Baca And U.S. Attorney Meet To Discuss Alleged Deputy Misconduct In LA Jail System
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Sheriff Lee Baca met with the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles Tuesday amid growing tension between his department and the FBI over a new federal probe of alleged deputy misconduct in the Los Angeles County jail system, the nation's largest.
FBI agents arranged an undercover sting in which they paid about $1,500 to a sheriff's deputy to smuggle a cellphone to an inmate who turned out to be an FBI informant.
The revelation was the first public indication that the FBI probe into allegations of inmate beatings and other deputy misconduct had uncovered possible criminal wrongdoing.
The FBI conducted the cellphone sting against the deputy without notifying top Sheriff's Department officials, angering Baca, who met today with U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte.
Baca complained in a television interview Monday that smuggling a cellphone into a lockup created a serious safety breach and may have constituted a crime.
"The fact the phone came in is against the law. I think that's something that somebody else has to account for besides me," Baca said after the meeting.
Federal authorities are investigating inmate beatings and other acts of misconduct by deputies in the jails.
The allegations include deputies breaking one inmate's jaw and beating another inmate for two minutes while he was unconscious.
Baca said he welcomes an investigation, as long as it was conducted properly.
"There are certain rights that have to be maintained and certain laws that have to be obeyed, and deputies have rights as well," Baca said.
<<Related Story: FBI Investigating Alleged Beatings At Men's Central Jail
