS Dispatcher published its annual unit commander survey showing this particular unit commander rated at the BOTTOM of the survey! Ahhh… must be the lieutenant’s fault since the captain doesn’t have his troops’ confidence. So let’s take someone respected by all who’ve worked with him, and who possesses a flawless record, and kick him to the curb and put him back in a shift-work job and leave the inept captain in place.
So, how does this relate to PPOA? Being called by your chief, at home, and being told you are being forcibly transferred from a coveted assignment that you were originally requested BY THAT CHIEF to fill, and then relegated back out to a line position at another unit because “Mr. Tanaka” sees the survey results as an opportunity to retaliate for reasons known only to him, impacts WORKING CONDITIONS!
What did PPOA do for this member employee? Submit a formal protest and request for meet-and-confer with top department brass? Informally meet with the undersheriff or sheriff to find a resolution amicable to all parties? Hold a news conference to publicize what at the time; were becoming habitual and frequent attempts to punish hard working lieutenants “Mr. Tanaka” saw as non-supporters? No! PPOA asked their legal counsel to review the executive action and then acquiesced to counsel’s opinion there was “nothing actionable” about this arbitrary, capricious and retaliatory action by “Mr. Tanaka.” Thanks a lot PPOA!
I’ll close with asking: Where are all the Division and Region Chiefs on this sort of thug treatment of their employees? The very employee this chief supported and asked to take the operations position in the first place a few years before – where was he to voice his outrage to “Mr. Tanaka” about this childish action? Leadership? Isn’t that one of the most overused words by this regime? Where’s the leadership from this chief to call “Mr. Tanaka” out on this one – to go to bat for someone he’s known for many years, and who he’s known to be an outstanding employee? He never questioned “Mr. Tanaka,” as he determined it was safer and more expedient for him to cower in the shadows of his comfy fourth floor office than to at least attempt to right a very obvious wrong.
P.S. – I neglected to mention for anyone with ghetto stud mentality clinging to that “pride” of superiority delusion rattling around in their head, the lieutenant mentioned in my past posting worked Region II as both a deputy and a sergeant prior to his current rank. It surely doesn’t make him superman but he did get his ticket punched.
To anyone supporting Tanaka.. how does “it’s always been this way” excuse any of the well documented sins of this man? “You can’t handle the truth” got it right about Aero Bureau. Tanaka put his buddy Captain Duran in charge along with a gang of the worst element (I guess thats Tanaka’s style). The dirty way Duran was placed in this position by Tanaka himself was bad enough, but the things this gang has been up to since they took over are unbelievable. Seceret overtime to special “friends”, time sheets altered, overtime records disappearing, the “in” group’s relationship with some of the vendors where millions of dollars are being spent, are just a small example of what has been going on.
Duran’s way of dealing with anyone not in the gang is to threaten and attack. There was an honest Lieutenant that Baca himself put in Aero. Lt. Ed Cook. What happened when he went to Duran with evidence of the gang’s activity? True to form Duran ran to Tanaka and had him transfered out. The only problem is that Lt. Cook kept a lot of the records and has filed a federal law suit which is now going to trial. The rock has been turned over and the gang is now scurrying for cover.
RII experience means not one thing. I can testify to this as a fact. I have R II experience at THREE ranks – yet, I somehow continue to be victim to the corruption. After all these years…I get it….who cares, right???
Re: DOE INC’s sentiments – I do believe your experience in RII definitely equips you with abundant, arduously obtained experience garnered in a comparatively condensed period of time, and respect that. My P.S. comment was meant to forestall some smug, swellheaded RII-proud ghetto gunslinger-type from taking cheap shots as has become the trend in the posts from Tanaka campers on this site. We’ve all been touched by “Paul,” and with the exception of the few who can fit in his car, not in a good way.
After leaving a management conference with Duran, the first thing I want to do is take a shower. When I think a person is as arrogant as can be, I see “Louie the Scrotum,” and I rethink my position. Wheat is so full of himself you just want to vomit when you talk to him. Thankfully my contact with him is very limited. Ed Cook is a straight arrow and he can work for me any day of the week. I have no doubt the FBI will hear about all of these recent golden nuggets by Monday and let the games begin. By that time I will be retired and I will purchased “box tickets” for their Federal trial and eat popcorn while they cry and hang their heads low in complete shame.
These are some very good comments on here and most are true as u read them. The funny thing is why does no one stand up and why doesn’t Baca do something about this. Or should I say Sheriff Ostrich. One person who tried was Captain Maxwell who filed an official complaint on Tanaka who theatened him and a few other Captains. The compalint was completely whitewashed and now the Captain’s career is done. His chief (Laing) along with the other Chiefs are all punks who dont know the meaning of core values. I personally dont like Maxwell but he is the only brass who has had the balls to address this madness. Maxwell was the Sheriffs driver at one point and he cant even convince the Sheriff of Tanaka’s evilness. If the Feds are reading this call maxwell in and sweat him. He has alot of dirt surprised he hasnt puked. Suprising Tanaka hates him since Maxwell was a Lennox Tatooed deputy and killed numerous people including an unarmed suspect. he should be in Tanakas top 10. [EDITOR’S NOTE: IN THE INTEREST OF KEEPING THIS ON THE ISSUES, NOT ON PERSONAL LIVES, THE MATERIAL ABOUT AN LASD PERSON’S SPOUSE HAS BEEN EDITED OUT. THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING.]
Don’t shed any tears for Pat Maxwell. He was selected as Baca’s very first driver after the election. Maxwell was thick with the creeps running the department from the beginning of the regime in December 1998. Fast forward to, when, 2010, to complain about a pattern and practice he went along with to further his career? And now he’s found Jesus? Nope. He has zero credibility. When the likes of Maxwell pandered to Baca, helped him get elected, helped him get re-elected by walking the precincts, he’s compromised himself and demonstrated his lack integrity. He’s the product of a corrupt administration!
I am a total outsider to this LASD investigation. I can’t stop reading these comments that are being posted. I am disguted with the LASO’s with everything that is going on. I have close friends associated withe the LASD and they can’t believe what is going on within the Sheriff’s Department. How did things get to this point? A lot of ass kissing, I would say. I remember one particular takedown meeting with the Los Angeles DEA High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) and the LASD. Paul Tanaka showed and spoke. He asked everyone to shut their video cameras off and wanted everyone to listen to him. What Paul Tanaka had to say was “we work in the grey area” and that is OK. I was thinking, “what the heck?” I should have kept my iphone on and recorded his ramblings about the “grey area.” I had heard about Paul Tanaka before but I had heard about him when [EDITOR’S NOTE: IN THE INTEREST OF KEEPING THIS ON THE ISSUES, NOT ON PERSONAL LIVES, THE ATTACK ON AN LASD PERSON’S SPOUSE HAS BEEN EDITED OUT. THANK YOU FOR UNDERSTANDING.]
P.S. I’ve never met this Bob Olsmsted guy, but you all Tanaka Lovers…why would you think Bob Olmsted would come out AFTER he retired to expose the LASO’s?!?!?! If he was the problem, why would he do that AFTER he retired? That just sounds like a stupid thing to do?? It sounds to me like Bob Olmsted could of just gone off and retired making a lot of money and never looked back, but he seems like an honorable man and couldn’t bare to watch the department he cared about, go to hell. It takes an honorable man to stand up and tell the thruth…
We have a 5ft tyrant (Tanaka) and a 5 ft 2 inch faithful sidekick (Rhambo) running this department into the ground, while a bumbling Sheriff looks the other way. It is truly shameful.
Witness LA when you are all done looking into campaign contributions, you need to look into how many recently promoted individuals also happened to join (but more like pressured) The City Club during the time Tanaka held the title of President there.
Outsiders Perspective ….
Damn that was harsh about Val. It’s all true but Jesus what’s that have to do with anything?
The City Club is where Tanaka (and hey, he’s gotta be at least 5-3, Cecil minimally 5-7), who openly proclaimed his disdain for OIR, requested the OIR attorney staff to lunch with him for a holiday meal there in December. In his current campaign to re-group and reach out to his detractors on a massive fence-mending mission, he tried greasing the skids with Michael Gennaco and crew at the conclusion of the lunch meeting by insisting on covering the hugely expensive lunch tab for the entire OIR crew. To his credit, Gennaco requested, then demanded to know how much his group owed for lunch. Since relentless Tanaka was insisting on picking up the tab and saying it had been “taken care of,” Gennaco told Tanaka he would forward a check for the estimated expense of the OIR crew’s lunches. In this case, kudos to OIR for not allowing Tanaka to compromise them further.
Has anyone heard from Tanaka lately? I find it interesting that he is out of the spot light and hasn’t had anything to say. You know in the background Tanaka is having one or should I say, many explosive outbursts of uncontrollable rage, as is quite common with the little man.
What is happening to and within the LASD is definitely a crying shame. The troops are all turning on each other. It’s like a bad divorce. One side airing their grievances about those ‘in the car” and the other side responding with “lazy turd”. etc. etc.
Why is this happening? Who is responsible for all of this?
LEROY BACA. He’s the boss. The man at the top. The buck stops there.
While the Sheriff of LOS ANGELES COUNTY has been running around the globe trying to prove how progressive he is, the house that he is responsible for is burning. He has neglected what he was elected to do in favor of doing other things. Now the agency that he was elected to lead is in dissaray.
Like any conflict, those on opposite sides see things from only their perspective. Most likely, as in any argument, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Leadership? Where is Leroy Baca on this? Why is he not stepping up and taking control of this very sad, extremely embarassing situation? He remains conspicuously absent and conspicuously silent. He should make the rounds to every unit in the department, inspiring and uniting the troops.
Here’s the problem. He can’t do that. He’s lost control and everybody knows it. He’s made bad and irresponsible choices about how to manage his time, or perhaps (perhaps not)who to put in charge in his absence.
The bottom line is, he’s not minding the store. You would think if his troops were unhappy about what is happening in the LASD they would be voicing their displeasure about Leroy Baca. Nope. All of the talk on this blog has been about Paul Tanaka.
THAT SPEAKS VOLUMES.
It appears that the troops (on bot sides) no longer see Baca as the man in charge. It appears he’s just a figurehead. Yeah, I know the US is responsible for the “day to day” operations of the department. But hey, isn’t the US supposed to be doing things at the direction of the sheriff?
Baca uses leadership as a mantra and nothing more. He couldn’t lead a fat man to a buffet table.
Maybe Paul Tanaka is not the best man to be running things. Maybe he is. I’m not involved so I don’t have enough information to make an informed decision on that. What is abundantly clear is this. Leroy Baca is not perceived as the man in charge of the sheriff’s department. Paul Tanaka is.
LEROY BACA has become a joke. He is getting “handled” by his underlings. What do his underlings that handle him know that causes them to “handle” him?
Is he the crazy uncle at Thanksgiving dinner or what?
Either way, the LA Board of Sups. needs to step in and take control of the situation. Unless of course they think Tanaka is the man for the job. Perhaps that’s why they’ve failed to take action.
Either way, the current bullshit that is going on between the troops is pathetic. Any business, team, agency or military unit survives or dies by it’s morale.
For whatever reason, and regardless of what underling may or may not be responsible, the morale of the LASD under Leroy Baca’s stewardship is in the shitter.
He has become a very sad joke. Somebody else took control of HIS department and he either wasn’t smart enough to see it happening, or didn’t care and tacitly approved it.
Bottom line?
He’s definitelty not earning his salary as LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF.
Right or wrong, good or bad, Tanaka should be receiving that salary. He’s running the whole kit and kaboodle.
Things still have not changed. Century station is famous for the regulators. Only deputies that supposedly fit in “the cool kids” get the tattoo and if a deputy gets in a shooting that’s an honor and will be symbolized in the tattoo. If you get the tattoo everything will be handed to you on a silver platter, from t.o, detective, or o.t spots.
Every station has their tattoo not just century station.
Crying Shame, if I may. With respect to your opinion, you are sorely missing the point. This is NOT about “the troops turning on each other.” Far from it. It is 90% hard working, ethical employees who are sick and tired of being kicked in the teeth and shit on my Tanaka’s 10% crew of cigar smokers. People are simply fed up with the “Pay for Play.” (and that story hasn’t been fully reported, yet. Wait until the donation records are released.)This is not what we signed up for.) Tanaka is not fit to be the U/S or of any other rank. Yes, Baca is a loser and he is supposed to be in-charge. He has lost all respect by us and nothing he can do will ever bring it back. Everything you say about him travelling around while his house burns is spot on. But please, this is not about airing dirty laundry or “turning on each other.” This is about a completely justified near mutiny and something has to give. The Feds are the only ones who can and will do it. Everyone else has failed us.
Interesting,
I understand your position. I know that is what this blog topic is about. I’m not missing that point. I’m simply pointing out that even IF something is done to restrict Tanaka’s influence on the department, IF him or some of his underlings are found guilty of corruption, LEROY BACA should be held accountable and removed from office. It happened on his watch. It’s his responsibility to keep things exactly like this from happening.
That’s my point, and it’s an entirely different point than whether or not Tanaka or those under him are dirty.
Because I’m stressing a different point doesn’t mean I’m missing yours. I get it.
My point is that if Baca won’t/can’t do his job to keep Tanaka from taking the reins of power away from him, if he remains sheriff what’s to keep the next guy he appoints US from doing it again?
Baca has lost “institutional control” of the department he was elected (and is paid quite well) to run. That’s all I’m saying.
Hold on, stop the presses ladies and gentleman. I know that a lot of you are upset about what is going on with the LASD, but 97 and others, we must stop with the personal attacks. Tanaka’s wife doesn’t belong in this conversation, she is just another member of the LASD. Do not stoop to the level of tanaka apologist who spew lies, innuendoes, and personal attacks on good people that disagree with their DADDY. YOU GOOD PEOPLE, stick with the evidence and the facts, because the TRUTH is on you side.
Leave the empty, salacious personal attacks to Paul’s minions, because that is all they have to work with. Don’t stoop to their 5’2″ (Paul’s height) level. They deal in lies and misinformation, like Paul deals in fear and intimidation. When you have facts and evidence, you don’t need personal attacks. Let Paul’s crew engage in this type of brhavior because that is what PUNKS AND COWARDS DO.
I worked for the LASD for 36 yrs and all of the men and women that are retired are concerned about the LASD. Some of them have children on the LASD and ALL of them have friends on the job.
I have had the privilege and the honor to work with a lot of the people that some of you ignorant autobots have unjustly maligned. R. Olmsted, R. Martin, R. Williams And E. Cook, were all outstanding cops, supervisors, managers, and administrators. They all worked Region 2 and some of them worked Region 1, Region 3 also. They were training officers, investigators, and they worked training and operations spots.
They treated deputies fairly, reduced discipline, and saved some deputies jobs, but all they get from the tanakaites is regurgitated lies, and hearsay, based on nothing. I know for a fact that concerning the Compton 120 shot incident, Martin and Williams gave the deputies minimal days off and even reduced them even more during the grievance process. They both agreed that the Compton Watch Commander, Lt Hellmold should have at least been a subject, but that was vetoed by the Undersheriff and Sheriff.
People, stick to the facts because they are clear and right in front of your face. None of us retired people want to be the next sheriff or any other ridiculous notion. All we want is the LASD to return to it’s great position in the law enforcement community.
No more personal attacks on PT’s wife on anyone else. Like the man used to say, ” Just the facts “.
Pretty impressive work for a “leaderless” department. Crime stats decrease at 5 percent more than the national average decrease. Are you sure the wrong people are promoted?
13% Overall 2011 Violent Crime Decrease in LASD Area. Lowest Homicide rate since 1965. All Serious Crime Categories Saw Decrease.
Over 100 pages of details showing preliminary reported crime statistics for the unincorporated communities and 42 contract cities policed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department can be found at http://www.lasd.org (There are 88 cities in Los Angeles County)
Visit the LASD “Crime Prevention and Information” page or access them directly at http://file.lacounty.gov/lasd/cms1_148405.pdf These include calendar year 2011 preliminary reported crime statistics compared to 2010 and 2006. Reported crimes for each sheriff’s station and city include homicides, robberies, burglaries, etc. To review the statistics, open the file, right click with your computer mouse and use the search engine:
http://file.lacounty.gov/lasd/cms1_148405.pdf
2011 preliminary reported crime data shows that reported overall incidents of violent crime (Part 1) have declined 13.81 percent, and serious property crimes reported (Part I) have declined by 1.81 percent in Sheriff’s patrol areas countywide, compared to last year at this time. These numbers combine to show a 4.25 percent decrease in overall Part I (the most serious) crimes.
In 2011, preliminary reported crime data shows that criminal homicides decreased by 5 percent in Sheriff’s patrol areas (166 homicides in 2011, 174 in 2010), and have decreased by 46.23% compared to 2006.
2011 had the lowest homicide rate (allowing for population changes) in Sheriff’s Department patrol areas since 1965.
Most notable, were decreases in homicides in the cities of Compton and Lancaster.
There were 17 homicides in the City of Compton in 2011, which is a decrease from 25 in 2010.
In the City of Lancaster, there were 3 homicides in 2011, compared to 18 in 2006. Of those, there were no gang related homicides in Lancaster in 2011, compared to 8 in 2006.
“The reduction in crime statistics is a county-wide effort,” said Sheriff Lee Baca. “The people in the community and members of local governments have worked diligently with station commanders and deputies to design solutions to crime that involve equal parts enforcement and intervention”.
VIDEO OF PRESS CONFERENCE:
Who: Sheriff Lee Baca and executive members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Third District, Chairman of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors; Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, Second District; Supervisor Don Knabe, Fourth District; Mayors and City Council Members.
What: Sheriff Baca and the Board of Supervisors discussed the latest crime statistics reflecting an overall drop in crime for Los Angeles County.
Click on the hyperlink below to watch the VIDEO of the Press Conference held on Wednesday, January 11, 2011:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGOgDkyo-eE
Note: The East Los Angeles Station of the LASD began policing the cities of Maywood and Cudahy on July 1, 2010. Therefore, East LA Station added two more cities to its policing area in 2011 than in 2010. Because we are comparing 6 months of service statistics to 12 months of service in Maywood and Cudahy, the 2010 to 2011 year-to-date comparisons for those two cities (and therefore total East LA Station statistics) are unavoidably incomplete, and should not be used for comparison.
Population source for crime rates per 10,000 population: 2001-2009 population projections from the Chief Administrative Officer’s (CAO) Office of Urban Research and California Department of Finance. 2010 and 2011 Year-To-Date (YTD) population source from the 2010 United States Census Population count.
To view the LASD 1960-2010 homicides and ratios, and 1960-2010 charts of Part 1 crimes and rates on the official website of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (http://www.lasd.org), click on the following link:
http://sheriff.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/lasd/media/detail/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/lasd+content/lasd+site/home/home+top+stories/homicide_rate_declines_2010
You do not need to wait each month to see the monthly crime statistics summary. Continuously available expanded crime mapping for Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department patrol areas is available at http://www.Crimemapping.com and http://www.lasd.org at: http://sheriff.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/lasd/crimeprevention/
To access the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) national Online Tool that makes decades of crime statistics research easier, go to http://sheriff.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/lasd/!ut/p/c5/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os3gLAwgwcjfzdDPw9Hf3dAswNjcyCDLRDwfpwK3CyRwib4ADOBro-3nk56bqF2Rnpzk6KioCAMV4niQ!/dl3/d3/L2dJQSEvUUt3QS9ZQnZ3LzZfOTAwMEdPQlMyRzZNOTBJQ1Q2S1Y0UDFPMzA!/?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/wps/wcm/connect/lasd+content/lasd+site/home/home+top+stories/fbi_crime_tool And logon to the following links: UCR Data Tool; Crime Statistics; Uniform Crime Reporting Program; Crime in the United States, 2009.
Partner to prevent or report crime by contacting your local sheriff’s station. Or, if you wish to remain anonymous, call “LA Crime Stoppers” by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org .
After reading all of these interesting posts, I must say Tanaka and friends remind me of the movie, Good Fellas. Just remember how the movie ended. If I were in this so called Cigar Club, I would be very worried.
Really? Does anyone actually believe that crime statistics have anything to do with the performance of supervision? Does that mean that Leroy and Paul can take credit for the fifth consecutive year of decline in crime statewide? http://oag.ca.gov/crime
Figures lie and liars figure. Stats can generally be found to support any point of view. I think we are looking at stats that the level of BS is way up this year.
I hope the truth comes out.
Eliot – Read the post. LASD crime has dropped 5 percent more than the national average. If this has nothing to do with supervision, who cares who is in charge. Or maybe the sky is not falling after all.
“Over 100 pages of details showing preliminary reported crime statistics for the unincorporated communities and 42 contract cities policed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department can be found at http://www.lasd.org (There are 88 cities in Los Angeles County).”
Gawd! I hate it when the admin cites stats from Nixle to play crime fighter. Are we circling the laptops, now? That’s as bad as the Tanaka’s weekly meeting with all the captains. Yah, if u don’t have a targeted gang, borrow one, matter of fact borrow a template, too. Smoke and mirrors — Mikey Parker is that you?
I think PT should re-evalute the clowns he’s promoting…. Starting with a little chubby fellow who was fired for destroying evidence, then covering his tracks with Taco Sauce. By the way, thanks for the free shots of tequila at the X-Mas party, but your still a clown and we all know it…
So what are all you fine people going to do about this? Continue bitching on a blog and let us handle business. This isn’t going main stream. Sorry folks.
Really=Capt. Mike Parker. Famous for quickly pushing the send button to send out dept wide email blast about negative press on a deputy. But wont send out any of the recent L.A. Times articles about the Sheriff or his fair haired children. You professes to be a PIO guru, but expose himself yourself with dim-witted comments on live t.v. during the recent ELA pursuit. Stop drinking the kool-aid. That party line isn’t going to work. A buddy of mine mentioned to me how all of the big wigs have been directed to fend off the media’s bad press with positive stories. The Sheriff is not addressing the problem. EPC ignores the 600 pound gorilla in the room. Yes–this information makes it way down to the line.
Can’t we all just get along?
I agree with the earlier posting about laying off the wife, unless she has some complicit culpability, then shame on her. I agree we should focus on the facts of criminal conduct and outrageous actions by the Good Fellas. I have been told the FBI has been already notified about the Aero Bureau allegations as well as other recent pieces of significant criminal allegations. Let the chips fall where they may.
Celeste, I would imagine that you purge active stories and the comments to make room for new stories. If you could possibly leave this story as active and allow the comments to continue, it would be so very much appreciated. We have no other forum. Matt and Celeste, you have no idea the ray of hope you are offering the fabulous 90% of LASD. You have made a difference and will continue to do so. Your old school reporting has been factual, fair to all, professional and of Pulitzer Prize quality. Thank you! And God Bless Bob Olmsted.
Dear “Movie,”
Of course this thread will stay active. (And we both thank you and others for the kind words.)
I’m just glad we all know the truth, sad that airing it in public might be the only way to get it fixed. I’m just glad to be a deputy and I sure as hell don’t want to be in anyones car. Looks like they’re all gonna get totaled soon. 6 to go.
Hopefully we can get some Dimas Rangers promoted and sent to Region II
Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up. The text in your article seem to be running off the screen in Internet explorer. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with web browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know. The design and style look great though! Hope you get the problem resolved soon. Kudos
Baca, Waldie & Tanaka..just a bunch of losers. All for the sake of power. Have you noticed how small a circle of friends they have? How many people and familes have they devastated? They are very selfish people who do not care who they step on. Keep your distance because the law is taking them down. The Orange County Sheriff thought he was untouchable and guess what? He went to prison.
I talked to a Sgt. a few months ago that has been on the dept. for over 20 years.. He said its just a matter of time before certain people are possibly indicted. I really had no idea what he was talking about as I have been retired for many years and have no contact with the dept.. After reading all the information on this site I now see what he was talking about..
Memo to Dulce. The San Dimas Rangers were started by a Century Regulator.
Yeah. Uh huh. How funny is it that?
LAD. What exactly is your point? And yes, I do think the Dimas Power Rangers are funny. Yeah. Uh huh.
Point is, if the Rangers are funny, so are the Regulators. They were started by one. A “hard charging, Century righteous dude” who is well regarded among the Regulators. But then again, aren’t they all if they have the ink? He obviously found deps in Dimas that he, a Regulator, could relate to and wanted to be a part of. If there were nothing but slaps and slugs at Dimas, why would a REGULATOR start a fraternity?
That’s the point.
So let’s have a laugh together.
Ya. I got your point the first time LAD. That was a rhetorical question. I obliviously struck a nerve. My intent was not to insult your station or hard charging club. Seriously though. The Dimas Rangers? I don’t care who started it. It’s lame. There is no crime in San Dimas.
You didn’t strike a nerve with me. I aint workin there nor wearin that ink, nor would I want to. And my intention is damn sure not to insult anybody, be they from Century or Dimas. It just seemed like you were a little heavy on the sarcasm re: Dimas deps with your #120 comment.
No offense taken, and none meant on my part.
Roger that re: the crime rate.
Anyone old enough to remember ASB? Before an ICIB, anyone remember Chief Baca’s caper in Temple City at a “lady’s” house when her husband came home, Chief ended up threatening deputy who handled call, deputy happened to record the lashing session and got a transfer of his choice? Baca retired shortly after and didn’t surface from his mire of Ph.D-related Chicano activities until it looked like the dead guy was going down?
Once a month they still pay me to stay away and I’m proud of the job I did…but I’d never in a million years do it again under the current regime…the only word that adequately describes what’s become of a once-proud, public-service oriented agency is that it’s a “pile of stinking crap.” That does not reflect on those of you still in there trying to do your job with both internal and external forces against you…God bless you all.
Pettis…… right?
“Really” is Captain Mike Parker, the hypocritical spokehole for all that is wrong with the department. Saw you on TV the other day Mike…perhaps you should consider a new hair weave, or perhaps a comb over like Donald Trump or Tommy Lee Jones.
Your integrity is shot, everyone knows your a lapdog for the cigar chompers. Do us all a favor and quit trying to redirect our anger into one of your bias PR spins. I dare you to redirect WitnessLA.com to the citizens of LA.
Please try to avoid the entirely personal remarks, everybody. Thanks.
Mind you own business Celeste. Stop trying to censor the people.
There is one more thing that was overlook by IAB reguarding Comander David Waters. Not overlook but put under the covers. David Waters had a motocycle delivered on county time to a FSB Sheetmetal shop to to have the exhaust modified. This was done on County time with County material. When management was noitfied of this, the Bike was removed by a FSB employee on county time. A complaint was turned in to the County Fraud Department who then turned it over to IAB, and has done nothing. This is the same person who told FSB employees if they were ever use county equipment or county tools for personal use he would have them terminated.
WHAT’S GOOD FOR THE GOOSE IS GOOD FOR THE GANDER.
Quick and to the point: Believe it or not, during Tanaka’s tenure as A/Sheriff and above, many deputies were given the answers to the sergeants test. They were secretly leaked from T’s office to many deputies that were in the loop and promoted even before the testing process began. Look at Band 1 promotions and you will see who was on the band wagon and who donated.
IN THE CAR…CN,KH,RT,KM,DH
Why did the Tanaka appointed Captain at Altadena station abruptly pull the plug without explanation…hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..Getting a little hot these days as the party boat continues to slowly sink……………………………
you need to expose the use of informants and what happens to them when something goes wrong
Check out sargeant Joseph Fender
I am just so ashamed of how the department is going. I am
retired now but can not understand what has happened with our great sheriff`s department.I remember when you could
not get promoted if you had too many force packages written
up on you. I remember when we had to treat inmates with respect because it was always brought to our attention by brass, that they were pre-sentenced. We deputies had to keep our cool at all times. We were trained in verbal judo courses to learn how to remain calm. The academy was a stress and semi stress learning process to deal with inmates and citizens who had bad relation with the police. Who are these ganster deputies and where did they come from. LASD was a professional organization with professional people.I worked under Waldie and he would have had our badges with this kind of behavior in the past, and why are deputies doing gang signs and have viking tatoos are they retared or what. Get rid of them fire them. Deputies are not gansters we are goog fair and honest men and women. I am sure all retired deputies are feeling really hurt be criminals entering the sheriffs dept.and I dont blame Waldie he is just going along with the new system to retain his pension.If you are looking for men and women to correct the problem have the old retired deputies monitor and teach the new gansters working the jails and not the ACLU. The ACLU is considered a enemy to them. Let retired sheriffs under the old system monitor the jails free of charge and teach the gansters about how to be deputie sheriffs. contact a retired sheriffs organization
[…] L.A., joins Hillel Aron and Alex Schmidt to delve deep into sheriff’s department abuses (on which Matt has reported in depth), among other topics. Seriously, check out the series. Here’s the […]
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Mr.Manello1978 at 11:17 PM December 19, 2012
The Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department is and has been corrupt for years. Inmates have been beaten on a regular basis. It is like a right of passage when many of these new deputies “earn their stripes.” I have witnessed this first hand during my stays in LA County Jail. They take pride in it, and it is well known by anybody who has ever gone through that hell hole, Deputies F people up. I have seen firsthand an inmate who was handcuffed, mouth off to a deputy, who called in his buddies, who in turn beat this guy for 2 minutes or so till he was unconscious, all while they were yelling “Stop resisting!” the whole time. They were laughing after. Many of these Deputies all work out, get all tatted up, and emulate these Gangster who they supposedly despise. The ones that don’t partake in this behavior ( roughly half of them) just look the other way. This is the Good Ol’ Boys Network. You’re in the club. Youre in. You’re a regular Joe citizen or god forbid an inmate, your an outsider. Sure Deputies need to be stern and maintain order in that dump of a jail. If an inmate acts up, handle it and check him if need be. But they do it the majority of the time unprovoked. True Story. This needs to change. Check out this link on the 3000 floor gang of LA County Sheriifs that was reported on KTLA.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dsbgVKeAxA
[…] Tell us a little about yourself and what you do. I’m an American journalist based in Los Angeles whose work has a heavy focus on the issues of politics and social justice. I’ve made a career out of making life miserable for very powerful, very corrupt people—and I wouldn’t have it any other way. For some inexplicable reason, (lack of romantic success in high school perhaps) I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder. Writing and journalism allows me to channel that aggression into something positive. I suspect your readers already know this, but American government is a cesspool of dishonesty, money, and corruption on every level. So there’s plenty to write about.Who (or what) inspires you to do what you love in your own creative business?Freedom. I’m a freelancer. So the ability to set my own schedule and be as busy as I want to be could not be more ideal. As far as the actual work goes, I also have quite a bit of creative freedom. If the social justice work gets too heavy, I can take off to South America for a month and hopefully dig up some cultural or travel stories there. Basically, whatever it is I’m curious about I have the ability to explore. That is what drew me to, and keeps me in, the field of journalism. Where do you get your inspiration from when you write?From the world around me. Truth, as the say, is stranger than fiction. More interesting too. Dangerous Jail: Part 4 Internal Affair-by Matt Fleischer […]
[…] Nevertheless, in a nod to the commission’s allegations, the sheriff announced that the department had launched an internal affairs investigation into the undersheriff’s conduct. He also insisted that, from there on out, the undersheriff would mostly be the department’s CFO, applying his magic to the budget, but would no longer have any control over the jails or the patrol divisions, or over the investigative bureaus like internal affairs, which Tanaka had taken over for a period. […]
[…] Where do you get your inspiration from when you write?From the world around me. Truth, as the say, is stranger than fiction. More interesting too. Dangerous Jail: Part 4 Internal Affair-by Matt Fleischer […]
@135..just another example of suck ups moving up not real street cops. Lennox station Overrated.
Hey Paul. Back in your “Lynwood Vikings” days you sure screwed up alot and left tons of witnessses. the Feds are going to far back for your trail material. You do remember me punk? I’m sure you come across this thred or knows someone who knows you.. Mark “el shooter” muniz. L-Mob trece 1980-86-87 also took a vacation, san quintin 1989- 2007 thanks to the puppet who most recently got in trouble Armando Rea who was also running for the city of Lynwood. and a bunch of other from Cross Atantic piru, and Young Crowd. Just to name- a rew. You never thought we come out with footage and audio and pics
of you and your clowns talking shit and taking bribes from vatos from Lynwoodz Mob and Compton flats. . I recall another sorry group who weren’t Vikings and were led by deputy armando rea and his goones. Got shit on them too. Hey paul here’s one im 100% sure you remeber. The meeting between the vik’s and the kansas st gang along with florencia 13 to hit up el farrallon night club and take out Pedro portillo in return for infomation on when your narcotics team would move on us for $85000.00. I got your voice paul may be not be good quality but how scIence of forensic is will clean all that distortion ese! Hit me up paul. I got all that shit
Evey single comment here has some truth to it. Glad I stumbled on it reason I did cause of your fake putos 3000 viejas. Cannot go toe toe one on one in the cell with any of us other then the little asain gangs and paisas
My son was framed by the lynwood Vikings in 1992 for murder. He’s been in prison every since. he was arrested by lynwood Vikings member Dan Raimo for drugs one day and the following day became the suspect in a murder where detectives took two juvenile’s to the lynwood sheriff’s station’s Gang trailer and coerced them into identifying him through threats of arrest and physical harm. There’s is no other evidence against him save for the coerced and suggestive identification of the two juvenile witnesses. He really needs someone’s help. He is innocent and he’s been in prison almost 30yrs.all the while maintaining his innocence. His name is Brian McCoy.#H24263.
It’s been eight years now; when do we get to see Part 5?