Since 1932, only four men have served as Los Angeles County Sheriff. Lou Vince is convinced that trend needs to change.
Vince, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department – of which he is a nearly 20-year veteran – is an Agua Dulce resident who is one of seven candidates running for the position, and said he would personally commit to no more than three, four-year terms as Sheriff. (There are no term limits on the job, after now-retired Sheriff Lee Baca won a battle to overturn voter-approved limits in 2004.)
The other candidates for the position, currently held by interim Sheriff John Scott, include former Undersheriff Paul Tanaka, retired Sheriff's Lt. Patrick Gomez, Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell, retired sheriff's Cmdr. Bob Olmsted, and assistant sheriffs Jim Hellmold and Todd Rogers. Six of the seven squared off during their first public debate in Van Nuys this week.
During an interview this week, Vince, 40, didn’t come across so much as a man campaigning for office, but a cop who believes law enforcement officers ultimately answer to the public, and that he could do some good as head of the largest sheriff’s department in America.
“I want it to become the Sheriff’s Department everyone wants,” he said, noting that the current department has become too spread out. “After 82 years of only four sheriffs, there’s going to be some fat to trim.”
While not dismissing documented, serious issues within the Sheriff’s Department, Vince said that corruption is not the worst of its problems to overcome.
“What there has been is poor management, which has snowballed into what we have now,” he said.
From jail overcrowding to spread-too-thin resources, Vince said the Sheriff’s Department needs to restructure, and that a forensic accounting audit would be one of his top initial priorities.
For example, he said that local jurisdictions should work with organizations such as the county Metropolitan Transportation Authority, rather than exclusively the Sheriff’s Department.
The Sheriff’s Department’s priority areas, he said, should remain the unincorporated county areas, the jails and courts, and the 42 cities that, like Santa Clarita, contract with the department for law enforcement.
When it comes to chronic overcrowding in the county jail system, Vince said one way to address that would be with how drug-related cases are handled. The Sheriff’s Department needs to work in concert with the county Board of Supervisors and the Department of Mental Health, he said, to develop a way of helping those with addiction problems. Addiction, Vince said, is a public health issue. Another step, he said, is acknowledging failures in the War on Drugs. Those involved in drug trafficking and sales are the greater problem, not those arrested on minor possession, he said.
He said another way of dealing with jail overcrowding is to investigate and implement methods of so-called virtual incarceration, integrating a pre-trial risk-based assessment of inmates. Using methods such as GPS tracking devices (a system that Vince stressed needs to be overhauled) and home check-ins, jail overcrowding could be effectively addressed.
“It takes a willingness to do things differently,” he said.
Vince also said a top priority would be rebuilding trust, both within and without. Scandals such as abuse within the jail system hurt public trust in the Sheriff’s Department, Vince said, but there is also a trust problem within the department.
“Whether it’s real or perceived, (cronyism) is a problem,” he said.
Vince said he chose law enforcement because he’s always believed, as the saying goes, if you’re not part of the solution you’re part of the problem – and he’s wanted to be part of the solution. In his time with the LAPD, he’s been involved with the opening of two new stations, the Mission and Topanga divisions, in 2005 and 2009, respectively. Currently, he works as a detective in gangs and narcotics, out of the West Valley Division. He also served four years as a Sheriff’s Reserve Deputy.
He pointed to the opening of the Topanga Division as one of his career highlights. After Canoga Park janitor James Shamp was killed in 2008 by a group of Hispanic gang members simply for being black, Vince spearheaded a task force. A yearlong investigation resulted in the arrest and indictment of eight senior gang members, and a marked drop in hate crimes.
“It was upsetting. You see a problem and you can’t just accept the status quo,” he said. “That really changes people’s lives.”
Key to change, he said, is also ensuring that law enforcement is part of providing guidance, support and safety for the community's children. It's a responsibility Vince takes personally. Two of his four children were adopted foster children.
On the road to Election Day, Vince noted that part of the problem is reaching the voting public, having talked with numerous residents over the years who do not even realize the Sheriff’s is an elected position. While he has received several endorsements, Vince said he is not seeking many, not viewing their pursuit as the best use of his time, and noting that he personally doesn't vote based on a candidate's endorsements.