Undersheriff in charge of troubled jails retires
Posted: 03/07/2013
Last Updated:
79 days ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) -
Paul Tanaka, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's second in command who oversaw the agency's troubled jails, has announced his retirement.
Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore says Tanaka informed executive staff of his decision at a Wednesday afternoon meeting.
Tanaka, 54, has been with the department for 32 years, Whitmore said. His retirement is effective Aug. 1.
Whitmore says Tanaka's resignation is not related to a federal investigation into allegations of brutality toward inmates in the county's jails.
Whitmore says Tanaka felt it was time to go, and wants to spend more time with his 3 1/2-year-old son.
Tanaka, who is Japanese, created the Asian Crimes Task Force in the 1990s to target criminals preying on the Asian community, Whitmore says.
Tanaka was reelected as mayor of Gardena Tuesday.
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