Reorganizing Staff at Jails Recommended

Sheriff Lee Baca, who wants a sales tax increase to raise money for law enforcement, could save more than $18 million a year by using more civilians and fewer deputies at jails, the Los Angeles County Grand Jury says.

Hiring more civilian workers, who each cost an average of about $60,000 a year compared to deputies, who cost about $100,000, would permit Baca to reopen jails and reduce the number of inmates released early because of overcrowding, the grand jury says in its 2003-04 annual report, released earlier this week.

The report says the shift would also free more deputies for law enforcement positions in which their skills and training could be put to better use.

The grand jury recommends that civilians replace half of jail staffers by 2008-09, for an eventual annual savings estimated at $18 million. However, under the present contract with the deputies union, sworn peace officers must make up 65% of jail staffers.

Currently, about 80% of jail staffers are deputies.

Baca was out of town Friday, but spokesman Steve Whitmore said the sheriff was always looking for ways to cut costs in the county’s jail system.

“But at the same time, because of the high number of violent offenders, he believes the jails require a large police presence,” Whitmore said.

“He isn’t looking at any particular staffing” ratio, the spokesman said. “What he wants is to make sure there are adequate numbers of sworn personnel to take care of the increasingly violent population within the jail system.”

The grand jury report says that civilians, known as custodial assistants, and deputies perform similar duties during routine jail operations, but that the deputies’ roles also include armed or emergency responses, transportation of inmates and handling of recalcitrant prisoners.

There is a “growing sense of concern and frustration” among jail staffers over workloads and resources, the grand jury says.

And although civilian and sworn jail personnel exhibit “a high level of professionalism and dedication to their assigned duties,” the report says, “an unspoken tension and underlying distrust exist in the working relationships between the deputies and the custodial assistants.” Deputies tend to look down on the assistants, the report says, while the assistants tend to feel unappreciated.

“These perceptions of disrespect, distrust and lack of fair treatment are detrimental to the effective performance of daily duties,” the report says.

Baca’s $1.7-billion budget has been trimmed by $166 million over two years, and for months he has been gathering signatures for his proposed county sales tax initiative.

With only a few days left before a Tuesday deadline, he says, he may not be able to collect the 171,000 signatures needed to put the measure on the November ballot.

If he fails, the county Board of Supervisors could place the initiative before voters if four of the five members support it. On Wednesday, Mayor James K. Hahn and the Los Angeles Police Commission urged the supervisors to approve the proposal.

The measure would raise the county sales tax to 8.75% from 8.25%, generating an extra $500 million annually. The money would be divided about equally between the Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles Police Department and cities in the county not policed by the sheriff.

The measure would require a two-thirds majority vote for approval.