LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca Tuesday announced he will retire at the end of the month after 16 years as the head of the department.

Baca, who was elected to his post in 1998 and re-elected to a fourth term in 2010, made a statement to the public at 10 a.m. about his early departure.

“I am not going to seek re-election as Sheriff and I will retire at the end of this month,” he said. “I’ll turn 72 years old in May and I don’t see myself as part of the future, but as part of the past.”