Photo courtesy of the Facebook page Lou Vince for Los Angeles County Sheriff 

Agua Dulce resident Lou Vince, a detective supervisor with the Los Angeles Police Department, is running for sheriff to bring “a broader perspective” to the Sheriff’s Department, he said Thursday.

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“I see the office of the sheriff as a leader in the criminal justice system,” Vince said, adding that the office of Sheriff provides the opportunity to go beyond just finding the best ways tomake arrests, which is the focus of the LAPD.

“I want to improve outcomes for people, instead of finding new and better ways to put them in jail, which is what cops are in the business of,” Vince said, “and improving the county as a whole.”

Vince touts ideas for a department overhaul including everything from how officers are trained to the bail system to transparency.

The Agua Dulce resident said his children go to school in Canyon Country, and the Santa Clarita Valley is his home.

He felt training sheriff’s deputies by putting them into the jails first was not the best way to train them to interact with the public, because it teaches new deputies to treat the public like criminals.

Sheriff Lee Baca retired in January after 48 years with the Sheriff’s Department, amid federal officials’ indictment of several Sheriff’s Department officials.

Related article: Sheriff Lee Baca Announces Retirement After 48 Years With Department

Sheriff John Scott, former Orange County undersheriff, was appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to replace Baca with the understanding he would not seek a four-year term.

Related article: Lee Baca Replacement: John Scott Named Interim Sheriff

The bail system is also part of our jail-overcrowding problem, Vince said, noting a risk-based system as opposed to a financially based one might be fairer, and keep more dangerous suspects off the streets, as opposed to just those who can’t “afford to write the check.”

To further transparency, he suggested dashboard cameras and lapel cameras, which is part of a pilot program used by LAPD officers.

While noting the rank-and-file initially might bristle at his suggestions, which include a consent decree similar to the LAPD’s allowing for more civilian oversight, he said ultimately, the trust it builds would prompt deputies’ support.

“We can’t be afraid to show the public what we’re doing — we need to have cameras in the jail, every square inch,” he said. “I think the public will realize what a horribly difficult job deputies have.”

He also mentioned three groups, those awaiting pretrial release, the mentally ill and drug offenders, as groups that might benefit from Los Angeles County services outside the jail system.

The race for sheriff of Los Angeles County includes seven candidates who qualified for the ballot: Patrick Gomez, a retired sheriff lieutenant; James Hellmold, an assistant sheriff; Jim McDonnell, chief of the Long Beach Police Department; Bob Olmsted, a retired sheriff commander; Todd Rogers, a Palmdale city councilman and assistant sheriff; and Paul Tanaka, a retired undersheriff.

A report on LATimes.com regarding candidate fundraising noted in the last campaign disclosure period from January to mid-March, Hellmold raised $330,676; McDonnell raised $307,000; Tanaka $266,885; Rogers, $121,614; Olmsted, $46,000; and Vince raised $12,709.

“It’s really about leadership and management,” said Vince, who oversees gangs and narcotics detectives in the western San Fernando Valley and touts “heavy involvement” in the starting of two LAPD stations on his resume.

“I’m not saying it’s going to be 100 percent successful,” he said, “but (the change) is something we need to do to work toward a positive system.”

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