Deputies give Baca low marks in survey

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who was widely criticized for attempting to release hotel heiress Paris Hilton early from jail, received more bad news Tuesday: His deputies don’t think he’s doing a very good job.

In a telephone survey paid for by the deputies’ union, 69% of the 601 deputies who responded said they disapproved of Baca’s overall performance, and three-quarters said the 20,000-inmate jail system was poorly managed.

The poll, conducted by Washington, D.C.-based KRC Research, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points. The questioning took place before Baca ordered Hilton released earlier this month because of unspecified medical concerns, only to have a judge intervene and send her back to jail.

Deputies believe the department spends money unwisely and that Baca “has a tendency to lean toward the side of the inmates,” said Steve Remige, president of the Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs.

“Our concern is for the safety of the citizens of Los Angeles County,” Remige said. “Our membership feels the sheriff is not doing the type of job he should be doing for the citizens.”

Remige said the union plans to invite Baca to address its concerns. The decision to release Hilton early brought accusations of favoritism and spurred an effort to recall Baca from office. Although it’s common for Los Angeles County Jail inmates to be released early because of overcrowding, it is highly unusual for an inmate to be released for medical reasons, Remige said.

Baca, who is attending a conference on security in Turkey, could not be reached for comment. A spokesman said the department had been unable to obtain a copy of the survey and would not respond to the figures.

“The union has paid for a survey that its leadership apparently refuses to share with the very department leadership it criticizes,” said sheriff’s spokesman Steve Whitmore.

The sheriff has defended his intervention in the Hilton case, saying that she would have been released early in any event because of overcrowding and that her medical condition was potentially life-threatening and could have been better treated at home.

This is not the first time the union has confronted Baca publicly. It endorsed Baca’s election opponents in 2002 and 2006. The sheriff won both elections handily. The day after Hilton’s release, Remige appeared on national TV to question the short-lived decision to free her.

“The people of Los Angeles County that elect him, they need to understand that the deputies who work for him don’t have confidence in the sheriff to effectively manage the world’s largest sheriff’s department,” Remige said.

stuart.pfeifer@latimes.com