Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca stepped down today. In so doing, he kept his word. He is now part of the department's past and not its future.
He leaves behind a scandal-ridden department that is at the center of three federal probes, including two civil rights and one criminal investigation.
But the truth is many of the problems that now face the department precede Baca. The gang-like deputy cliques excessive force by deputies on patrol and the jail house violence date back decades.
In fact, the ACLU of Southern California sued then-Sheriff Peter Pitchess more than 30 years ago over conditions in the jails--conditions that a federal judge concluded were unconstitutional and inhumane.
Since then, we have continued to denounce the abuses that take place in the nation's largest jail system. The sheriff has dismissed our findings each time, even when confronted with more than 70 affidavits from victims and eyewitnesses, including chaplains and an ACLU monitor, who witnessed brutal beatings of inmates.
Baca's departure and the arrival of John Scott as the interim sheriff of the department is an historic moment. This change could finally result in transformation of the culture of a department that has for too long prized loyalty to the top brass over honesty and accountability.
Scott has pledged to push for much needed changes during his 10-month tenure. He isn't the first to offer such promises. Baca also vowed to usher in a new era of policing when he took over.
We look forward to working with Scott to implement many of the vital recommendations the ACLU and the Citizens' Commission on Jail Violence have made. Those reforms include greater transparency when dealing with complaints of deputy misconduct and adoption of clear rules on use of force and a zero tolerance policy towards deputies who fail to follow the rules, or who lie to protect their fellow officers. We also urge Sheriff Scott to take the lead in dealing with the long-festering problem of jail overcrowding by, among other things, pushing the Board of Supervisors to give him the authority to release on electronic monitoring pre-trial detainees who pose no risk to public safety. That authority, which the Orange County Board of Supervisors has already given its sheriff, will help relieve jail crowding, allow for the long-overdue closure of Men's Central Jail, and minimize the need for unnecessary and expensive new jail construction.
Of course, much of the work can't be finished in 10 months, and will require the cooperation and commitment of the next elected sheriff. He or she will be tasked with ensuring that the department doesn't revert back to business as usual.
The LA Sheriff's Department has become a national example of law enforcement gone wrong. Scott and his successor can change that sorry example and make it a department that demonstrates real reform is possible, if only they seize this rare opportunity.
Cross-posted from the Huffington Post; Hector Villagra is executive director at the ACLU of Southern California. Follow him: @HectorSoCalACLU

I lost my drive after my older brother Rufus was sentenced. I didn't care. I didn't trust. That was my attitude. Rufus was the father figure I looked up to. When he went to jail for the rest of his life, I started looking up to his buddies. A lot of them are dead or in jail now.
This is my family’s story, but it didn’t have to be this way.

When you’re young, it’s like you're sold a dream. I was in community college for filmmaking, getting to class on time every day. One time I even got behind the camera and practiced for broadcast. The director was telling me to move the camera through my earpiece. I tell you it was amazing.
But the dream crumbled. If you go to a doctor and that doctor doesn't help you, you're not going to trust that doctor. That's how I saw the justice system, the cops. They say they're there to serve and protect, they’re there for law and order. But it was like they wanted my brother and me to go to jail. They threw us away.
One night I was on my way to a party, and the police stopped the car I was in. They told us to lie with our faces in the gravel while they looked at our ID. They said that I was driving with a felon, which violated my parole. I pleaded with these people. Why am I going to jail? What is it accomplishing? Nothing, but it’s keeping me out of school. That really messed me up. I had to drop out of school. It was like crumbling. Like falling.
I’m not the only one. Instead of serving and protecting, the laws we have on the books throw people away. But I know the story could be different. These laws are made, and we can change them.
The only way I see to take a stand is for everyone to come together. Things would get better if the authorities would show people something other than harassment. Things would get better if people would speak against laws like the one that took my brother away for something so petty. Right now, the authorities see us as the enemy and we're looking at them as the enemy. But we've got to put the differences aside and come together on something good. You know what I'm saying?
I'm not thinking of myself anymore. When I hear my kids call me “Daddy, daddy,” I love it. I want to tell them the things I had to learn on my own. I see big things for my kids. I want the story to be different for my kids.
It’s time to reform mandatory minimum sentencing policies that are extreme, ineffective, and waste taxpayer dollars. One way we can rollback some of the mandatory minimums in the federal system is by urging Congress to pass the bipartisan Smarter Sentencing Act, which will give judges the ability to determine sentences that fit the crime. Click here to take action.
Cross-posted from ACLU Blog of Rights; by Lance White.