FOUR HOPE TO UNSEAT SHERIFF\ STAFFING, EARLY JAIL RELEASE ARE KEY CAMPAIGN ISSUES.Byline: TROY ANDERSON Staff Writer For years, Sheriff Lee Baca Leroy David Baca (b. May 27 1942, East Los Angeles, California) is the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California. After graduating from Benjamin Franklin High School (Los Angeles) in 1960, Baca worked his way through East Los Angeles College before starting with the L.A. had a statue of a Buddhist warrior in his office, a gift from someone who thought the symbol of strength and peace reflected the sheriff's character. But the statue now rests in the undersheriff's office. ``The undersheriff Un´der`sher`iff n. 1. A sheriff's deputy. liked it, and I have a tendency when people like what I have, I give it to them,'' said Baca, who faces four challengers in his June 6 bid for a third term. More recently, Baca videotaped a birthday message for Church of Scientology Church of Scientology: see Scientology, Church of. founder L. Ron Hubbard Noun 1. L. Ron Hubbard - a United States writer of science fiction and founder of Scientology (1911-1986) Hubbard and wrote a letter in support of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility outside Leona Valley with ties to the church. ``A law enforcement agency Noun 1. law enforcement agency - an agency responsible for insuring obedience to the laws FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation - a federal law enforcement agency that is the principal investigative arm of the Department of Justice that does not have strong relationships with the religious community is basically exempting one of the great tools of public safety, and I just think public safety needs all the help it can get,'' Baca said Friday, his 64th birthday. ``Without the religious community, our crime would be doubled or tripled.'' Political experts expect Baca to win re-election, largely because he has reached out to diverse ethnic and religious groups throughout the nation's biggest county who admire his offbeat off·beat n. Music An unaccented beat in a measure. adj. Slang Not conforming to an ordinary type or pattern; unconventional: offbeat humor. approach to law enforcement. He's also got a $1 million campaign war chest -- more than twice as much as his four challengers combined. ``It's tough to unseat an incumbent, but when you have challengers with little resources, it's an enormous task,'' said political consultant Rich Lichtenstein. During his two terms in office, the sheriff has sought to change the reputation of a department with a racist and sexist past and open it up to public scrutiny with the creation of the Office of Independent Review, which oversees internal investigations. Baca, who holds a doctorate in public administration from the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission , is especially proud of creating the LASD LASD Los Angeles Sheriff's Department LASD Leechburg Area School District (Pennsylvania) LASD Liquid Applied Sound Deadener (sprayed coating on frame of cars to absorb sound and vibration) University to help his employees obtain higher degrees; spearheading efforts to build a new crime lab set to open in January at California State University, Los Angeles California State University, Los Angeles (also known as Cal State L.A., CSULA, or "'CSLA"') is a public university, part of the California State University system. ; and the upcoming opening of a sheriff's station in Palmdale. He also touts the creation of programs to rehabilitate substance abusers, spousal batterers and the mentally ill throughout the county. But Baca, who earns $249,603 a year, has faced accusations that he's mismanaged his department's $2 billion-a-year budget and allowed violence and racial tensions to fester fester /fes·ter/ (fes´ter) to suppurate superficially. fes·ter v. 1. To ulcerate. 2. To form pus; putrefy. n. An ulcer. in the jails, which exploded in rioting earlier this year. His opponents, including three members of his own department, say Baca made critical errors in suspending deputy hiring and closing jails a few years ago. The department is hundreds of deputies below its authorized strength, and Baca has granted early releases to more than 150,000 inmates, including thousands who committed violent crimes shortly after leaving jail. Challenger Paul L. Jernigan Jr., a sheriff's sergeant, said he's seen an increase in recent years in ``frequent fliers,'' repeat offenders who cycle in and out of the jails. ``I find I'm handling the arrest of someone for the same crime I handled with them six months ago,'' said Jernigan, an 18-year veteran. ``When I question them, they said, `I only did 10 days in jail. I steal cars for a living and by the time you caught me again, I had stolen 30 to 40 cars, getting $200 to $400 a pop. It's easy money.' ``It sends a message to criminals that crime does pay.'' If elected, retired sheriff's Capt. Ken Masse said he intends to go through the entire budget and eliminate waste and unnecessary programs, freeing up funds to hire more deputies and fix the jails. ``I know from years of experience that there is a lot of waste,'' said Masse, who was endorsed by the Association of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Deputy Sheriffs. He said the most important thing the department needs to do is restore its staffing levels. ``In the last four years, more than 400 deputies have left the department to go to other agencies,'' Masse said. ``The morale in the department is the lowest I've personally ever seen it in my 35 years.'' Opponents also criticize Baca for his plans to have inmates build a pond for employees at the North Facility at Pitchess Detention Center A detention center or a detention centre is any location used for detention. Specifically, it can mean:
``When our people see him intent on building a meditation pond and building trails to walk on instead of trying to repair our infrastructure problems and not providing the resources and tools we need, they say our priorities are all wrong,'' said Capt. Ray Leyva, a 25-year department veteran who oversees the North Facility and is vying for the sheriff's job. If elected, Leyva said, he won't seek a quarter-cent sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. increase or a bond measure to raise money for law enforcement. Baca said those measures are still in the planning stages. ``We have the money in our budget to get refocused on making infrastructure changes without going to the people for another tax increase, or up to a $750 million bond measure,'' Leyva said. The only outsider running for sheriff is Glendale Police Department Lt. Don Meredith Joseph Don "Dandy Don" Meredith (born April 10, 1938 in Mount Vernon, Texas) is a retired American football quarterback in the NFL who played for the Dallas Cowboys, a former football commentator, and entertainer. , who said he would focus on recruiting military veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. ``In the city where I work, we have recruited a number of prominent and decorated veterans,'' said Meredith, who has been a police officer for 34 years. ``You can create an environment that is attractive to officers from throughout the country who would want to transfer here.'' Baca said his challengers aren't qualified for the job and noted that a recent pay raise and an aggressive recruitment campaign have reduced deputy vacancies from 1,100 to 700 now. He expects that number to fall to 400 by the end of the year. Baca said he's already added 2,000 beds to the jail system and expects to add 1,000 more by the year's end. ``We're rebuilding the entire jail system in the county so that we're making more efficient use of our jail space,'' Baca said. ``We also have a current plan in place that allows us to enhance our unincorporated patrol staffing.'' If re-elected, Baca said, he intends to continue to embrace all the cultures in the county. And as the official who would coordinate the response to any terrorist attack, Baca has made a special effort to reach out to the Muslim-American community. ``Our strong premise in Los Angeles is that Muslim-Americans are the most capable of turning the tide against terrorism,'' Baca said. ``And we have a very vibrant leadership of Muslim-Americans in Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, who are totally opposed to terrorism, and this is a very important social development that helps not only protect the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , but Southern California.'' troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com (213) 974-8985 SHERIFF'S RACE LEROY BACA Occupation: Los Angeles County Sheriff Residence: San Marino San Marino, city, United States San Marino (săn mərē`nō), residential city (1990 pop. 12,959), Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1913. Of interest is the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Age: 64 Funds raised: $1 million Party: Republican Web site: www.lasd.org PAUL L. JERNIGAN JR. Occupation: Sheriff's Department sergeant Residence: Long Beach Funds raised: $9,600 Party: Republican Web site: www.jerniganforsheriff.com RAY LEYVA Occupation: Sheriff's Department captain Residence: Chatsworth Age: 52 Funds raised: $100,000 Party: Democrat Web site: www.rayleyvaforsheriff.com KEN MASSE Occupation: Retired Sheriff's Department captain Residence: West Covina West Covina, city (1990 pop. 96,086), Los Angeles co., S Calif., in the San Gabriel valley; settled 1905, inc. 1923. Before World War II, West Covina was a small rural community where walnuts, wheat, and livestock were raised. Age: 57 Funds raised: $215,000 Party: Unaffiliated Web site: www.kenmasse.com DON MEREDITH Occupation: Glendale Police Department lieutenant; professor of police science at Mount San Antonio Mount San Antonio, better known to most in Los Angeles as Old Baldy or Mount Baldy, is the highest peak in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California, USA and the highest point in Los Angeles County. Mount San Antonio has two summits. College Residence: San Dimas Funds raised: $60,000 Party: Republican Web site: www.meredithforsheriff.com CAPTION(S): box Box: SHERIFF'S RACE (see text) |
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