Undersheriff Takes Aim at Challenges

There has been no shortage of challenges recently at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

In the last two years, deep budget cuts have pared its ranks by 1,200, deputies have been working without a contract and the department has come under scrutiny after the slayings of five inmates in county jails in six months.

Then the half-cent sales tax initiative that Sheriff Lee Baca deemed crucial to the future of department operations fell just short of the two-thirds majority it needed to pass in the Nov. 2 election.

These are just some of the challenges that await Larry Waldie, who last week was installed by Baca as second in command of the nation’s largest sheriff’s department, with 8,200-sworn personnel, a dominion that includes the nation’s largest local jail system.

As undersheriff, Waldie’s job is to navigate the course set by the sheriff, who is part police executive and, as an elected county official, part politician.

Recently, after Baca became intrigued by an assessment center for youth offenders in Dade County, Fla., he assigned Waldie the task of determining what it would take to create such a program in L.A. County.

“It’s my job to find out what they are doing, and whether it is in the realm of possibility for what we are doing,” Waldie said.

Besides running the department when Baca is out of town, Waldie must direct oversight of units dealing with leadership, training and discipline, and work with county lawyers in lawsuits against the department.

Whereas his predecessor, William T. Stonich, was known as a behind-the-scenes consensus builder, Waldie says his style is very much hands-on and upfront.

“I’m called a walk-around manager because I don’t like to be at my desk,” Waldie said.

A 38-year Sheriff’s Department veteran, Waldie wanted to teach before deciding on a career in law enforcement. After moving up through the ranks, he joined the department’s command staff in 1988.

Baca said he chose Waldie for his loyalty and breadth of professional experience, including stints running the county jails’ inmate reception center, serving as captain of the Walnut-San Dimas Station and rebuilding the narcotics bureau after a scandal involving deputies who were skimming drug money.

“He’s not afraid to jump in and do the right thing and be unpopular in doing the right thing,” Baca said.

A key goal, Waldie said, is upholding the professionalism and ethical standards of the Sheriff’s Department.

“Over the history of law enforcement, all the laws that people say tie our hands, that constrain us where we can’t do our job -- every one of those were the direct result of abuses by law enforcement officers,” Waldie said. “But I think it’s made us better policemen.”

Although part of the effort includes effective oversight, Waldie said there are limits to the role played by outside watchdog groups such as the Office of Independent Review. The office was conceived by Baca to pinpoint problems and prevent any Rampart-style scandal, which roiled the Los Angeles Police Department, at the sheriff’s agency. “Their job is to analyze and make recommendations, not mete out punishment,” Waldie said.

And although he respects the work of attorney Michael Gennaco and his colleagues, he said many of the reforms they suggest have been addressed internally by the time their reports are made public.

Waldie faces challenges that may require finesse.

Although homicides were down 3% and serious crimes fell 1% through October in the department’s jurisdiction, Waldie expressed concern about ongoing gang violence.

Also, he said the department is not keeping up in the areas of promotions and pay, hurting recruitment and morale. The lack of movement has caused deputies to stay in the same jobs longer. Even Waldie’s son, who works in the custody division, has asked his father when he can move on to patrol.

And with the failure of Measure A last month, the department continues to try to do more with less by getting creative.

It is working to incorporate a version of the LAPD’s Compstat computerized crime tracking system to better focus resources, Waldie said.

And it continues to develop an extensive gang database in which police agencies across the county can share intelligence.

Waldie said he has heard criticism of Baca’s policy of releasing misdemeanor inmates after they serve 10% of their sentences. Lack of funding is cited as the reason.

He also cited the budget for a lack of jail staffing that he said may have contributed to the deaths of the five inmates, including a Wilmington man allegedly killed by an inmate he had testified against.

In August, however, Gennaco issued a report on the slayings citing such lapses as a failure to discipline, monitor, properly classify and, ultimately, protect inmates.