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Baca promises equitable
assignment of sheriff's deputies across county
While cities will lose some
officers to unincorporated areas, overtime will be used to keep the
coverage at the same level.
May 11, 2006, Alison Hewitt
Copley New Service
Making a rare appearance in front of the county Board of Supervisors
at a budget hearing Wednesday, Sheriff Lee Baca announced a new
“equity” plan to ensure unincorporated areas get the same level of
coverage by patrol deputies as cities that contract with the
Sheriff’s Department.
The supervisors have long worried that contract cities receive
better coverage than the unincorporated areas, and Baca acknowledged
Wednesday that unincorporated areas have borne more vacancies than
nearby cities, albeit “not as much as one might think,” he said.
The equity plan will even the playing field, he insisted.
“As we fill the vacancies, you’ll also get a chance to see that
we’re filling vacancies on an equitable basis rather than stacking
everything into the contract areas, which I think some of us believe
has happened in the past,” Baca told the supervisors.
The plan took effect Wednesday, he said, although it is unclear how
quickly it will be implemented.
Sheriff’s Chief Neal Tyler, who is familiar with the policy,
explained how the department would juggle its resources.
At the department’s Lennox station, for example, 23 patrol deputies
are currently assigned to the city of Lawndale, and 61 patrol
positions are assigned to the unincorporated areas the station
covers — Lennox, Athens, El Camino Village, Del Aire and others.
There are also 18 patrol vacancies, most of which have been assigned
to the unincorporated areas.
The equity plan will shift five deputies from Lawndale to fill five
of the vacancies in the unincorporated areas. Meanwhile, the
vacancies created in Lawndale will be filled through overtime and
other methods, according to Tyler’s explanation and preliminary
department documents.
“We’ve been doing this a long time, for the unincorporated areas and
the contract cities,” Tyler said. “But now the contract cities will
have to fill more vacancies.”
Carson will lose 9.8 of its 69 deputies to unincorporated areas such
as Rancho Dominguez, with the resulting vacancies to be filled
primarily through overtime. Of the 39 deputies currently assigned to
Lomita, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills
Estates, nine will be shifted to La Rambla and other unincorporated
areas, with the cities’ vacancies likewise to be made up mainly
through overtime.
Tyler cautioned that the precise figures could change as the policy
is more fully developed.
Supervisor Gloria Molina expressed hope that the new policy would
address chronic shortfalls in the unincorporated areas.
Nevertheless, she and the other supervisors criticized Baca over
complaints they’ve heard from residents of those areas.
Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke said some residents have told her
they would prefer the unincorporated areas they live in be annexed
by nearby cities in order to gain better coverage by sheriff’s
deputies. That is one of the reasons cited by residents of
unincorporated Rancho Dominguez for wanting to be annexed by Carson,
she noted.
Several supervisors also complained to Baca about a shortage of
Community Oriented Policing deputies, known as COPS deputies, in
unincorporated areas. Supervisor Don Knabe pointed out that the
board provided funding for 159 COPS deputies last year but is still
short 66.
“We paid for them,” Knabe said. “Why don’t we have those positions
filled?” Baca offered to aim for zero vacancies in the COPS program,
but warned that it could come at the expense of patrols.
“That’s where we’re put in an awkward position,” Knabe said after
the meeting. He and his colleagues on the board are reluctant to
shift deputies from patrol or the jails to boost the COPS program.
Knabe suggested that the board consider shifting more money to the
Sheriff’s Department’s recruiting efforts, to help speed attempts to
fill all types of vacancies. The proposal will be considered again
during June budget discussions. |