Lee Baca’s elite running days shed light on the former sheriff’s conduct

To the editor: I interviewed then-L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca in 2007 for an article published in a national running magazine. We had met a few weeks earlier at a 5-kilometer run in Playa del Rey, where he won the race in his age category. (“Six months in prison is better than nothing for former L.A. Sheriff Lee Baca,” editorial, July 18)

Baca, an elite runner going back to his high school days in East Los Angeles, trained intensively and daily, rain or shine. His drive to improve his racing times was a personal obsession he viewed as relevant to his success as sheriff. “Running is a method of keeping your body in a state of preparedness,” he said. “You have to put on a suit of armor, and fitness is that suit of armor.”

Baca’s ideals were reflected in his department’s core values, which he authored: “respect for the dignity of all people, and the courage to stand against racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, and bigotry.”

I have no doubt that Baca’s ideals were genuine. But his self-absorption made him ill-suited to the job. Perhaps his “suit of armor” insulated him from the ugliness in his department. Baca deserves leniency. His crime was eccentricity.

William Goldman, Palos Verdes Estates

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