New O.C. Sheriff Ready to Put Plans in Action

There’s a new sheriff in town, but you might not know it from talking to Michael Carona.

The incoming commander of the state’s second-largest sheriff’s department speaks less in cop talk than in the vernacular of corporate America.

To him, taxpayers are “customers,” law enforcement is a “marketplace” and the Sheriff’s Department is a bloated organization where “fat” must be trimmed. As the county’s top lawman, he’ll make his touch felt in everything from how neighborhoods are patrolled to the way inmates are housed.

Carona’s all-business approach to a job steeped in macho tradition is part of a shift in police departments across the country as a new breed of cop ascends to top jobs.

They are attempting to run their agencies more like businesses, interested just as much in crunching numbers and measuring performance as they are in catching serial killers and equipping their officers with the latest police gizmos.

“Before, you could be a good police chief if you were a good police officer . . . one of the biggest guys,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum of Washington, D.C.

“Today, not only do you have to be knowledgeable about policing, but . . . the police executive has to be someone who can deal with growth issues, politics and infrastructure matters, labor relations,” Wexler added.

“It is no different than someone in a large corporate institution.”

Carona, who takes office today after 10 years as county marshal, promises sweeping changes that are already shaking up the Sheriff’s Department and, if successful, could become innovative models for other agencies to follow.

While most police departments focus on expanding their budgets, Carona vows to slash the Sheriff’s Department’s operating cost by 5%, or $15 million, through more efficient operations.

Under his plan, the department will undergo its first comprehensive audit in 14 years, and some administrative jobs now filled by sworn officers would be taken by less expensive civilian employees.

He also has proposed a new approach to dealing with drug offenders, who make up about 20% of the county’s jail population. Building a lock-down facility designed to treat these inmates, he argues, would reduce overcrowding and keep released inmates from coming back again.

The treatment center would be the first of its kind in the state.

Carona also intends to establish the Sheriff’s Department’s first citizens’ advisory committee to gain the perspectives of minority groups. And he said he will give more discretion to commanders in deciding how to police their communities.

It’s a groundbreaking agenda that has already caught the attention of Los Angeles County’s new sheriff, Lee Baca, who said he is interested in trying some of the ideas.

Experts said these changes represent a marked shift in the Sheriff’s Department, which had been run for the last 24 years by Brad Gates, one of the most powerful political figures in county history, who has retired.

“When Gates came in as sheriff, this was John Wayne country,” said George Wright, professor and chairman of the criminal justice department in Santa Ana College.

“Carona personifies the new, maybe the future, of law enforcement administrators,” Wright added. “It will be interesting to see . . . whether other chiefs will buy into his philosophy. It is a slow, evolutionary process, but Carona will speed that up considerably in Orange County.”

Businesslike Changes Slow to Reach Police

Business values are already being brought into municipal governments across the nation, sometimes by business executives-turned- politicians such as Mayor Richard Riordan of Los Angeles.

Change has been slower in reaching police agencies, which are often considered sacred cows when it comes to budget cuts and management scrutiny. But as governments struggle to do more with fewer tax dollars, even law enforcement is being forced to look at improving efficiency and re-examining the way it does business.

Observers say Carona will face an uphill battle trying to change a department very much set in its ways. During the campaign, Gates repeatedly asked whether Carona, 43, was qualified to be sheriff, and the powerful deputies union backed his election opponent, Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters.

Still, many community leaders agree that Carona brings something fresh and innovative to the job, even if they aren’t convinced he will deliver on all his promises.

One of his most popular proposals is the establishment of a citizens’ board, which for the first time would give civilians a voice in advising the Sheriff’s Department on policies and procedures.

Such committees have popped up at some urban police departments over the last 20 years but remain a rarity.

Carona said he hopes the board will provide him with perspectives from the county’s growing Latino and Asian communities.

“It has been the perception, if not the reality, in the Latino and other minority communities that the Sheriff’s Department was not always responsive to our input,” said Alfredo Amezcua, a Santa Ana attorney and Latino community leader.

“I think Carona is opening the doors to a new era of law enforcement in Orange County that will reflect the total community.”

Daniel Do-Khanh, director of legal services for the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, said Asian American communities feel the same way. He added that his group has been lobbying police departments to set up such advisory groups. “There is a lot of miscommunication,” Do-Khanh said. “The community needs to understand the police officer and vice versa. There are a lot assumptions made about gangs; a lot of people are singled out.

“Having open lines of communication is very important. Whether you accept it or not, this is a very diverse community.”

Carona hasn’t worked out the details of the panel, and some community activists are already warning him not to expect a committee of lap dogs.

“We’re not going to be like those little monkeys: ‘See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,’ ” said Art Montes of the League of United Latin American Citizens, which supported Carona in the election.

Commanders Would Get More Authority

Another way Carona hopes to improve the department’s ties with the community is to vest more power with commanders in the stations because they are familiar with the areas they police.

“I think in the past there has been a fear to make decisions” at the local level, he said. “We must make sure the customers are happy, and the customers are the citizens of Orange County.”

Indeed, Carona said he sees strengthening bonds with the public as one of his most important challenges.

“We used to have a very simple view of what cops do,” said Yale Kamisar, a criminal justice administration expert at the University of Michigan.

“Police work today involves much more dealing with a community than shooting a pistol and catching bank robbers.”

Police work also involves heavy doses of number-crunching and belt-tightening, at least according to Carona.

He plans to meet his goal of a 5% cut in expenses through more aggressive use of civilian employees in a variety of front-line jobs.

Most departments fill administrative jobs with senior police officers who have worked their way through the ranks. But Carona argues that it makes more sense to hire outside professionals with expertise in areas such as finance, budgeting, public relations and policy analysis.

“I don’t need to teach a cop to do those things,” he said.

Lieutenants who currently handle many administrative responsibilities make about $80,000 a year, Carona said. But the department is required to pay 35% into their safety retirement plan, as opposed to 6% into a similar plan for civilians.

“So it is 29 cents of every dollar that I pay that are simply going to retirement benefits,” he said. “So the question you have to ask yourself is, ‘Do I have to have a sworn person doing this job?’ ”

Carona--who holds master’s degrees in management from the University of Redlands and Cal Poly Pomona--said he also will look for ways to “civilianize” other parts of the department.

He has, however, vowed not to use nonsworn personnel as field deputies or as jail guards. As marshal, he did convert some sworn deputy marshal jobs to civilian court security guard positions. The move saved money but raised the ire of the deputy marshals union. So far, the deputy sheriffs union has been supportive of his proposed changes.

Drug Lockup Would Be Built Privately

The most novel and controversial item on Carona’s agenda involves the drug-treatment lockup, which would serve the thousands of inmates with substance-abuse problems who are jailed each year.

It would be built with money from private investors and leased by the county. The Sheriff’s Department would run it in partnership with either the county or a contractor handling counseling services.

The concept was a centerpiece of Carona’s election campaign and represents a new approach in the way police agencies house and attempt to rehabilitate inmates.

But not everybody is convinced the plan is feasible--or even something the Sheriff’s Department should be doing.

“When you talk about a major rehabilitation program, I don’t know if the sheriff is in a position to do it,” said San Diego Assistant Sheriff James Marmack, who is in charge of detention for his department.

Marmack noted that the role of county jails is to hold criminal defendants awaiting trial and those serving sentences of up to a year.

“Traditionally, jails are just holding facilities; we don’t keep them that long,” he added. “It is a lot easier said than done.”

Carona, however, is undaunted.

“The plan is not designed to save the entire world but is an opportunity for hard-core drug addicts, repeat offenders, to go through the facility and get them off drugs,” he said. “It is cost efficient, and it does free up beds in the jails. It is no worse that recycling them through the current jail system.”

Carona has found a powerful ally in Baca, the new Los Angeles County sheriff, who said he is intrigued by the idea.

“I have a desire to do the very same thing,” Baca said. “People who are alcohol- or drug-addicted are people who have medical problems as much as anything else. And they should be treated in a different environment.”

With his ambitious agenda, Carona faces high expectations both outside and inside the Sheriff’s Department.

Even Walters, his election opponent, believes Carona is on the right track, but he says the new sheriff faces an uphill struggle.

“Sheriff’s departments, in general, seem to be the slowest to pick up on the changes,” Walters said. “The key will be who [Carona] surrounds himself with. . . .

“The employees can do what they have to do or a whole lot more, and that depends on whether they are willing to follow the leader.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Changes to Come

Sheriff Michael Carona, who takes office today, vows sweeping changes in the way the department operates. Here are some of his proposals:

* Form a citizens’ advisory board to report directly to the sheriff about issues concerning various county communities, including minorities. It would be the first such panel in the department’s history.

* Hire more civilians to fill positions traditionally held by sworn officers, including some top management jobs. The move would help the department save money, Carona says. He promises to slash operational costs by 5%, or $15 million.

* Build a separate lock-down facility for drug and alcohol offenders and offer them treatment. Those steps would move out about 20% of the jail population and ease overcrowding--a problem he pledges to solve in his first term.

* Hold monthly news conferences to tell the public about what’s going on in the department.

* Make periodic, more frequent audits. Carona has requested the first major overall audit of the department in 14 years, to take place soon after his inauguration.

Source: Michael Carona

Los Angeles Times

Sheriff’s Department at a Glance

Annual Budget

* 1997-98: $214,621,250

* 1998-99: $240,433,805 (projected)

Personnel

* 2,475 positions including 1,415 sworn officers

Jails/average daily inmate populations

* Theo Lacy facility: 1,684 minimum and maximum security

* James Musick facility: 1,256 minimum security inmates

* Central Jail: 1,709 maximum security inmates

Jurisdiction

* All unincorporated areas (250 square miles) and cities of Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Stanton and Villa Park

Population served

* 520,000

Sources: Orange County Office of Finance, Orange County Sheriff’s Department

LAUNCH POINT 2000

More information on today’s topic can be found on several Web sites.

Sheriff Magazine: This online publication from the National Sheriffs’ Association has several articles discussing the future of sheriff’s departments, including how a total organizational leadership model can be implemented in law enforcement organizations.

https://www.sheriffs.org/july-aug98sheriff.html

*

KFWB Webservice Police Links: Get acquainted with Southern California sheriff and police departments as well as access a searchable library of California law statutes.

https://www.kfwb.com/police.html

*

Celebrating 1,000 Years of the Office of the Sheriff: Discover the interesting history of sheriffs through this account detailing their involvement with the Magna Carta as well as the duties they perform today.

https://www.ccspd.org/nsa.html