Now Plug the Holes, Sheriff

Now that Kevin Jerome Pullum is back in the Twin Towers jail, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca can concentrate on fixing a system that let a third-striker, facing life in state prison, walk away.

Pullum escaped July 6, using a fake employee ID with a photo of the actor Eddie Murphy taken from an ad for the movie “Dr. Dolittle 2,” an amusing ruse because the two men do not look alike.

Did he have inside help? The rules require inmates who appear in court, as he did on that day, to shed their street clothes and put on jail-issued jumpsuits before they return to Twin Towers. How did he keep those clothes on under that jumpsuit, evade a mandatory strip search and stroll out the employee exit?

Why wasn’t the sheriff alerted immediately when Pullum couldn’t be found at Twin Towers? Deputies lamely explained that just because an inmate is missing doesn’t mean he has escaped. That explanation fails to comfort us. The delay in notifying Baca, other law enforcement authorities and the public allowed Pullum to enjoy a romantic, undisturbed weekend with his girlfriend.

Although deputies eventually staked out 44 of his friends and family members, Pullum eluded capture for more than two weeks. Four Los Angeles Police Department officers nabbed him Sunday on skid row, thanks to good police work. The sheriff will no doubt now keep better track of Pullum, who faces new charges stemming from the escape in addition to sentencing on his earlier conviction for attempted murder.

Twin Towers houses nearly 20,000 people who have been arrested, are awaiting court appearances or are on their way to state prison. Despite the occasional escape, many can’t get out even after a court has ordered their release. More than 2,000 were wrongly detained between 1997 and last year, costing taxpayers nearly $2 million in judgments and settlements.

“We are not as simple or as stupid as we might appear,” Sheriff Baca said last week. When it comes to keeping track of inmates, he’s got some persuading to do.