Sheriff Lee Baca

[tonyxcom]

Those are some funny looking robots behind him.

[PositiveInfluence]

From my friend who graduated a couple years ago from STAR center-

"I only shook his hand because he is my boss and I had to, can not wait for him to retire so we can make this County better."

Yes? No?

[ls2monaro]

Some say it is a very nice airsoft or replica firearm but well never know. There was a thread on here a long time ago with someone who tried to get information about the case but it is all sealed and confidential.

[Aldemar]

May 2009....

Regarding the 5 stars on his shirt-collar. Charlie Beck only has 4 I believe. Does that mean Baca "outranks" Beck in L.A County?

[CaptMike]

Yes. 5 stars always outranks 4 stars. LOL

On a serious note, the sheriff is responsible for the whole county in emergencies. I dont know if there are any special rules in regard to actual rank insignia, but in an emergency situation, "The Big One"(earthquake), the city requests support from the county. The county requests assistance from the state, State to the Feds. In that scenario, the county out ranks the city.

[Ron-Solo]

During the 92 riots, the LAPD chief tried calling the governors office for the national guard. The governors office told him to call the sheriff. The Sheriff is the highest LEO in the county and has the authority to take control of any LEA within the county if public safety demands it. A police chief does not have that authority.

With LASD, the rank insignia are as follows: 1 star = Commander, 2stars = Division Chief, 3 stars = Assistant Sheriff, 4 stars = Undersheriff, 5 stars = Sheriff. There are two Assistant Sheriffs and one Undersheriff. I don't remember how many division chiefs there are now, and most divisions have two (sometimes three for bigger divisions) Commander positions.

It's been that way for years, but prior to Baca, you rarely saw the Sheriff in uniform.

[TrailerparkTrash]

During the 92 riots, the LAPD chief tried calling the governors office for the national guard. The governors office told him to call the sheriff. The Sheriff is the highest LEO in the county and has the authority to take control of any LEA within the county if public safety demands it. A police chief does not have that authority.

With LASD, the rank insignia are as follows: 1 star = Commander, 2stars = Division Chief, 3 stars = Assistant Sheriff, 4 stars = Undersheriff, 5 stars = Sheriff. There are two Assistant Sheriffs and one Undersheriff. I don't remember how many division chiefs there are now, and most divisions have two (sometimes three for bigger divisions) Commander positions.

It's been that way for years, but prior to Baca, you rarely saw the Sheriff in uniform.

To add....

Because the LA County Sheriff has "5" stars vs. LAPD's Chief with only 4, is due to the rank structure within each department. LASD has one additional rank wheras LAPD has one less rank, within the "higher ranking" officials on each dept. LASD just has more "brass," positions, so they need that additional "star" to represent that position. IIRC, it's the position of Assistant Sheriff (3 stars) to Undersheriff (4 stars), where LAPD goes from Assistant Chief, directly to Chief. LAPD doesn't need another star insignia because they don't have an "under chief" position.

Hope that helps.

[Ron-Solo]

I believe LAPD has two levels of captain, but I think the insignia is the same. Their senior sergeants have a rocker stripe under the three chevrons.

[emvampyre]

Some say it is a very nice airsoft or replica firearm but well never know. There was a thread on here a long time ago with someone who tried to get information about the case but it is all sealed and confidential.

Well, he shot next to me at Biscailuz Center about a year ago. If it's an airsoft pistol, it sure is loud...

[biochembruin]

I believe LAPD has two levels of captain, but I think the insignia is the same. Their senior sergeants have a rocker stripe under the three chevrons.

LAPD actually has three ranks of captains, not two. You're right in that they all have the same insignia (two bars). A captain III outranks a captain I. You're also right about the senior sergeants (called a Sgt II) having a rocker, but detective III's also have a rocker, with a diamond in the middle.

To follow up on Trailerpark Trash, from top to bottom LAPD goes from Chief (four stars), to Assistant Chief (three stars), to Deputy Chief (two stars), to Commander (one star), then Captain.

The Wikipedia article for LAPD has the ranks listed correctly: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Ang...e_and_insignia

[BigDogatPlay]

The larger and more layered the command staff, essentially, the more insignia the brass will roll it seems. San Francisco PD is similar to LAPD, although there is only one sergeant's insignia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SFPD#Ranking_structure.

San Jose and Oakland are very similar, although Oakland isn't using the one star rank. Here in Sonoma County our sheriff wears three stars and the undersheriff wears two. From there it drops to the captains who are the divisional commanders. But at least two of the city police chiefs, of significantly smaller agencies, wear four stars yet neither has any deputy chiefs.

Go figure.