Status quo for top cops
Re “How to get a better sheriff,” Opinion, June 26
Regarding Steve Remige’s proposal that sheriffs not be elected, I disagree. Most sheriffs come up through the ranks and thus typically have a long-established familiarity with the culture, operation and missions of their departments and with the community.
Political appointment is rarely a guarantee of capability or success, as the Los Angeles Police Department’s experiences with several appointed chiefs through the 1990s demonstrate.
More important, however -- as the different opinions on the nature of the county’s gang violence expressed in recent weeks by Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and LAPD Chief William J. Bratton demonstrate -- elected sheriffs may have a level of independence to candidly express views that may be controversial but are nonetheless worthy of consideration. Political appointment would eliminate that independence.
Tom Oster
Los Angeles
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
