Sheriff’s Citizen Panel Agrees to Delay Probe of Department

Bowing to the wishes of Sheriff Sherman Block, a citizens committee agreed Monday to suspend its investigation into allegations of brutality by sheriff’s officers until a judge finishes his own probe.

Block created the citizens panel in September after a Board of Supervisors’ hearing on allegations that his deputies use excessive force, especially against poor, inner-city minorities.

But the sheriff earlier this month asked the group to postpone its inquiry after the supervisors named a retired Superior Court judge as a special counsel to investigate the department.

From the outset, Block’s panel was criticized for lacking independence.

The supervisors, some of whom complained they had been left out of the selection process, in December named retired Superior Court Judge James Kolts as a special counsel to investigate the department. Kolts is being assisted by Merrick Bobb, an attorney who helped investigate allegations of brutality in the Los Angeles Police Department after the Rodney G. King beating.

On Jan 3, Block asked members of his panel to postpone their investigation until Kolts completes his inquiry July 15. Block argued that the judge’s probe would be “significantly duplicative” of the committee’s work.

At the conclusion of Monday’s closed-door session, attorney Gloria Allred, a co-chair of Block’s panel, said the sheriff had restated his position during the meeting. She said the group agreed with Block’s proposals and will reconvene after July 15 to evaluate the judge’s findings and monitor their implementation.

Like other members the group, Allred declined further comment.

A source close to the panel said several alternatives to Block’s recommendations were proposed during Monday’s 1 1/2-hour meeting. One suggested merging the panel’s investigation with Kolts’; another called for public hearings by the panel, with the findings made available to the judge.

According to the source, Block opposed any such options, and in the end, his will prevailed. The source said that while the group as a whole will reconvene in July, some members indicated they may not be able to participate then.