LOS ANGELES – For most of the candidates hoping to become the next Sheriff of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD), the final straw which pushed them to run for office was Sheriff Lee Baca’s retirement in January 2014.
However, former undersheriff Paul Tanaka is not like most candidates. Even before Baca announced his retirement, Tanaka was already sure that he wanted to become the next head of the LASD.
Paul Tanaka joined the field of law enforcement in 1980, when he started his career as a policeman at the El Segundo Police Department.
In 1982, he was transferred to the LASD, where he worked under various capacities in patrol, custody, and recruitment.
Returning the focus
“It was more about deciding and recognizing that the organization needed a change in leadership,” Tanaka said in an exclusive interview with Asian Journal.
Tanaka acknowledged that Baca has done “a lot of great work” in the past. However, over the course of the recent 2-3 years, Baca may have lost his focus, Tanaka observed. Things got a little less attention that they ought to have gotten, Tanaka opined.
When you’re in the business of public safety, Tanaka said that you really have to pay attention to every little detail: “dot every i and cross every t,” he said.
In March 2013, Tanaka announced his supposed retirement in August 2013. During the course of those five months (from March to August), some situations surrounding the LASD forced Tanaka to introspect if running for office as the next Sheriff was something that he really needed to do.
“I’m not running because I want to be Sheriff. I’m running because I believe I’m the most qualified,” Tanaka said.
On August 15, 2013, Tanaka announced his candidacy as Sheriff for LA County.
The former undersheriff has 33 years of experience on the force. He is the only one in the race who has worked his way up — from deputy, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, commander-in-chief, assistant sheriff, and finally, as undersheriff.
Tanaka has served at various LASD stations across Los Angeles. In 2007, as Assistant Sheriff, he had direct command over the Department’s Field Operations Patrol regions, Detective Division, and the Homeland Security Division.
Having spent half of his career in uniform, fighting crime and patrolling the streets of LA County, Tanaka said that he “knows the business of what it is to be a law enforcement officer” in LA.
In addition to his work under the LASD, Tanaka is also the city mayor for the City of Gardena.
He was elected to the Gardena City Council in 1999, and was first elected mayor in 2005. He was re-elected in 2009 and 2013.
As Mayor of Gardena, Tanaka learned about the importance of hands-on management and of keeping track of what’s happening in communities and neighborhoods, to create a brighter future for the citizens of Gardena.
Main mission
For Tanaka, the main missions of law enforcement are: (1) to fight crime, (2) to put criminals to jail, and (3) to make communities in Southern California a lot safer.
Whether living in a quiet and upscale gated community with million-dollar homes or in an area where there is a higher propensity for violence, everyone has a right to live in a neighborhood where there is a sense of safety and security.
With the LASD being responsible for maintaining the security and safety of a large part of the County, Tanaka believes that he is up to the task of ensuring that these three missions are achieved.
“I have a proven track record [in the places I have worked in]. I have provided very sensible solutions to reducing crime,” Tanaka said. He added that everywhere he worked or took command in, crime “has always gone down.”
Approaching the work of law enforcement with these three main missions in mind, Tanaka said that he already knows what the end result will be, and the department only needs to do “what is necessary and what is right” to get there.
(The election for the Los Angeles Sheriff will be on June 3, 2014, during the Statewide Direct Primary Election. A runoff may be held on Nov. 4, 2014 between the top 2 candidates who receive the most votes, if neither receives a majority. If one candidate receives a majority of the votes on June 3rd, that candidate wins and no runoff will be held.)
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend May 31 – June 3, 2014 Sec A pg.7)
