Task Force Report Clears Department, Police Say

An 80-page report by a task force looking into official misconduct within the San Diego Police Department has concluded that the agency is not corrupt, Assistant Chief Norm Stamper said Tuesday.

Without releasing the report, completed by the Metropolitan Homicide Task Force, Stamper said that its “first conclusion is that the San Diego Police Department, its chiefs, its command officer and investigators are not corrupt.”

The task force, which also is investigating the killings of 45 prostitutes and transients since 1985, acknowledged that “instances of misconduct have arisen,” Stamper said.

But the department, the report says, “appears determined to respond appropriately and to improve the systems and personnel to deal with and prevent such misconduct in the future.”

Stamper said the report may be released soon to the public, although some information pertains to police personnel matters, which are protected under state law.

Two years ago, the county grand jury began investigating allegations of sexual liaisons between police officers and prostitutes and other alleged improprieties, leading to speculation about corruption within the department.

The grand jury cleared the department earlier this year after determining it did not have enough evidence to conclude that police officers were involved with prostitutes.

One branch of the task force began looking at possible police corruption in September. It has forwarded several allegations of misconduct to the department’s internal affairs division, but no officer has been criminally charged for any offense.

“I think we can now put to rest rumors and innuendoes and assertions about San Diego police officers,” Stamper said. “It’s about time.”