Molina Takes Aim at Sheriff Lee Baca's Leadership

By ELIZABETH MARCELLINO, City News Service

Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina used her bully pulpit today to speak out against Sheriff Lee Baca.

"When month after month, problems with your workforce cost Los Angeles County taxpayers millions of dollars -- then it's time to admit you don't just have a 'few bad apples,' but rather an institutional crisis stemming from failed leadership," Molina said, reading from a written statement at the Board of Supervisors meeting.

The board was set to discuss in private the appeal of a $7.5 million jury award to the family of a 21-year-old man fatally shot by a sheriff's deputy in Willowbrook in 2010.

Molina, whose district includes Walnut, said she abstained from a 3-1 vote last week to file an appeal, because she didn't believe Baca was doing enough to get at the root causes of such incidents. Supervisor Don Knabe was absent for the vote.

Molina's remarks came just a week after 18 current and former sheriff's deputies were indicted in a federal probe of the alleged abuse of inmates and visitors to county jails. The charges include allegations sheriff's deputies hid and changed the name of a jailed FBI informant who was found to have a mobile telephone supplied by the agency.

Those indictments were just the latest in a series of challenges to Baca's leadership. The Citizens' Commission on Jail Violence called for major reforms last year. The board also established an Office of Inspector General to monitor the department.

Federal officials said their civil rights investigation is ongoing.

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore responded to Molina's comments in a phone interview.

"I think that the indication of a strong leader is how they respond to challenges, and Sheriff Baca responded by taking action to correct problems that are real to make his department better," Whitmore said. "He has never shied away from a problem. He has never blamed others."

Molina and Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas have called for a permanent citizens oversight commission to monitor the Sheriff's Department, but have so far been unable to get a third supervisor to sign on.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has said a civilian body would have no real authority to enforce policy changes.

Against this backdrop, Baca is running for a fifth term in June.

Former City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and others offered their support after the indictments, hosting a fundraiser for Baca's campaign last week.

But Molina, who wrote a letter to the Los Angeles Times asking voters to oust Baca, shows no signs of letting up.

On June 14, a Compton Superior Court jury awarded $7.5 million to the parents of Robert Thomas Jr., who was fatally shot on Nov. 8, 2010, near East 123rd Street and Wilmington Avenue.

Thomas' father said his son was shot in the back, an allegation presented at trial. A sheriff's spokesman said deputies spotted Thomas reaching for a gun, and that the gun was part of the evidence at trial.

Though her peers backed an appeal of the jury's decision, Molina used the case as an example of what she viewed as a disconnect between those inside and outside of the Sheriff's Department.

"The Department cannot find every action to be 'within policy,' when juries continue to find otherwise," Molina said.

"In this case, the deputies did what they had to do, which is why we're appealing it," Whitmore said, pointing out that the review was not limited to the various investigative agencies in the Sheriff's Department, but included the District Attorney's Office.