Sheriff to Review Other Agencies for Cost-Cutting

Spurred by a rash of criticism over so-called “gold-plated” spending habits, Los Angeles sheriff’s officials said Tuesday that they will travel around the state to review how other law enforcement agencies save money by using more civilian employees.

“We certainly have had an open mind about this, but want to proceed very carefully,” Undersheriff Jerry Harper told the county Board of Supervisors at its weekly meeting. “I think we do have to study it very carefully.”

Last week, state auditor Kurt Sjoberg questioned some Sheriff’s Department spending practices in a lengthy report, saying the agency could save $44 million a year by using more civilians in jobs now held by sworn deputies and other cost-cutting measures, such as closing an inmate-run bakery.

Sjoberg also questioned what he said was a “cavalier” attitude by some sheriff’s officials toward such reform proposals, which he said saved considerable taxpayer money in other counties that have replaced higher-paid deputies in desk jobs and some jail positions with civilian employees. The audit called some of the sheriff’s expenses “gold plated” during a time of budget crisis for the county.

Harper’s response came as the supervisors discussed how to respond to concerns about the Sheriff’s Department’s spending practices that were raised in stories in The Times series this month.

The stories detailed questionable spending habits by sheriff’s officials--coupled with a near total lack of oversight by the supervisors--that potentially places millions of taxpayer dollars at risk every year.

Block called for the audit of his department, saying an independent review will prove that his department is well run. On Tuesday, the supervisors approved spending as much as $150,000 to conduct such an audit and have it finished by June.

The planned audit, said Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen, will be done by county auditors who will look at fiscal, procurement and operations issues raised by The Times. Also, to ensure political independence, fiscal experts from the private sector will review the sheriff’s management and organizational structure.

The board also approved motions by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky to include issues raised by the state audit in the county review and by Supervisor Mike Antonovich to review the potential for contracting out to the private sector the medical services at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility when it is opened.

Yaroslavsky, who has been a critic of spending by the sheriff, said the audit should usher in an era of greater oversight over not only the Sheriff’s Department but all county departments. “The fact is, this should have been done long before there was a newspaper article,” he said.

“There should be no sacred cows when it comes to this sort of thing,” Yaroslavsky said. “This [audit] will help him better manage his department, it will help us better manage our financial resources, limited as they are. And, above all, I think this sets a precedent, and I hope it’s an urgent precedent for this county and this board to take its oversight responsibility [over the sheriff and other departments] . . . extremely seriously.”

Yaroslavsky noted that Tuesday’s action marks a shift in attitude by the board, which just five months ago had refused his proposal that the sheriff and other departments divide their budgets into separate sections to allow greater scrutiny.

The results, the supervisor said, hold the promise of a greater presence in the community by the Sheriff’s Department. “Any savings that could be found in such an audit could be used to put more patrol officers in the street, for one thing,” Yaroslavsky said.