County Jail Assigned New Commander
Newly promoted Sheriff’s Capt. John E. Vander Horck of Santa Clarita has been assigned command of the L.A. Sheriff’s Department North County Correctional Facility.
This will be Vander Horck’s third assignment to the Pitchess Detention Center, formerly called the Wayside Honor Rancho, whose three compounds include the North County facility. The maximum security complex has experienced considerable racial friction between its African American and Latino populations in recent years.
A native of Fargo, N.D., and a graduate of Pierce College in Woodland Hills, Vander Horck joined the Sheriff’s Department in 1971. He has served in a variety of positions within the department, including working as a deputy at Pitchess, and later as a lieutenant at North County, which has a current inmate population of 3,000.
Vander Horck’s predecessor at North County, Capt. David Betkey, was promoted by Sheriff Lee Baca to a position as one of the department’s night tactical commanders.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
