Controversial Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca, the first Latino to hold the position in the city, said on Tuesday, Jan. 7 that he won't seek his reelection for a fifth term as sheriff, and will retire in late January.
Baca has been heavily criticized for his work as sheriff in Los Angeles because of his support of the Secure Communities (SCOM) program, through which thousands of people are arrested by authorities, even if they don't have any serious criminal records, and then handed over to migration authorities to be deported.
According to CBS, Sheriff Baca claimed that his retirement is due to personal and private matters; however, he confessed that his decision is also related to the need to "avoid a negative perception of the men and women of the sheriff's department, who have acted with integrity and professionalism, achieving another historical year in crime reduction."
Elected to the position in 1998, Baca was reelected for his fourth term in 2010. Although he officially ended his term on December, Baca said that at 72 years old, the decision to retire is in the best interest of his department's future.
"I'm going to be 72 in May, and I don't see myself as the future. I'm the past," the controversial sheriff said on Tuesday during a press conference, reported LA Weekly on its website.
Baca reportedly asked the Board of Supervisors to name Terri McDonalds as interim sheriff until the upcoming elections next November. Likewise, Baca said that McDonald might be a candidate for the elections.
A Retirement Amid Scandals
Besides the reports made in the past about the alleged abuses of the Sheriff's Department of Los Angeles against Latinos since mid-2012, a series of investigations by various L.A. newspapers have resulted in reports about several cases of violence in jails across California.
These reports caused the U.S. Attorney to file accusations against 18 sheriffs and former sheriffs in charge of county jails, who have been accused of perjury and violating the rights of inmates, according to The L.A. Times.
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