Jail Duty Wastes the Skills of Deputies

Re “L.A. Jail Called Deadly, Outdated,” Feb. 3: According to Sheriff Lee Baca, 600 to 800 more deputies at a cost of about $80 million would be needed to meet special counsel Merrick Bobb’s staffing goals. Why are sheriff’s deputies needed at all in Los Angeles County’s massive jail system? The changeover from deputies to well-trained, lower-paid custodial officers is long overdue. Call them detention officers, corrections officers, the title matters not; what does matter is there is a great opportunity to release deputies to do the law enforcement jobs they were trained to do and put the custody of inmates into the proper hands.

Unless Baca has changed the policy, it is my understanding that when deputies graduate from the training academy, they go into the jail system for as long as two years, and to Central Jail as that is the least desirable assignment. Why is the county turning out highly trained street deputies then wasting their newly learned skills?

Jim Tatum

Rosamond