Countywide : NAACP Arm Calls Deputies Insensitive

The Ventura County branch of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People has accused the Sheriff’s Department of racial insensitivity and an increased pattern of harassment that includes stopping blacks without cause and drawing guns on them.

In a letter to the Board of Supervisors, John Hatcher, president of the branch, asked that the county hire a black consultant to give deputies racial-sensitivity training.

“The black community will no longer tolerate the inhumane treatment of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department,” he wrote. “If this matter is not addressed in a quick and efficient manner, we will request assistance from the United States Department of Justice.”

The complaints were dismissed by Assistant Sheriff Richard Bryce, who said the allegations in the letter, which do not include names or dates, may be an attempt to capitalize on the Rodney King incident in Los Angeles.

However, Bryce said Sheriff John Gillespie decided Friday to assign the department’s minority relations committee to look into the charges.

In an interview Friday, Hatcher said the allegations are not connected to the police beating of King. He said he would have provided the Sheriff’s Department with specific examples of harassment if he believed the allegations would be investigated.

“These are legitimate complaints,” Hatcher said.

Hatcher said he has also heard complaints about black prisoners being beaten by deputies at the County Jail. He said the complaints about harassment have been voiced at local meetings of the NAACP.