Lee Baca
Leroy David Baca is a former American law enforcement officer and convicted felon who served as the 30th Sheriff of Los Angeles County, California from 1998 to 2014. In 2017, he was convicted of felony obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI.
Baca was elected Los Angeles County's 30th sheriff against his mentor Sherman Block, who had died in office days prior to the election but remained on the ballot. He was sworn in on December 7, 1998. He was re-elected to a fourth term in 2010. He was criticized for proposing a half-percent sales tax increase in 2004 to hire more deputy sheriffs, placing friends on the payroll, taking of gifts, and for releasing inmates from the Los Angeles County Jail. On May 12, 2017, Baca was sentenced to three years in federal prison for his role in a scheme to obstruct an FBI investigation of abuses in county jails. Baca reported to prison and began his sentence on February 5, 2020.
Early life
On May 27, 1942, Baca was born in East Los Angeles, California. Baca's mother was a seamstress born in Michoacán and then brought to the U.S. when she was a year old. His parents divorced and Baca grew up with his grandparents Clara and Thomas Baca. Thomas Baca came from Albuquerque, New Mexico.In 1960, Baca graduated from Benjamin Franklin High School, located in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In high school, Baca was the student senior class president.
Education
Baca graduated from East Los Angeles College. In 1971, Baca received a bachelor's degree from California State University, Los Angeles. In 1974, Baca earned a Master of Public Administration degree from USC. In 1993, Baca received a Doctorate of Public Administration degree from USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development.Career
In 1964, Baca joined the United States Marine Corps Reserve.On August 23, 1965, Baca was sworn in as a deputy sheriff trainee of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department. Baca began his career in street patrol, custody, and recruitment, and was a staff instructor at the Sheriff's Academy. In 1981, Baca became captain of the Norwalk, California, sheriff station. On January 23, 1992, Sheriff Sherman Block promoted Baca to the rank of chief deputy. On December 7, 1998, Baca was sworn in as Los Angeles County Sheriff. On January 7, 2014, Baca resigned facing a tough re-election campaign, amid a prison-abuse scandal that eventually led to his conviction three years later.
Policy positions
He opposed the California ban on shark finning and is a Republican who opposed California Proposition 8. Baca supported Secure Communities, a program by the Department of Homeland Security in which the federal government collaborates with local law enforcement to detain and deport undocumented immigrants.Early release of county jail inmates
On November 9, 2006, Baca and Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley issued a press release regarding their joint policy on early release, which requires all jail inmates to serve at least 25% of their sentence before becoming eligible for early release. In the press release, Baca said, "I also want to thank District Attorney Steve Cooley for his most valuable input on this matter. This new policy will move us forward to where one day all inmates will serve the entire time required."Also in the press release, Cooley said, "I commend Sheriff Baca for implementing this new policy. This will assure that sentences imposed by the court will be carried out in a predictable and even-handed manner." The policy was also applauded by then Redondo Beach City Attorney Michael W. Webb, who said, "Defendants will no longer be able to routinely turn down offers that involve alternative sentences such as Cal Trans or other forms of community service."
Notable incidents
Special reserves program
In 1999, Baca established a special reserves program. According to The Los Angeles Times, the program was designed to cater to celebrities, executives, star athletes, and other "notable persons". Some members of the Sheriff's Department said they were worried that the program would be abused, particularly by those seeking a backdoor way of securing a concealed weapons permit in Los Angeles County.Within a month of Baca swearing in his first new celebrity reserve deputies, one of his recruits, Scott Zacky, had been suspended and relieved of duty for brandishing a firearm in a confrontation outside his Bel-Air home. The program would eventually be suspended. Less than six months later, another member of the special reserves program was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of international money laundering. No well-known celebrities joined the program, and fewer than 20 little-known wealthy individuals actually participated. The program was suspended in November 2006.
Mel Gibson
On July 28, 2006, actor Mel Gibson was arrested for driving under the influence while speeding in his vehicle with an open container of alcohol." According to the arrest report, Gibson exploded into an angry tirade when the arresting officer would not allow him to drive home. According to arresting officer notes subsequently obtained by the media website TMZ, Gibson said to the arresting officer "Fucking Jews... the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. Are you a Jew?" Gibson subsequently admitted in a televised interview with Diane Sawyer that the statements attributed to him were authentic.The Los Angeles Sheriff Department initially told the press that Gibson was arrested without incident or special treatment. However, the department withheld video and audio recordings of the arrest, asserting they were exempt from California's open government laws, and the arresting officer, himself a Jew, later alleged that his superiors ordered him to excise the pages of his incident report that detailed his rant, and that his co-workers and superiors retaliated against him through ostracism and denial of promotion. Prior to his arrest, Gibson had filmed a PSA for Baca's relief committee dressed in a sheriff's uniform. Upon questioning by The Los Angeles Times about charges of celebrity favoritism, Baca denied that his department tried to cover up Gibson's behavior. At the time, The Times reported that a civilian oversight committee had decided to investigate whether Gibson had received favorable treatment because of his celebrity status or his longtime friendship with Baca.
Paris Hilton
On June 3, 2007, celebrity Paris Hilton surrendered herself to the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department to serve a 45-day sentence as ordered by Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer. The 45 day sentence could be reduced to as few as 23 days for good behavior. She was placed in the Lynwood facility and separated from the general population for her safety.Around 2 a.m. on June 7, 2007, Baca's department released Hilton after serving only 79 hours of her sentence. She was allowed to return home, and her sentence was converted to 40 days of house arrest amid rumors of a medical condition, which later emerged to be psychological.
The decision to convert her sentence was made by Baca without the consultation of either the presiding judge or the prosecuting city attorney. Further complicating the matter is the initial ruling in which the judge specifically said Hilton would not be allowed to use house arrest in lieu of jail. However, Superior Court spokesman Allan Parachini did acknowledge this is normally the purview of the sheriff, saying, "Early release decisions are the province of the sheriff every day due to jail overcrowding, but not always".
The situation led the city attorney to file a petition suggesting that Baca should be held in contempt of court for his actions. Though the judge chose not to pursue any action against Baca, he did reverse the decision and returned Hilton to jail while reaffirming the original sentence length. The offer of Hilton's attorney, Richard Hutton, to brief the judge in private chambers on her condition was declined. No written evidence was produced during that court session.
Baca later described Hilton's medical condition as a deteriorating, life-threatening condition that left her speaking incoherently. Also, in testimony to L.A. County Supervisors, Baca stated that the department had called the judge prior to Hilton's release to seek the judge's assistance in obtaining from Hilton's doctors what medications she was taking, so that County Jail doctors could administer the proper medications without dangerous side-effects to calm Hilton who had medical readings of great concern by jail physicians.
Baca stated the judge tersely responded, "She's faking", and the judge abruptly hung up. This, according to Baca, left him little choice but to release Hilton with an ankle bracelet, considering she was a nonviolent offender and that her jail sentence for her infraction is unusual and excessive in L.A. County with his jails beyond capacity.