Proposed Sheriff's Oversight Commission Fails to Get Traction

By City News Service

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors today postponed discussion of a proposed permanent commission to monitor the Sheriff's Department.

Supervisors Gloria Molina and Mark Ridley-Thomas have recommended establishing such a group, but apparently lack the additional vote needed to make it happen.

"The dual federal investigations of the Sheriff's Department confirm that a higher level of scrutiny, inquiry and public accountability is an imperative; one that the board acting alone cannot in good faith provide," read the supervisors' motion.

The Justice Department is conducting separate investigations on the treatment of mentally ill inmates and allegations of excessive force.

When the commission was first proposed in September, Supervisor Don Knabe called the move "a bit premature," while Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky took to his blog to argue for staying the course.

A roadmap for reform has already been provided by the now-disbanded Citizens Commission for Jail Violence, Yaroslavsky said. And given Sheriff Lee Baca's status as an elected official, Yaroslavsky maintained that "the proposed (new) commission would amount to little more than a soapbox for the panelists."

However, Molina and Ridley-Thomas have not surrendered, believing that "permanent, public scrutiny on a regular basis" is critical, according to Molina aide Roxane Marquez.

"We're hoping to change their minds," Marquez said of the other supervisors.

Meanwhile, candidates are being interviewed for an Office of Inspector General, who would also oversee the Sheriff's Department. How that post would interact with any citizens' commission is a detail that hasn't been ironed out, Marquez said.