Sheriff's watchdog says he was misquoted in Times story

Michael Gennaco, chief attorney in the county's Office of Independent Review, gave a pretty stunning reason in the Times this morning (here in Morning Buzz) for why his office won't investigate the paper's charge that Sheriff Lee Baca used undue influent on behalf of a campaign donor. Now Gennaco says his words were mischaracterized — and he put it in a note to the Times reporter, Robert Faturechi, that was circulated today in the county Hall of Administration.

Robert:

Per our discussion, below is a more accurate account of what I said when I talked to you yesterday:

The article indicates that I stated that LASD does not have a policy against special treatment for campaign contributors. I did not say that. What I said was that there is no LASD policy prohibiting the Sheriff from requesting his detectives to investigate any allegation of criminality, no matter who the requestor is. As I explained to you, the Sheriff would violate existing policy if he ordered campaign contributors special treatment such as an early release from jail, the inappropriate dismissal of a ticket, etc., etc. This mischaracterization of what I said becomes compounded when the article concludes that my “take” is “out of sync” with guidelines on ethical policing that state that “asking for or giving special favors to family, friends and public officials” is a violation of ethical principles. The problem is that my “take” was mischaracterized at the outset.

Additionally, the article quotes me as saying “In many ways we live in an unequal society” and “it’s the way of the world”. This quote omitted a key word. What I said is “unfortunately, in many ways we live in an unequal society.”

I hope that in the future, anything I might say to you is handled with more precision.

Also, as I indicated, this case may provide a vehicle for lessons learned. While there appears to be no basis for a formal investigation at this point, OIR intends to look at the case to see whether systems reform is suggested or warranted.

Michael J. Gennaco
Chief Attorney
Office of Independent Review

Baca now does want Gennaco to investigate, Faturechi says in today's update.