Investigation of Sheriff’s Dept.

In response to your editorial (Sept. 11) applauding Los Angeles Sheriff Sherman Block’s creation of a citizens’ committee to investigate the performance of the Sheriff’s Department, we assume Block’s intentions are good. However, to ensure total independence, we strongly urge the county Board of Supervisors to call for their own blue-ribbon investigation of the Sheriff’s Department.

This independent commission, representing a broad cross section of this community, must be given a date for completion of its report and a clear sense of mission. The sheriff’s committee is being asked to meet quarterly with no closure date, no supervision, no accountability other than to the sheriff, and with no clear agenda other than that set by the sheriff.

All citizens want the laws enforced. We are supporters of the sheriff’s hard-working men and women and recognize they are dealing with the results of problems none of us has yet successfully tackled. We want them protected by the same laws that protect all of us, including discrimination laws, right-to-due-process laws and civil rights laws. We also want them held accountable to those same laws.

SYDNEY WEISMAN

Urban Affairs Chair

American Jewish Congress

Los Angeles