Supposing It’s True? : Judge’s finding should light a fire under sheriff’s commission

A respected member of the federal bench has found that a “neo-Nazi, white supremacist gang” of deputies worked at the Lynwood station with the knowledge of superiors who “tacitly authorized” alleged violence. That unusually strong language from U. S. District Judge Terry J. Hatter Jr. provides more fodder for the citizens advisory committee examining the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The judge used his findings to support an order directing the department to follow its own established policies on the use of force and searches. The federal appeals court has temporarily stayed that decision. The department is not bound by the order until the issue is fully litigated.

The federal court will eventually determine if deputies violated the civil rights of blacks and Latinos in Lynwood. That debate also spurs larger questions in the wake of four recent controversial shootings by deputies.

The resulting criticism prompted Sheriff Sherman Block to appoint his own citizens committee to make recommendations to reform the department. Unlike the independent Christopher Commission, which examined the Los Angeles Police Department with great speed and thoroughness after the police beating of Rodney King, the sheriff’s group so far has neither staff nor money. That’s worrisome. We can only hope that the committee can use its expertise and network of connections to get the job done. Hatter’s findings should certainly light a fire under it.

The sheriff’s committee must probe forcefully and fully, and recommend concrete reforms. If it can accomplish that, it can influence the department profoundly because the sheriff is involved in the process.

If the committee cannot do the job--and it must quickly demonstrate that it can--then an independent commission will need to take up the task.