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Los Angeles County’s Inspector General is retiring as the chief Watchdog of the Sheriff’s department, stepping down from the post he has held since it was first created twelve years ago.
Max Huntsman, 60, announced his plans in a letter on Tuesday.
“It has always been my honor to work with such a talented, courageous, and tireless community group to ensure that the public knows what their government is doing,” he wrote.
Huntsman, a former LA County prosecutor, also included comments that were critical of how the county has responded to community oversight efforts.
He wrote several times, he wrote, the efforts of his office were “ignored” by the County leaders.
“The city is putting all of its efforts into convincing the public and the courts that it is following the law and it is not doing any real self-examination and we need to make changes that will actually follow these laws on Tuesday. “That is not consistent with my oath of office.”
In detailed reports, the inspector general’s office described abuses and failures by the Sheriff’s Department, the La County Probation Department and County leaders. Huntsman’s office has documented poor conditions in the La County jail, which is called the Sheriff’s Department at odds with parts of the Tark Riper Law Enforcement Department, members of whom are accused of misconduct.
The Office of the Inspector General has independently investigated hundreds of on-duty shootings, as well as other use of force incidents. Under Huntsman’s direction, the office also examined the shortage of skilled nursing facilities in the County during the early days of the 19 pandemic.
In 1991, Huntsman graduated from Yale Law School and joined the La County District Attorney’s Office. A father of two, he served as a Deputy Attorney General for 22 years, prosecuting political corruption, police misconduct and fraud cases before leaving the courthouse for the new inspector general’s office.
One of the main reasons the Sheriff’s department is still suffering from some of the hunting problems he faced when he first became inspector general, he wrote on Tuesday, was in the County to quickly implement many of his office’s recommendations.
“In twelve years of this work, I hope for a day that this county will face these conditions in our reports without a court fight,” he wrote. “Some things don’t change.”
The Office of the Inspector General is now expected to transition to sea with the retirement of its only leader.
Huntsman is behind the latest with the latest string of officials to suddenly look from their posts. In JuneLA County Civil Commissioner Robert Bonner told the public that County officials are prohibited from office. Earlier this year, Sean Kennedy, a member of the Commission and its former chair, wipe it out in addition to what he described as computer interference in the Commission’s activities.
Oversight forces themselves have faced cuts. In AugustThe County Office has proposed ending the Sybil Brand Commission, which conducts public oversight of the largest US county jail system.
However, the huntsman and other County officials continued to push for change. For example, in October, lawmakers approved a bill for Congress 847. The law would allow statewide oversight, including the Upper County Labor Commission, to view confidential documents in a closed session.
“When it comes to government action, sometimes it’s kept secret, but that’s no longer the case for much of what’s going on in Los Angeles County,” Huntsman said at the end of his Tuesday letter. “What you do with it is up to you.”
