Sherman Block : For L.A. Sheriff, King Fallout Means All Life Is Now on Videotape

Sheriff Sherman Block’s office is only a few blocks from Los Angeles Police Department headquarters. Yet, although he and LAPD Chief Daryl F. Gates head the area’s major law-enforcement agencies, their public personas and personalities are far different.

While Gates is now known nationwide for his combative demeanor and his hip-shot quotes, the bespectacled Block, with his bland deportment, remains virtually unrecognizable outside Los Angeles. But Block, 67, commands an agency that covers more territory than the LAPD, provides services for 42 contract cities and boasts of being the largest Sheriff’s Department in the free world--with 12,000 employees, including nearly 7,900 deputies.

For the past two years, Block and his department have struggled with their own spate of unfavorable publicity. Seven members of the sheriff’s elite narcotics investigation teams were convicted of skimming money during drug raids. Another trial, beginning later this month, stems from allegations that deputies beat drug dealers and stole their money. Some critics claim sheriff’s deputies rival the LAPD officers in use of excessive force. But the Sheriff Department’s troubles have been eclipsed by the Rodney G. King beating and its aftermath.

Public image is important to Block, who works hard at polishing his department’s reputation. He holds a monthly open house for reporters, and his affable nature is rarely ruffled by hostile questions. First appointed in 1982, Block has won two election campaigns by lopsided margins. He is a Republican, yet regularly wins bipartisan support for the nonpartisan office.

His office is six floors below the jail cells at the Hall of Justice, but the decor seems more like that of a grandfatherly pediatrician than a senior law enforcement official. On the desk are a decanter of jelly beans and wooden toys made by inmates. On the floor is a rocking horse with rag-doll riders. Nearby is a huge, stuffed toy polar bear and cub.

As he spoke, Block sipped decaffeinated coffee from a cup emblazoned with “Grandpa”--a gift from his grandson. Block and his wife, Alyce, who live in the San Fernando Valley, have a son and a daughter, who is a sheriff’s lieutenant. Following successful surgery for prostate cancer last January, Block scoffs at reports that he may step down before his term expires in 1994.

After 35 years in the Sheriff’s Department, the Chicago-born, former Jewish delicatessen operator says this is a critical time for local law enforcement. As he spoke, he tapped a copy of the Christopher Commission report on his desk.

Question: What ramifications do the Christopher Commission findings have for your department?

Answer: I--and my staff--would be foolish not to review the report very carefully. In fact, we have distributed many, many copies of the report throughout the department--at least at the unit commander’s level and above. It’s an opportunity for us to look at some of their findings, some of their recommendations and review testimony . . . . Some recommendations, obviously, we will just discard as being either inappropriate, unnecessary or unworkable or whatever. But it is getting a very, very close review.

Q: Do you think the commission’s report was a fair assessment of the LAPD?

A: That’s difficult to say, because the things they focused on--the complaint process, the use of the MDTs (Mobile Digital Terminals), the allegations of internal racism or sexism or those things--I can’t comment on, because I just don’t know. Those are all internal issues.

Q: Were there any findings that particularly troubled you?

A: I certainly found the content of the radio transmissions that were released disturbing . . . . There are always people who will misuse that kind of system: making small talk, making appointments, making dates. People do it. It becomes their communication system. You have to deal with that, because that’s inappropriate use of the system. But some of the comments were quite shocking, really.

Q: The Sheriff’s Department has a similar communication system. Have you checked to see if racist or sexist transmissions are going on between your deputies?

A: . . . . There has been a random review process . . . . What happens is that they will randomly take, say, one hour during a week, and it will be the responsibility of the watch commander to request those transmissions for that period of time from communications and then review those and take whatever action is appropriate.

As I say, during those reviews we have found misuse of the system, because there were conversations going on that were not part of their official duties. But to my knowledge, in all that’s been reported to me, we have not seen transmissions of that nature. By that, we mean racial, sexist and very, very offensive kinds of things.

Q: Among the commission recommendations is a suggestion that the Los Angeles police chief be appointed to a maximum of two five-year terms and that he be removed from civil-service protection. What do you think of those recommendations?

A: This was discussed with me when I appeared before the Christopher Commission, and they asked me if I had any input on this subject. One of the problems is where do you look for the role model? I don’t think that anyone can point to any major metropolitan police department in the United States where the police chief serves at the pleasure of the mayor, and usually serves a very short tenure, that those are departments that are models of integrity or efficiency or incorruptibility or anything. So, I don’t know what could be gained by that appointment process.

Q: And the limited tenure?

A: Again, I’m not sure. I don’t know what the answer is. One of the things that came to my mind is that if a police chief knows exactly how long he or she is going to serve, and if everyone else knows exactly how long that person is going to serve, at what point in their tenure do they cease to be effective? At what point do people decide to just wait him out? At what point does that chief start thinking where do I go from here and look for another job? I don’t know. I honestly do not know what the answer is and what is the best way.

. . . . If they are going to put a tenure on the police chief, that tenure should not change the civil-service protection that the chief has. I would hate to see the combination of a purely political appointment along with the (limited) tenure.

Q: So your primary concern is the danger of politicizing the process?

A: It has (happened) everywhere in the United States . . . in a major city. I go to these major (police) chief meetings. Since I’ve been going as the sheriff, I’ve seen a turnover several times in the major cities. I’ve seen a number of different police chiefs in Chicago . . . in New York . . . in Philadelphia, in Washington, D.C.--you name the cities. I realize, at some point, there comes a time for people to move on, so I don’t know that tenure, in and of itself, is a bad thing.

Q: Is a lame-duck police chief more of a concern because he heads a law-enforcement agency?

A: It could be, and let me tell you why. When someone hires on to be a law-enforcement officer, they understand very clearly that the job itself cannot offer any predictability or certainty. The nature of the work is such that, from one incident to another, they don’t know what they are going to face--and they’re prepared to deal with the dangers. They’re prepared to deal with the emotional roller coasters. They’re prepared for all this, or they shouldn’t come into law enforcement.

But I think there are certain things that they have a right to have an expectation of stability and predictability. I think the organization, (for) one. Things like your family is another. When those things are uncertain--on top of the job itself--then I think it’s a very, very stressful situation. For that reason, without getting involved in the dispute, I think that Chief Gates is correct in saying that he would not want to see an interim chief. I think an interim chief would be very disruptive--particularly during a time of crisis and conflict. I think it would add to the uncertainty and the stress the people there are feeling.

Q: By the time your own term is over, you will have served more than 10 years. Daryl Gates has been in office for 13. What do you think about the 10-year limit?

A: I don’t think that anybody has a magic number. I think this is subjective, a value judgment that people have made, and it may turn out to be very correct. But as I say, I don’t know where that number came from . . . . I don’t think there’s any role model out there on which to make an objective determination. It may turn out to be the greatest recommendation of all time. I really don’t know.

Q: Some critics have maintained that the Sheriff’s Department is as bad as the LAPD in excessive-force cases. There even have been calls for an independent commission to investigate your department.

A: I don’t know how bad they are in the Los Angeles Police Department. I know what exists in our department. I know what our procedures are. I know what our disciplinary practices are, and I’m very, very comfortable . . . . I’m answerable to the ultimate review board--which is the citizens of this county. And if I choose to be a candidate for reelection, they will have every right and every opportunity to decide whether or not the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is doing a proper job. And I believe we are.

Q: Would you welcome an inquiry?

A: No, I don’t need such an inquiry. The grand jury looks at our department. Any time a complaint is registered, they make an inquiry. The Department of Justice, if it receives complaints, makes an inquiry. I don’t think these people can put together a group who are in a better position to determine whether we have any training needs or anything of that nature . . . . We have a process of introspection that goes on constantly.

Q: Do you empathize with Daryl Gates?

A: Sure, I empathize with the position of the chief. Some of what the chief is experiencing now are expressions of legitimate concerns by some people. On the other hand, I think some of what he is experiencing are the expressions of individuals who are interested in perhaps gaining their own visibility and attention and have their own agenda. It’s a mixed bag. I think, certainly, the King incident was very, very serious, in fact, perhaps as serious as any incident that has occurred in Southern California law enforcement in many, many, many years.

Q: Do you believe he should resign?

A: No, I don’t believe he should resign. I believe that he has every intention of participating in an orderly transition. I really believe that, based not necessarily on discussions but based on some personal insight I have of Daryl Gates over years of association. But I think that he feels very deeply that he owes it to the men and women in his department to ensure that the transition is, in fact, an orderly one, that (it) will not be one that will add to the stresses created by uncertainty and unpredictability. So, I can’t put a time frame on it. But if the City Council proceeds with the ballot effort, the charter change and so forth, then I would expect that sometime in early or mid-1992, Daryl would depart . . . .

He is not going to resign and just walk away and leave things in a state of flux. I don’t think that’s his style.

Q: Have you ever thought that, there, but for the grace of God and the power of videotape, it could have been you and your department rather than the LAPD and Daryl Gates?

A: I would hope that every law-enforcement officer in the United States goes about his job with that thought in mind--that every action they take may, in fact, be at that moment the subject of a video camera. I’m not advocating that people in law enforcement become paranoid--and I’m not suggesting for one moment that people refrain from doing what has to be done. These are trained professionals. They know their job, and I was asked the question, just recently, if the men and women are going to be gun-shy and not do what they believe should be done. No, I don’t think so. I think they’re professionals, and I think they are going to do what they believe has to be done. Life will go on.