This story, like the previous one that was basically the same Investigation, However there was never any follow up Story, about how any prosecution or Disciplinary action was taken. So, if there was nothing that came of the first Investigation, such as a Disciplinary Plan that was undertaken, against the guilty especially after the story was in the L.A. Times!
Now it is back inside the L.A. Times indicates to me that the people that were in charge of the Investigation it, seemed that they were, just waiting for the report that was in the L.A. Times to be forgotten then they just swept the investigation under the rug, as Unfounded!! But with the whole thing reopened means that it was not unfounded, and that they were wrong to make the whole investigation disappear the first time around!!
Lets pray that they get it right this time!!!
Then you have to wonder how many other Southern California Jails and County Officials have been collecting this kind of benefit from their job!! Makes everyone wonder!!
BS Ranch
...NOT AGAIN!?
Sheriff probes allegations that officials received gifts
The firm that sells snacks and beverages to jail inmates says it spent about $35,000 in 'client hospitality' on executives in eight years.
By Stuart Pfeifer
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 26, 2007
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is investigating whether some of its executives improperly accepted gifts and entertainment from the company that has a multimillion-dollar contract to sell snacks and beverages to County Jail inmates, sheriff's officials said Tuesday.
Compass Group USA Inc. spent about $35,000 on "client hospitality" for sheriff's executives between 1997 and 2005, according to a report released Tuesday by the county auditor-controller. The company sold more than $78 million worth of merchandise to County Jail inmates between 2000 and 2005. Compass has acknowledged that it often bought lunch during meetings with sheriff's employees. In addition, the company paid for golf outings for sheriff's employees and bought them tickets to a Celine Dion concert, according to one source familiar with the investigation.
During its review, the auditor-controller identified sheriff's employees who accepted about $11,000 worth of gifts from Compass. The auditor forwarded those names to the Sheriff's Department and district attorney's office, but did not disclose the names in Tuesday's report.The sheriff's investigation will look at whether the department's executives violated department policy that prohibits employees from accepting gifts from the public. It will also examine whether the executives followed state law that requires government officials to disclose gifts they receive worth more than $50.
Michael Gennaco, chief attorney for the sheriff's Office of Independent Review, which monitors the department's internal-affairs investigations, confirmed the department's investigation into the Compass gifts. "There's an investigation ongoing. Once it's completed, we can talk about the outcome and the number of people who were held accountable, if any, and we'll describe the incidents," Gennaco said. Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for Sheriff Lee Baca, said the department would release the names of the employees who have been identified as recipients of Compass hospitality, but only after it completes its investigation.
"We're going to release the list, but we can't do that until the internal affairs investigation is completed," Whitmore said. "The Sheriff's Department has decided to release the names so the public doesn't think we're protecting anybody." Prosecutors are awaiting the completion of the sheriff's internal affairs investigation before determining whether any sheriff's employees violated criminal law, according to Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley. The policy prohibiting gratuities from the public is open to interpretation. Sheriff Lee Baca has accepted more than $40,000 in gifts, including meals and golf outings, since taking office in 1998.
In an interview last year, the sheriff said the policy was intended to prevent deputies from accepting gifts from business owners and the public to avoid the appearance that sheriff's services are for sale. He said the policy did not apply to celebrities who pick up his golf tabs or companies that send him fruit baskets around the holidays. The sheriff said he gives many of the gifts, including sports tickets and food baskets, to department employees.
He said he reports all gifts worth more than $50 on his statement of economic interest, as required by state law. Whether the Compass gifts were a violation of department policy is now under review, said Whitmore, the sheriff's spokesman. "We're certainly going to examine the audit carefully. We take it seriously," Whitmore said. "And we will then take the next appropriate step. And that depends on what the investigation finds," he said.
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