Sheriff’s Insider Makes Another Run for LAPD’s Top Job

There are stacks of reports--many of them neatly organized in thick, white binders--on virtually every table and bookcase in Lee Baca’s office.

It is a method of record keeping that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department chief calls “drilling down,” his fanatically meticulous way of researching the wide-ranging issues facing his large division, which stretches from West Hollywood to the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

These days the longtime lawman has started a new pile--on the Los Angeles Police Department, a subject Baca hopes to soon know from the inside as the department’s top gun. A 32-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, Baca is one of six semifinalists due to be interviewed by the Police Commission for the LAPD chief’s position--a job he was also considered for in 1992.

The commission will forward three names to the mayor, who will select one for City Council approval. Baca is one of only two non-LAPD supervisors vying for the chief’s post.

Sheriff’s Department insiders say that Baca’s latest quest for the LAPD slot is simply a way of gaining name recognition to position himself to run against Sheriff Sherman Block in 1998; Baca has denied it. And with his erudite approach, he has plunged into the quest for chief, seeking to portray himself as a man with deft knowledge of what it takes to run a law enforcement agency in Los Angeles County.

“I don’t just operate at the top level,” said Baca, 55. “I drill down to the management and supervision and I ask the tough questions and get the answers.”

Nevertheless, some Sheriff’s Department critics say Baca sometimes becomes so preoccupied with the details that he loses sight of the bigger picture. “He talks the talk, but doesn’t walk the walk,” said one insider, who asked to remain unidentified.

His supporters, however, describe him as an affable--if not downright beguiling--leader with an uncanny ability to get along with the rank and file.

“He is much more of the hands-on guy with respect to deputies themselves,” said another insider. “It’s an important part of his management style. He believes in direct communication and understanding.”

Whether Baca has the clout this time to become the Los Angeles police chief is another matter.

Five years ago, Baca--who is one of the state’s highest-ranking Latinos in law enforcement--received the third-highest score in written and oral tests for replacing then-Chief Daryl F. Gates, ranking behind Chief Willie L. Williams and Deputy Chief Bernard Parks. He was bumped from the list of contenders, however, by rules stating that outside candidates must score higher than all LAPD contenders to become finalists. Although those rules no longer exist, sources have said that Mayor Richard Riordan prefers someone from the LAPD for the job and is leaning toward Parks.

Baca, however, remains undeterred. He says, quite simply, that he considers himself an insider.

“I grew up in Los Angeles,” Baca said. “I went to Franklin High School [in Highland Park]. There isn’t a part of this city I’m not familiar with.”

He added: “I see this as a chance for a great partnership between the Sheriff’s Department and the LAPD.”

Baca joined the Sheriff’s Department in 1965, after serving as a reserve in the Marine Corps. Starting as a jailer at Wayside, he quickly moved up through the department ranks. In 1994, he was named chief of field operations in Region II, which includes West Hollywood, Lawndale, Lynwood, Carson, Lomita, Rolling Hills Estates, Rollings Hills, Rancho Palos Verdes and 13 unincorporated communities.

The resume he turned in to the Police Commission is about an inch thick, packed with details.

In it, he touts the following accomplishments:

* Helping implement the sheriff’s community-based policing program, in which deputies go door to door asking citizens what they think needs to be done to make their communities safer.

* Implementing a quality service plan at each of his stations to track uses of force, risk management efforts and community-based policing programs.

* Developing the department’s “wellness program,” which monitors deputies stress levels and health.

In 1994, Baca received accolades from special counsel Merrick Bobb, who was appointed by the county Board of Supervisors to examine problems in the Sheriff’s Department, for his efforts in tracking quality issues at his various stations.

But this past April, Baca came under criticism after Bobb cited in his report that two stations under Baca’s command had accounted for a disproportionate share of incidents in which deputies were accused of using excessive force. Bobb also found that the Lennox and Century stations accounted for 60%--about $500,000--of the sheriff’s bill for all excessive force legal settlements during the last six months of 1996.

“The buck stops with the chiefs commanding Region II over the years and the captains in charge of Lennox and Century,” Bobb wrote. “We recommend that they be held strictly to account.”

Baca said he takes issues with some of Bobb’s findings, saying the special counsel relied on faulty data when compiling his report. However, Baca agreed that the command staff should be held accountable.

“The report was insightful and valuable and we are acting on those concerns,” Baca said. “We are not ignoring them. We want to just get the numbers straightened out for both of us.”

When asked if he plans on running for sheriff next year, Baca declined comment. However, he also made it clear that he would have mixed emotions about leaving the Sheriff’s Department--an organization to which he has dedicated three decades of his life--if he were to beat the odds and be named police chief of Los Angeles.

“You don’t leave 32 years in one organization and go over to another and say you are going to be happier,” he said. But he added: “I’m a police zealot. I’m someone who loves police work and loves the people who do it. My love for the LAPD cop on the street is no less than my love for the deputy on the street.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Candidate Profile: Lee Baca

Age: 55

Residence: Pasadena

Education: Bachelor of Science, Cal State L.A.; master’s and doctorate in public administration, USC. (Graduate GPA, 4.0)

Career highlights: Joined the Sheriff’s Department in 1965 and quickly rose through the ranks; currently supervises the department’s Field Operations Region II, which stretches from West Hollywood to the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Interests: Running, chess, reading, and teaching public administration and leadership classes.

Family: Divorced, two children.

Quote: “I’m a police zealot. I’m someone who loves police work and loves the people who do it.”

Q&A;

Define community policing. What would you do to implement it?

“Community-based policing, in its simplest definition, is creating a partnership with idividuals in a given community. The Sheriff’s Department has a very extensive program. It is unique because deputies go door to door asking residents their opinion on the Sheriff’s Department and on their personal safety.”

*

How would you guage police productivity? What role do arrests play in that area?

“I would gauge police productivity relative to how effectively the street cops are performing their duties. Arrests are very important part of what a policeman has to do. However, preventing juveniles and adults from committing crimes is just as important.”

*

What would you hope to accomplish in the first year of your administration? What key reforms still need to be made?

“There are about four things that need to be accomplished in the first year. The first requires creating an execuetive council that would include a mix of elected officials and Police Department members. The authority would meet once a week to review and analyze plans and procedures. . .The second thing, the department needs a new communication system, whereby the public can access the department for non-emergency reasons. . .Third, we need to institutionalize community-based policing. . . Fourth, we need to extablish an extensive accountability system that allows supervisors to identify risk management issues, including reports of excessive force.”

*

How would you deal with racism, sexism and discrimination within the department?

“The first thing I would do is implement a code of conduct that would have a mission statement and a core of values for the department.”

*

How would you hold captains, lieutenents and sergeants accountable for police effectiveness?

“In the Sheriff’s Department, we redesigned the performance evaluation to become more specific in evaluating such areas as personal relations, deputy-involved shootings, discourtesy and excessive force. . .You have to have an evaluation system in place for all levels.”