What Does the Sheriff Do?

The LA County Sheriff Department is the chief law enforcement agency for the County. In LA, like many counties across the United State, the position of Sheriff is elected. The Sheriff oversees the largest Sheriff's Department in the world with approximately 18,000 employees. The department is responsible for policing all “unincorporated areas” outside the boundaries of cities (which includes 65% of the county’s land and 10% of the county’s population) and the 42 cities that contract with the County for law enforcement, instead of having their own police departments (including West Hollywood, Compton, Malibu, Rancho Palos Verdes, Pico Rivera, and many more). The department also is the law enforcement for 216 facilities including hospitals and clinics located throughout the County, 9 community colleges, 37 Superior Courts, and parts of LA Metro.

The Sheriff’s Department runs seven jails that incarcerate an average of 18,000 people per day. Even as police agencies go, the Sheriff’s Department is deeply troubled by corruption and violence. A long-time Sheriff, Lee Baca and several of his deputies, were convicted of crimes relating to hiding information from federal investigators. There is credible evidence of gang activity among sheriff’s deputies at many stations such as the “Compton Executioners” and violence against ordinary Angelenos is not uncommon. Conditions are far worse in the County Jails, which act as cruel warehouses for thousands of people who need mental help and care, not imprisonment.