Block Can’t Ignore Rising Evidence of Fiscal Excess : Now a state audit points to need for Sheriff’s Dept. reform

When state Auditor Kurt Sjoberg says that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department can save $44 million annually, it’s time to listen, learn and take action. In terms of fiscal expertise, Sjoberg carries considerable weight. Now his timely independent study adds to a recent Times series that pointed out numerous examples of questionable spending by the sheriff.

Over time, Sjoberg and his staff have performed welcome service by investigating the Orange County bankruptcy and identifying financial problems of other local governments. His analyses have also uncovered financial irregularities or sloppiness in the state lottery, Department of Motor Vehicles and Education Department.

Now he has given L.A. County taxpayers a closer look at a potential nightmare: the bloated budget of Sheriff Sherman Block’s department and a poorly run jail system. What is one to conclude about a system that purposefully releases tens of thousands of county inmates early because of overcrowding while a state-of-the-art jail remains vacant and closed?

What can one say about a system that has freed dozens of prisoners by mistake (including three suspected murderers), even as it wasted untold amounts of money by detaining other prisoners too long, 500 of them since 1995?

Sjoberg’s estimated $44-million annual savings would come in part from hiring more civilians for clerical and administrative duties, putting more inmates to work and shutting down a jail bakery operated by inmates. Many jail systems around the state have employed more civilians without any loss of security. In L.A. there probably would be far fewer riots for deputies to respond to at facilities like the Peter Pitchess jail if the more violent prisoners were moved to lockups designed for them, such as the vacant Twin Towers downtown.

Meanwhile, an anticipated county audit, supported by outside help, figures to reveal even more Sheriff’s Department’s flab by looking into the competitive bidding process, food operations, computers and more.

Sjoberg, in a Times interview, spoke of a “cavalier” attitude about his audit among sheriff’s officials. That’s not surprising, but it’s also the sort of thing that can no longer be tolerated.