Diversity Is Urged for Review Panel

A coalition of civil and legal rights groups joined forces Thursday to make certain that the voter-approved citizens review board for the Sheriff’s Department includes broad racial and ethnic representation and has the full authority to investigate all potential misconduct.

Representatives of several groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Friends Service Committee, the Chicano Federation, the San Diego Criminal Defense Bar Assn. and other organizations said they are urging the county to form a 15-member board, add a full-time attorney and provide more than one investigator.

During November’s election, voters gave county supervisors the authority to establish the board to investigate any allegation of department misconduct, including use of excessive force, illegal search and seizure, false arrest and criminal conduct.

The county has recommended an 11-member board with an executive director, one investigator, a secretary and an outside attorney. It estimated the board would cost the county $337,000 a year.

Coalition members warned that supervisors should not skimp on the review board’s costs and spend enough money to attract a qualified attorney, director and investigators.

In addition, the coalition said that board members should reflect “the full diversity of our county population,” and change a county requirement that only eligible voters be considered.

“Our county’s population includes a significant number of permanent residents not yet eligible as electors because they are not U.S. citizens,” the coalition’s position paper said. “Given the problems that the immigrant community has experienced with the Sheriff’s Department (e.g., the Poway ‘roundup’ of migrants), we recommend that this requirement be changed to delete the ‘qualified elector’ requirement.”

Mike Crowley, an attorney who works with the ACLU, said the coalition will work to overturn state laws that protect the confidentiality of police discipline cases.

County supervisors sent a draft ordinance establishing the review panel for circulation to a number of community groups and organizations, and have asked citizens to apply for membership on the review panel. The board is scheduled to consider the ordinance Jan. 29 and Feb. 5 before adopting it.

The collective bargaining unit that represents most Sheriff’s deputies and officers is fighting the review panel. The Deputy Sheriff’s Assn. says county officials failed to “meet and confer” with representatives of the organization before putting the measure on the ballot.