Sheriff Lee Baca told The Times the proposed state budget poses a threat to public safety in L.A. County and will force officials either to shut down some jail facilities or remove deputies from street patrol.
He said the most likely jail to close would be the North Facility at Castaic and that some special Sheriff's Department task forces and community-oriented policing programs also would face cuts.
“I think it is one thing to have a natural disaster ... but it is another thing to have local cities and counties hit by a disaster predicated on the irresponsible actions of the state legislators,” Baca said. “This budget could destabilize our cities and counties with a rise in crime.”
Baca said the budget takes a wrecking ball to local government to cover the state's growing programs.
“I have never known a state to be so irresponsible with money,” he said.
He said this budget would leave the Sheriff's Department with a terrible choice.
“Either close jails or take cops off the streets," he said. "Both are unacceptable to me.”
Baca said he is joining the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in their possible lawsuit against the state .
“This form of revenue robbery is a new low standard of fantasy that deserves no praise or support from the people of California,” he said.
Baca said the state really ought to cut programs instituted in the last 10 years that it can't sustain. He said what makes this particularly painful for Los Angeles County is that the county, unlike the state, had not authorized excessive pensions for its employees, had saved its money for a rainy day and had not spent more than it took in each year.
Baca, an ally and longtime friend of Schwarzenegger said, "The governor I think is stuck. He is playing the cards the Legislature dealt him.” |
