Sheriff Baca has been in the news recently, complaining to the Board of Supervisors about the drastic cuts to his budget. I find that a bit disingenuous, since he was the primary cause for the local jail lockup closures in Malibu and Santa Monica, set for June and July respectively. The state courts, like other state departments, were mandated to save money. One way was by decreasing the cost of security. The court administration advised Sheriff Baca, who they rent lockup deputies from, that they would be closing the Santa Monica and Malibu lockups to save the cost to the courts of the deputies’ salaries. The deputies will be reassigned and their salaries paid by the county Sheriff’s Department.
Sheriff Baca chose to ignore the warning, either through incompetence, arrogance, or a little of both, and now the closures are imminent.
By allowing the Santa Monica lockup to close, the City of Santa Monica is the big loser. The Santa Monica Police Department will be forced to do its criminal justice business at the Airport Court, near LAX, instead of walking next door as they do now. This will be costly, when you add up the extra man-hours, gas, etc. It will also be a hardship for the victims and witnesses to crime, who will be subpoenaed to the Airport Court.
The closure of the Malibu lockup is worse. Malibu does not have its own police department, instead contracting with Sheriff Baca to take care of its criminal justice business. By allowing the Malibu lockup to close, Baca’s deputies from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department, responsible for the Malibu Judicial District, will have to drive 26 additional miles to do business at the Airport Court. The extra cost in wages, overtime, gas, etc., will be substantial. Also, like Santa Monica, the victims and witnesses will be subpoenaed to Airport Court.
By his indifference to the Malibu lockup closures, Sheriff Baca effectively shoots himself in the foot. More accurately, local taxpayers, who include those inconvenienced victims and witnesses, will be footing the bill. Need I remind you, the sheriff of Los Angeles County is an elected position. It seems Sheriff Baca has forgotten.
Richard Herzog