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Newfound Respect for OCDA’s Office
By JL "Buzz" Aguirre | 09/03/09 | 07:14 PM EDT | 9 Comments
As we continue to look into the effectiveness of the handoff between the various county law enforcement agencies and the Orange County District Attorney's (OCDA) office, Various patterns start to emerge:
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By far, OCDA's largest customer is the Orange County Sheriff's department with a share of 16% of the more than 60,000 cases submitted to the DA's office for 2009 as of August 21, 2009
Of the more than 100 law enforcement agencies handing off cases to the OCDA's office, the largest is the OCSD.
Other submitting agencies include the OCSD's Crime Lab with a total of 38, Los Angeles County Sheriff with 32, the Department of Motor Vehicles with 22, Saddleback College with 13 and the USPO with one.
June and July are the two months in 2009 with the heaviest case load. Of the more than 60,000 cases handled by the OCDA's office, only 16% have been rejected, 7% still pending and 77% of the cases have been filed.
The sheer number of agencies submitting cases to the OCDA's office and the total number of cases lends a new appreciation for what the DA's office goes through. Also lends credibility to our notion that for proper follow up and accountability, a closed loop corrective action must be put in place by the Orange County Board of Supervisors
TAGS: Law enforcement, LE, OCSD, OCDA, SAPD, CHP, HBPD, GGPD
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9 Comments | Related Topics »Orange County (CA)
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Comments
This is a very interesting and useful article. Everyone should pay close attention to it.
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|We are expecting informartion from other le agencies around the county, including the CHP. Stay tuned.
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|What hookah are you smoking? Every case submitted to the Court for filing goes through the District Attorney's Office, unless it is some petty infraction handled by some city attorney. The Sheriff's Department serves approximately 500,000 residents in Orange County through its contract cities and unincorporated areas. Santa Ana serves just under 400,000. That's a bitt less than Anaheim, but most people who have spent time in both areas knows why there would be more need for serious court filings in Santa Ana. What is all of the gushing over these numbers and what is the big concern for the Board of Supervisors? You guys can't be that obtuse.
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|Good to hear this is no news for such an acute intellect. Based on these figures, do you suppose the OCDA’s office is worthy of adulation? If not, why not?
Of course you already know that the OCDA’s office deals with over 100 law enforcement agencies in the county.
Of course you already know the logistical implications. Of course you already know that of the 60,000 + cases, the office has only rejected 16% and that a whopping 77% of the cases have been filed.
Now, do you know exactly how many cases were forwarded by the Santa Ana PD and the OCSD and how many fell through the cracks? And if so, how do you know? And if not, why not?
Do you know how an investigator can neglect dozens of criminal cases and misrepresent her efforts in order to cover for a lack of sufficient work, and get away with it unless the OCSD's OIR can get into the act?
Or what about an investigator working on a case weeks prior to the incident being posted, then residents asking to know how the case was being handled are simply ignored?
Is this a problem with the system, with management or is it even a problem? Before you answer, consider that law enforcement contracts between the county and the cities do not include ANY compliance metrics, AND the OIR is not conversant with the use of metrics related to personal or departmental accountability
Is the OIR redundant, given there is a management structure AND an Internal Affairs unit? If not, why not? What does that say about personal accountability?
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|Hey Anon, you sound like a Board Supervisor!!! Its people like you that minimize the damage you cause the residents. There is a BIG concern about the Board of Supervisors -- interesting that you don't think there's a problem. Also interesting that anyone who brings this up or draws attention to them gets accused of "smoking something." Cotobuzz must be on the right track. Needless to say, the DA has a lot to answer for as well. I'd like to see some independent review on Riverside County Sheriff's Dept. There's huge problems out there with those rogue Sheriffs. I would even go so far as to question backhanders and under-the-table dealings, and biased treatment of some citizens while collaborating with others that they should not. In Riverside, it looks like the County Departments (Fill in the Blanks, ie, pick your "Dept") work in unison to achieve a "calculated" result (even if the the "innocent party" suffers defeat in that calculated result) -- be it court filings, agency filings, or mere citizen complaints at say, for example, the Sheriff's Dept. I won't stop short of stating "corruption." If EVER someone should investigate a Department the time is NOW. The majority of police departments in and around Los Angeles, Riverside, OC, have overworked the mantra "its a civil matter" and ship the problems elsewhere. However, most of these problems are NOT civil. The real problem is that once on the payroll, these so-called civil servants DO NOT WANT TO WORK, they DO NOT WANT TO DO THEIR JOBS, they merely want to bide their time, get the paycheck and the pensions and the holiday pay and the vacation time. So the game of "shuffle the problems elsewhere" begins. Hmmm, smoking "what" did you say????
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|Good article! Good stats. The public should take a close look at this and the Board of Supervisors and City Council should lodge investigations.
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|It is said that figures do not lie, but liars figure - and as Rudy Guliani used to say, "if you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it" - so as we dig into how various county agencies manage accountability, we either get stares of dis-belief, blank stares, or simply dis-connects. It is fair to say that we have yet to receive an acceptable response to the question - and in many cases, we do not even get a response.
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|The only thing smokin' in Laguna Woods is the pot being grown in the community gardens with the apparent blessing of both their management and GRF. Maybe Annonymous would like to be on the other end of things once or twice and see how it feels. The demand for accountability on several levels continues and thanks to the CotoBuzz there has been some decent pressure mounted. Perhaps OCSD and OCDA will begin to listen. Isn't it nice that whenever an election rolls around suddenly there are more ears than mouths?
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|Nothing like walking a mile in someone else's shoes to finally get it. Reminds me of the legislated success of the OIR complaint process - it works! Not realizing that those who complain can be easily victimized anew and this time by the system they used to complain with. Now as for that smoke I see coming from the Village, I thought it was laughing gas, as everybody seemed to be having a great time! ;-)
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