Crime rates fall in sheriff’s patrol areas, report finds

When battling street gangs across Los Angeles County, sheriff’s deputies rely too heavily on suppression and not enough on gang intervention, according to a study released Monday.

By not doing more to connect with the communities they police, the report found, sheriff’s deputies are missing an opportunity to gain the public’s trust.

However, the report — put out by Merrick Bobb, special counsel to the county Board of Supervisors — acknowledged that crime rates inside sheriff’s jurisdictions have fallen dramatically, and comparably to the areas patrolled by the LAPD, which more commonly uses gang interventionists.

Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said “the crime rates are at historic lows, but we can always do better.” He said the department already has programs to keep youths out of gangs and rehabilitate inmates, but Sheriff Lee Baca believes more can be done to improve gang intervention.

Gangs are to blame for a bulk of violent crime in sheriff’s patrol areas, which make up about three-quarters of the county. Sheriff’s statistics show that about 59% of homicides and 9% of assaults are directly linked to gangs, according to the report. In the last three years, there have been 2,200 gang assaults and 309 gang-related killings inside the sheriff’s jurisdiction.

The department’s strategy has focused mainly on having each station captain identify the gang causing the most violence in the area, then setting up a plan to go after the group. The highest-profile members are targeted for arrests, even for minor crimes.

“The theory behind the strategy,” according to the report, “was that once the active leaders of the gang were in jail, and the other gang members realized that there was a zero-tolerance approach to criminal activity, the structure of the gang would fall apart.”

Although he commended the department for multiple community outreach programs, Bobb said that working more with gang interventionists might help prevent gang wars.

“The intervener can negotiate, mediate and resolve disputes without resorting to violence,” he said.

The county Board of Supervisors contracts with Bobb to provide monitoring of the Sheriff’s Department and issue two reports a year.

Monday’s report also found that the department’s system for reviewing incidents in which deputies use significant force on suspects is, for the most part, “thoughtful and thorough.” How department supervisors investigate force, and mete out discipline when it’s deemed excessive, has come under scrutiny in the last couple of years as the FBI investigates allegations of abuse inside the sheriff’s jails.

robert.faturechi@latimes.com