Former Los Angeles County Undersheriff Paul Tanaka made a stop in Malibu last week during his campaign for sheriff, in which he denied culpability in a series of scandals that have plagued the world’s largest sheriff’s department and suggested poor management by his former boss Sheriff Lee Baca had led the agency into disarray.
“People are looking for new direction in the organization,” said Tanaka, who declared his candidacy in August.
Tanaka, who also serves as mayor of the City of Gardena, is running for the seat along with Baca and retired Sheriff’s Department commander Robert Olmsted.
In a lengthy interview with The Malibu Times, Tanaka argued that he could restore order to a sheriff’s department that he says lacks a clear chain of command under the leadership of Baca, who has served in the position for 16 years.
The department is currently the subject of separate investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over allegations of corruption, inmate abuse and bribery. Tanaka was specifically accused by a blue ribbon commission of helping to create a climate in the county jail system in which aggression among deputies was encouraged, loyalty placed above merit and discipline discouraged, according to reports. Tanaka resigned following the commission’s findings in what was widely perceived as pressure from Baca.
But Tanaka, formerly a trusted lieutenant of Baca who served as his second-in-command from 2011 until his ouster, denied the allegations last week and said he has been made a scapegoat in the process.
“That [report] was by a blue ribbon commission, none of whom have ever worked inside of a jail,” he said.
“If you go back and read all the testimony, you’ll see that if you did not like Paul Tanaka, you went in there and you made all these allegations,” he said. “You never got questioned on your credibility, or your sources, or whether or not you were telling the truth.”
He defended the actions of deputies working in county jails, and suggested a stronger policy for use of force should be implemented.
“There’s a policy…that’s very restrictive on their ability to handle situations that might require hands-on in a lawful manner,” Tanaka said. “Deputies will tell you that their ability to maintain safety and security not only of themselves but of the inmates has been hindered.”
In addition to the jails inquiry, the FBI is investigating claims by a former Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff ’s deputy that the former captain at the station told him and other subordinates to sell tickets to a 2011 fundraiser for Carmen Trutanich’s unsuccessful bid for district attorney. Baca, who cam- paigned for Trutanich, denied issuing orders down the chain of command to raise money for allies, but the investigation has been seen to weaken his re-election candidacy.
Tanaka said he was aware of the allegations and said he had “expressed his disapproval” to Baca of “certain individuals that hung around” him, but that he had no knowledge of any improper fundraising.
The former undersheriff said Baca, in the last few years, has begun to micromanage the department. Baca also cut Tanaka out of the decision-making circle once it became clear he had a potential rival for sheriff, Tanaka said.
“Over time he has become increasingly distrustful of basically everybody,” Tanaka said.
He contends the department lacks order, which only confuses the chain of command as the workload is delved out among sergeants, lieutenants and deputies.
Tanaka promised that if elected he would bring a clearer organizational structure to the department.
“I would take a look at the entire operation because what happens is [disorganization] spreads. You have confusion, you have uncertainty,” he said. “And pretty soon you have people that don’t want to make decisions.”
He also hopes to toughen hiring standards and conduct a stringent background check on all applicants.
Tanaka began working for the Sheriff ’s department in 1982 as a custody deputy. From there he went on to work in several other areas including gang enforcement before working his way up to the administrative level as an assistant Sheriff. He used his accounting background to oversee the department’s $2.5-billion budget the last nine years he served under Baca.