LOS ANGELES – Sheriff Lee Baca on Monday introduced Terri McDonald as the new Assistant Sheriff of Custody Division.
McDonald will be responsible for overseeing the largest jail system in the nation, with nine custody and correctional facilities and over 18,000 inmates. McDonald will also supervise the Education Based Incarceration Bureau, a component within the Custody Division that focuses on deterring crime by investing in inmates through education and rehabilitation. There are currently 67 inmate programs in the jails through Education Based Incarceration.
“I am both humbled and honored to be chosen as Assistant Sheriff for Los Angeles County,” McDonald said in a press release. “My work over the last 24 years at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has been extremely challenging and fulfilling, and I look forward to working with Sheriff Baca and his team tackling some of the challenges facing the jail system in Los Angeles County.”
McDonald has been with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for 24 years, and most recently held the position of Undersecretary, Operations since 2011.
She was responsible for Adult Institutions, Adult Parole, Division of Juvenile Justice, Office of Correctional Safety, Division of Rehabilitative Programs, Victims Services and the Office of the Ombudsman. McDonald has a degree in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco and has risen through the ranks at the CDCR from a correctional officer to executive level positions.
As Chief Deputy Secretary, appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger, McDonald oversaw and coordinated the implementation of Public Safety Realignment (AB109) within CDCR. She has managed many statewide operations in her professional tenure and has received gubernatorial appointments to the positions of Associate Director, Reception Centers and Chief Deputy Secretary, Operations.
“Assistant Sheriff McDonald is a dedicated professional who brings wisdom into the custody system with deep knowledge in training, policy and management. She will be a pillar within the Department and I look forward to working with her,” said Sheriff Baca in a press release.
During the press conference Monday at Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau, Baca also introduced the new Chief of Homeland Security Division – Ted Sexton.
Sexton has served in various law enforcement positions, including six terms as Tuscaloosa County Sheriff. He will be responsible for overseeing approximately 1,100 sworn and civilian personnel within the Homeland Security Division, which includes the Special Enforcement Bureau, Transit Services Bureau, Reserve Forces Bureau, Emergency Operations Bureau, Aero Bureau, Community College Bureau and County Services Bureau. This Division is responsible for preventing, mitigating, and providing specialized response capabilities to Homeland Security threats and acts of terrorism.
“He brings vast insight into counter terrorism and advances in Homeland Security technology,” Baca said. “Both will have extraordinary opportunities to improve the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and I welcome both of them.”
(Information via press release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.)
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Michael Rives says
Oh, great. Baca just appointed someone who has been involved in the current realignment mess to straighten out the county jails. Here’s the solution: get a legislature with balls to stand up to the feds and go back to the old way of sending felons to prison to do long hard time. No room? Do what Assemblyman Fox suggested: put them in tents. Also, Baca and the LASD has a chance to correct (not with this woman)the custody problems at the jail if they placed veteran sheriffs not rookies to police the jails. Duh? Who knows the thugs better than street-smart sheriffs.