Baca Plan to Use Outside Lawyers OKd

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the working outline of Sheriff Lee Baca’s unconventional proposal to hire six outside attorneys to oversee internal investigations in his department.

But a couple of new--and some said potentially troubling--changes in the plan emerged as the board agreed on the hiring guidelines and the operational outline for the new Office of Independent Review.

First, the attorneys will work on a part-time, hourly basis as independent contractors for the department, a major change from the sheriff’s original proposal that called for full-time lawyers who would be county employees under contract.

Civil rights lawyers, who were initially consulted on the plan by the sheriff, said they are seriously concerned by that change because the attorneys could be less involved in department investigations.

Full-time attorneys were one of “the most positive” features of the plan, said Erica Teasley, western regional counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “You had people in there all the time who could be vigilant about these investigations. Now there may be some things that slip through the cracks. It’s a huge concern.”

On the other hand, Teasley and others said, the attorneys should remain independent and less reliant on the department for work.

Kathay Feng, project director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California, said the issue is not one she would dismiss entirely but she said she needs assurances that the attorneys will become closely involved in all internal investigations.

Supervisors, who have approved $750,000 for the lawyers’ salaries, expressed some concerns about keeping the attorneys on a part-time basis. Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke requested a report six months after the attorneys are hired, examining the costs and hours they are working.

Civil rights lawyers praised another change in the original plan revealed Tuesday that essentially removes Baca from hiring the attorneys. Under the new plan, a selection process that includes members of the civil rights community, among others, will have a say in hiring. The supervisors, however, will have the final word on selecting the lawyers.

Undersheriff Bill Stonich, speaking for Baca, who was out of town, said the department supports the changes, adding that the concept is untried in law enforcement.

“It is a work in progress,” Stonich told the board, adding that the plan remains a blueprint that the department still is fine-tuning.

Stonich said the department wants to do whatever it can to maintain the attorneys’ independence, even if that means having the sheriff uninvolved in the hiring of the attorneys, he said.

“The sheriff views the office’s independence to be of paramount importance . . . and [he does not want] to be viewed as inserting himself in any way that would tarnish the title and the responsibility” of the office, Stonich said.

Baca’s plan places the department in unchartered territory, with civilians overseeing all levels of internal investigations into misconduct and criminal allegations against deputies. Chicago and San Francisco have some form of civilian oversight, but nothing exactly like what Baca has proposed.

By developing the plan, Baca has deflected critics who have long said law enforcement agencies cannot adequately police themselves. Baca has said he was moved to act after the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart corruption scandal was revealed.

The LAPD has faced constant calls for more civilian oversight, particularly since the Rampart crisis in which officers in an anti-gang unit were found to have shot suspects, planted evidence and perjured themselves. About 100 convictions have been overturned because of misconduct by officers associated with Rampart.

Under Baca’s plan, attorneys will work with the Office of Internal Affairs, which generally handles allegations of administrative but not necessarily criminal misconduct; and the Office of Internal Criminal Investigations, which primarily handles accusations of corruption and other criminal wrongdoing by deputies.

A chief attorney will oversee those entities and five other attorneys will serve at various levels.

Additionally, a panel of retired judges could also be convened by the supervisors to review any internal investigations.

The sheriff retains the final say on disciplinary matters.