Sheriffs Push for Passage of Sales Tax Measure

Sherman Block and Brad Gates, sheriffs of Los Angeles and Orange counties, joined a dozen other ranking law enforcement officers Wednesday in warning that California police agencies will be devastated, and public safety will suffer, if voters reject the extension of a half-cent sales tax, Proposition 172, in the Nov. 2 special election.

Gov. Pete Wilson was also scheduled to join the news conference at the Biscailuz jail facility in East Los Angeles, but organizers said Wilson’s flight from Sacramento was grounded by mechanical trouble.

The news conference was held against a backdrop of prisoners playing basketball in the facility’s recreation yard. At the end of his speech, Block declared: “If 172 fails, they’ll be playing basketball in your neighborhood, because this is one of the facilities that will be closed.” He said failure of the measure would force the release of 5,000 inmates in Los Angeles County.