LASD Executive Trials

[RickD427]

The U.S. Supreme just announced their decision not to hear the appeal of former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka. It looks like he'll be serving the remainder of his five year prison term.

Former Sheriff Lee Baca remains free on bail while the Ninth Circuit considers his appeal. The oral argument remains to be scheduled.

[michaelinfv]

The U.S. Supreme just announced their decision not to hear the appeal of former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka. It looks like he'll be serving the remainder of his five year prison term.

Former Sheriff Lee Baca remains free on bail while the Ninth Circuit considers his appeal. The oral argument remains to be scheduled.

Thank you for the dissapointing update. He would have been the first Sheriff who cared about his troops and the Legacy of the Department. More than himself. He was a "cop" I am not sure this whole thing wouldn't have even happened if the Liberal side of the FBI didn't go rogue under president

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[SoCalDep]

Thank you for the dissapointing update. He would have been the first Sheriff who cared about his troops and the Legacy of the Department. More than himself. He was a "cop" I am not sure this whole thing wouldn't have even happened if the Liberal side of the FBI didn't go rogue under president

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[michaelinfv]

If you didn't work him yo didny know him. And don't quote the bad guys.geeez

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[SoCalDep]

I saw the effects of him, and I’ve had to live the effects of him. He deserves to be quoted with the quote of a bad guy because that’s exactly what he is. He put subordinates in an untenable situation and then hung them out to dry. I don’t need to know him. I don’t want to know him. I want him to go away, and be forgotten.

[RickD427]

If you didn't work him yo didny know him. And don't quote the bad guys.geeez

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Mike,

I did work with him, and I will agree with you that his level of personal caring for the people under his command was very great.

I'm not one of the "Bad Guys." If you think that I am, please explain.

But it takes a lot more than personal caring to carry out the responsibilities of being Sheriff. The unfortunate fact was this his management ability simply wasn't up to the task and we all suffered for that, as did the residents of L.A. County.

More than once, I experienced a series of "right full rudder, full speed ahead, left full rudder, full speed astern" orders on management projects when a steady hand on the helm was required. Lee just could not provide that steady hand. The end result is that the crew just got seasick and ship didn't go anywhere.

The best example of this for the layman was summarized in the report of the Citizen's Commission on Jail Violence where the commission reported Bob Olmstead's meeting with Baca following the mutiny of his jail watch commanders where they stated their allegiance to the Undersheriff's agenda for jail management over his (remembering that Olmstead had been appointed to by Baca to fix the jails). At that point, Baca was on clear notice that the Undersheriff was malfeasant in the performance of duty, and Olmstead was unable to carry out his assigned duties to "fix" the jail so long as the Undersheriff remained in his chain of command. Do you remember how Baca responded?

I will also second the above posting about hanging his subordinates out. Lee did just that. He gave the orders, and then was notably absent when his subordinates went on trial. Just by coincidence, I was reading an article about the grounding of seven Navy destroyers that were steaming in formation and ran aground off Point Arguello in 1923. In practice, the commodore of the group set the course and speed for the formation, but Navy regs held each of the seven destroyer commanders responsible for the safe navigation of their ships. The Navy took all seven to Courts-Martial. (see the similarities here?) The commodore testified at each, and maintained that he was fully responsible for the disaster. The destroyer captains were simply following his lead. The commodore received very minimal punishment, and his value as a leader was greatly enhanced (even if his value as a navigator was greatly diminished). As a department member, I was really hoping to see Baca display these qualities of leadership and did not.

[michaelinfv]

Mike,

I did work with him, and I will agree with you that his level of personal caring for the people under his command was very great.

I'm not one of the "Bad Guys." If you think that I am, please explain.

But it takes a lot more than personal caring to carry out the responsibilities of being Sheriff. The unfortunate fact was this his management ability simply wasn't up to the task and we all suffered for that, as did the residents of L.A. County.

More than once, I experienced a series of "right full rudder, full speed ahead, left full rudder, full speed astern" orders on management projects when a steady hand on the helm was required. Lee just could not provide that steady hand. The end result is that the crew just got seasick and ship didn't go anywhere.

The best example of this for the layman was summarized in the report of the Citizen's Commission on Jail Violence where the commission reported Bob Olmstead's meeting with Baca following the mutiny of his jail watch commanders where they stated their allegiance to the Undersheriff's agenda for jail management over his (remembering that Olmstead had been appointed to by Baca to fix the jails). At that point, Baca was on clear notice that the Undersheriff was malfeasant in the performance of duty, and Olmstead was unable to carry out his assigned duties to "fix" the jail so long as the Undersheriff remained in his chain of command. Do you remember how Baca responded?

I believe he took out the mddle man

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[michaelinfv]

I believe he took out the mddle man

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What I mean is he basically told the captain to stand down and he ran the jail via Direct reporting to him by the lieutenants and the Sergeants. He then decided to see the discipline or no discipline

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[michaelinfv]

What I mean is he basically told the captain to stand down and he ran the jail via Direct reporting to him by the lieutenants and the Sergeants. He then decided to see the discipline or no discipline

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And I'm talking about Central Jail specifically

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[RickD427]

I believe he took out the mddle man

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Nope. He promoted Olmsted to commander, increasing his level of responsibility and left Tanaka in place. That left Olmstead between the proverbial "Rock and Hard Place" and with an increased level of responsibility.

Then we had the initiation of the FBI investigation and the meeting between Steve Martinez and Baca. The record is not clear, but all reasonable inferences support the conclusion that Martinez convinced Baca of Tanaka's malfeasance and that led to his dismissal. That was long after his meeting with Olmstead.

[RickD427]

What I mean is he basically told the captain to stand down and he ran the jail via Direct reporting to him by the lieutenants and the Sergeants. He then decided to see the discipline or no discipline

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Mike,

I'm sorry, we may have gotten out of sync here by both writing at the same time.

I copy the focus on MCJ only. Baca did replace the MCJ commander, but Olmstead was installed as the new captain. The mutiny occurred between the watch commanders and Olmstead (as the MCJ unit commander).

The "Rock and Hard Place" comment was referring to Olmstead's inability to direct his watch commanders when they were receiving implied orders from the undersheriff.

[michaelinfv]

Nope. He promoted Olmsted to commander, increasing his level of responsibility and left Tanaka in place. That left Olmstead between the proverbial "Rock and Hard Place" and with an increased level of responsibility.

Then we had the initiation of the FBI investigation and the meeting between Steve Martinez and Baca. The record is not clear, but all reasonable inferences support the conclusion that Martinez convinced Baca of Tanaka's malfeasance and that led to his dismissal. That was long after his meeting with Olmstead.

I think I know you were close enough closer than me to see and hear what you needed to make an intelligent Decision. At that point I was so distant from the big house that most of my info was word of mouth. So I will yield to your better and more current information. Two people can certainly have different opinions of the same guy based on their perception. Both of you started out as great cops and I don't really know the ending well enough to tell it.

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[RickD427]

I think I know you were close enough closer than me to see and hear what you needed to make an intelligent Decision. At that point I was so distant from the big house that most of my info was word of mouth. So I will yield to your better and more current information. Two people can certainly have different opinions of the same guy based on their perception. Both of you started out as great cops and I don't really know the ending well enough to tell it.

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Mike,

Thanks. I took pride that most of my career was actually working in the stations (seven of them), but I did have two headquarters assignments, one under Block and one under Baca. Block also tremendously cared for his deputies, but probably wasn't as gushy about it as was Baca. But when you look at the organizational benefit that each of those leaders was able to bring to the department, there's little comparison.

[TrailerparkTrash]

Both Paul and Leroy are nothing more than human excrement. I hope they rot in prison. Anyone that stood for Tanaka, stood for a crook who tried to run his department like he was a mafia Don. He got what he deserved in the court room.

Hey Pauly ...ain’t life a mother F——r...

[emvampyre]

Couldn't agree more!