Baca Drafts Review Proposal

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has drafted a proposal to dramatically enhance civilian oversight of his department, calling for an independent office of civil rights attorneys to review all the sheriff’s internal investigations.

Baca, who last month said he was considering the idea, held a meeting this week with 10 attorneys and others to discuss the proposal before he submits it to the Board of Supervisors, who would have to fund the new unit. Early indications are that the lawmakers will give the sheriff’s concept a sympathetic hearing.

“I wanted it to meet [the attorneys’] credibility standard,” Baca said in an interview. “I’m highly encouraged. I did not have to go through a hard sell.”

If he succeeds in securing funding for the new office of independent review, Baca will have broken completely with the traditional law enforcement view that all investigations involving allegations of police misconduct should be conducted internally.

Baca said that the Los Angeles Police Department’s ongoing Rampart corruption scandal convinced him that a new approach is required. Others close to the department said that Baca may also be feeling pressure from civil rights groups, which have recently stepped up calls for the sheriff to deal with gender discrimination and sexual and racial harassment in the department.

In fact, many of those who attended the sheriff’s meeting this week and who have been closely monitoring the Rampart crisis said they were pleased that Baca is taking a fresh and, they believe, progressive approach to the controversial issue. They also said, however, that the broad proposal raises specific questions over how the attorneys will be selected and whether their budget will be guaranteed, among other things.

Still, the group endorsed Baca’s attempts to boost the credibility of the department’s misconduct investigations.

“If you look at other police departments, change seems to come when city leaders decide it’s time for reform,” said Kenneth Miele, an attorney and chairman of the Gay and Lesbian Action Alliance. “The Sheriff’s Department clearly has decided it’s time to change.”

Under the proposal, an experienced civil rights attorney would head a staff of seven lawyers and report directly to the Board of Supervisors.

The office would have complete, unrestricted access to confidential investigations and could recommend different approaches to internal reviews and even discipline for deputies. The sheriff, however, would maintain the final say on disciplinary issues.

The attorneys would share joint responsibility with the department’s internal affairs bureau for investigations of deputies. Both units would confer regularly and the attorneys would be allowed to participate in interviews with department investigators.

The Board of Supervisors discussed Baca’s ideas in a recent closed session, but it has not yet been asked to make any decisions. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said he believes that the concept is “bold and revolutionary” but that the board needs more details before it agrees to anything.

“I think we need to flesh this out and not necessarily assume this is going to require more funding or that it’s going to be a superstructure on top of the current structure,” Yaroslavsky said. “It should replace some of the sworn people--chiefs and commanders--now in the loop.”

Yaroslavsky agreed, however, that adoption of more independent review and better handling of investigations could eventually lead to reduced county payouts in lawsuits and claims against the department.

“If it enhances the credibility [of internal investigations], I’m all for it,” said Supervisor Don Knabe, who cautioned the sheriff to watch closely how much money he seeks from the board. “It’s certainly nothing I’m opposed to or would outright reject. . . . We need to see more specifics.”

By revealing his plans initially to members of civil rights groups, Baca placed the supervisors in a somewhat tricky position: If the supervisors reject the plan, they could be seen as obstructionist. According to those who attended Baca’s meeting, the sheriff told them he would look to their organizations--the ACLU, the Japanese American Citizens League, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, among others--to help lobby county officials.

The deputies’ union, meanwhile, will probably oppose efforts to add civilians to the disciplinary process; traditionally, the union supports keeping those investigations within the department’s chain of command.

The civil rights lawyers and others familiar with Baca’s proposal said they hoped it could be used to break the code of silence they say exists within the department. The sheriff’s proposal, they said, alleviates many of their concerns about the force’s adequately policing itself.