(From the L.A. Times) Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said Tuesday that he is considering sweeping budget cuts that would move hundreds of deputies from administrative assignments to street patrols, slash overtime payments and downsize the Pitchess Detention Center in northern L.A. County.

But Baca said the department was “still a long way away” from more drastic steps, including pay cuts, furloughs and accelerating the early releases of inmates from the county jail system.

The cuts Baca outlined Tuesday total $128 million over the next 16 months — or about 9% of the sheriff’s nearly $1.3-billion general fund budget.

Most of the savings — about $58 million — would be achieved through reductions in overtime. Sheriff’s officials said many of the uniformed deputies assigned to administrative duties would work schedules that otherwise would be filled by deputies accruing overtime.

Read more here: L.A. County sheriff considers major budget cuts