Oversight Panel

* Re “Sheriff Takes Dramatic Step for Closer Civilian Oversight,” June 5: Not taking anything away from the honest cop who walks the beat, but the recent scandal at Rampart has brought up some serious questions about police misconduct and policing in predominantly black and Latino impoverished communities. Sheriff Lee Baca’s proposal that would “add attorneys with civil rights expertise at various levels of the Sheriff’s Department” will be a great asset for communities like Rampart where some individual rights are as worthless as fool’s gold or an opportunist politician.

JOHN MENDOZA

Pomona

*

Baca calls this civilian oversight: six civilian lawyers and a panel of retired judges with salaries ranging from $212,000 to $159,436. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky calls this idea “historic and likened it to the Emancipation Proclamation.” He must see a civil war coming.

This idea is an insult to everyone who gets up in the morning and goes to work--more high-priced inertia. Who wants a bunch of lawyers and retired judges investigating and reviewing the police? These certainly aren’t what you would think of as civilians.

Sorry, just another dumb idea that is going to cost the taxpayers big bucks.

ANDY LEVINSON

Thousand Oaks