Sheriff Block Aims to Put Year of Scandal, Violence Behind Him

Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block predicted Wednesday that a federal grand jury soon will complete its investigation of alleged money skimming by sheriff’s narcotics officers.

“I believe 1990 will see this case dealt with and put behind us,” said an optimistic Block in a year-end assessment of his department. “We would probably see their work completed sometime in February.”

Block did not predict whether indictments will result from the federal and local investigation into allegations that some deputies stole money seized from drug dealers. The department suspended 18 deputies in September, shortly after the scandal broke. None have been charged to date.

Block said the money-skimming scandal “had a significant impact on the department.”

“There was an overwhelming sense of betrayal on the part of most members of this department,” said Block. “(They) felt very sad that the reputation of the department had been impacted negatively.”

Block also said that the number of gang-related homicides is expected to top last year’s countywide record of 452 by the end of the year.

“This has been a significantly violent year in Los Angeles County,” said the sheriff. “Particularly, the level of gang violence has escalated throughout the county. Last year there was a record number of gang-related homicides. We know the number will exceed 500 by a significant number when all of the statistics are in by year’s end.”

Further underscoring the increase in violence in the region, the sheriff noted that there have also been 37 deputy-involved shootings in 1989, six more than last year.

The Sheriff’s Department came under criticism for a variety of incidents besides the money-skimming scandal.

The department was heavily criticized in August after deputies failed to respond to an emergency call by an East Los Angeles woman who was gunned down minutes after she had told deputies her husband was planning to kill her. Three of her house guests were also killed in the shooting rampage.

In another incident, two deputies were dismissed this year after they allegedly burned a cross in front of black inmates at the Los Angeles County Jail.

Another deputy, narcotics investigator Rickey S. Ross, was arrested in the murder of three Los Angeles prostitutes in February. Ross, who was fired after his arrest, was freed after prosecutors found that ballistics tests had mistakenly linked him to the slayings.

Despite the embarrassing string of troubles, Block said the agency will “go forward (next year) and be even better than we have been in the past.”

“As an organization, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has established a reservoir of credibility and integrity that has enabled us to weather these incidents,” said Block.

Block conceded that this year’s problems have “brought a great deal of embarrassment and concern to the department.” He also forecast relief in jail overcrowding and the return of capital punishment.

“We will see the first executions in this state in years,” said Block. “Perhaps even in the first quarter of 1990 we will see some, which will bring an outcry against capital punishment.”

Block said the North County Correctional Facility, expected to open in February, will greatly relieve the county’s congested jail system. He added that the county will also complete a 2,300-bed expansion of the Central Jail, despite a lawsuit by the city of Los Angeles to prevent the addition.