Sheriff Baca Out in Front

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors took a big step this week toward strong and independent civilian review of the Sheriff’s Department. The move stood in sharp contrast with the Los Angeles Police Department corruption scandal, in which the city might accept increased oversight only if forced to by the federal government.

Sheriff Lee Baca proposed and the supervisors approved a new office of independent review that will make the Sheriff’s Department the largest law enforcement agency in the country with civilians actively involved at all levels of internal officer investigations.

Police Chief Bernard C. Parks and other city officials point to the LAPD’s five-member civilian Police Commission and its inspector general as an appropriate way for civilians to oversee police officers. However, Parks has repeatedly objected to strengthening the inspector general.

As planned, the sheriff’s review office will include six civilian attorneys and a panel of retired judges. Baca said the attorneys will have access to more information than the LAPD inspector general. The group will oversee the Sheriff’s Department office of internal affairs, which generally handles allegations of administrative misconduct, and the office of internal criminal investigations, which primarily handles accusations of corruption and other potential criminal wrongdoing by deputies. Baca will retain ultimate authority over matters of discipline.

As Chief Parks and Mayor Richard Riordan try to fend off a federal consent decree stemming from the worst police corruption scandal in Los Angeles history, Baca’s actions stand in notable contrast. He has negotiated details with prominent legal and civil rights groups and sought to avoid the type of embarrassment that has dogged the LAPD, whose officers are accused of improper shootings and beatings, perjury and falsifying evidence. If nothing more, Baca has preemptively put in motion an oversight system that could shield his department from criticism of insularity.

The supervisors Wednesday approved about $1 million for the office of independent review. The next big step will be deciding a selection process for the retired judges and six civilian attorneys who will make up the board. Good choices there will go far toward creating an effective body that engenders the trust of the public as well as sheriff’s deputies.