July 28--An independent commission investigating deputy-on- inmate violence at Los Angeles County jails grilled Sheriff Lee Baca and his second-in- command for hours on Friday, trying to pin down whether they did enough to prevent the beatings.
Baca took the blame for management failings in the Sheriff's Department, even though internal memos and depositions raised questions about whether Undersheriff Paul Tanaka ignored his subordinates' concerns about the violence, and possibly even encouraged deputies -- whether deliberately or not -- to be aggressive.
Commission deputy general counsel Bert Deixler produced a 2007 report from sheriff's Capt. Steve Roller that quoted Tanaka telling deputies at Century Station to "function right on the edge of the line" and be "very aggressive in dealing with gang members."
Roller added Tanaka also warned captains about being too hasty to file complaints, or cases, against deputies. He also expressed dislike of the department's Internal Affairs bureau and the way it operated.
"(Tanaka) said he would be checking to see which Captains were putting the most cases on deputies and he would be putting a case on them," Roller added.
Baca and Tanaka testified separately before the Citizens Commission on Jail Violence, for about four hours each.
Tanaka repeatedly -- and often testily -- denied knowing about the abuses, even though subordinate officers testified to having discussed the issue with him, and the
American Civil Liberties Union, Office of Internal Review, and the county Board of Supervisors' special counsel, Merrick Bobb, had all written reports about it through the years.
"I can understand your astonishment," Tanaka told the commission. "(But) with the exception of the time that lieutenants brought to my attention a force (incident) isolated to a particular function at Men's Central Jail, not a single captain, commander or chief ever told me or even gave me a slight indication that they were having a problem with use of (force)."
Deixler said federal agents and law enforcement officers also told of how Tanaka, during preparations to issue warrants in the 2009 murder of a deputy, told them to turn off recording devices before instructing them to "work the gray (area)," which he defined as being somewhere between "the line of ethics and the line of the law."
Tanaka flatly denied that account, saying, "That's a lie."
Baca said he did chastise Tanaka on a separate occasion over his frequent use of the phrase "work the gray," saying it could be misconstrued by deputies.
However, he stood by his second-in-command.
When the commission's general counsel, Richard Drooyan, asked whether Tanaka and other officials' management style was "serious concern," Baca responded, "This is not about who in the organization I'm going to blame.
"I'm the one to blame. I'm the elected sheriff of this county."
When Drooyan asked how the public can hold him accountable, Baca answered, "Don't elect me."
Commissioner Dickran Tevrizian noted that reforms Baca put in place over the last several months have diminished the violence but wondered whether the momentum could be sustained.
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