Psychologist to Assist Study of Sheriff’s Dept.

The retired judge investigating allegations of brutality by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies hired a psychologist Wednesday to assist him in the probe.

Retired Superior Court Judge James G. Kolts said that Fred Loya Jr. will prepare a psychological evaluation of recruitment and training practices of the Sheriff’s Department.

Loya, who will be paid $75 an hour, is a former assistant professor of psychology at UCLA. From 1981 to 1986 he led a team of researchers investigating the dramatic increase in homicides in Los Angeles. He is executive director of Santa Anita Family Service in Monrovia.

Loya joins Merrick Bobb, a deputy general counsel on the Christopher Commission, on the staff of Kolts, who was hired by the Board of Supervisors to investigate ways to reduce lawsuits against the Sheriff’s Department. The suits have cost taxpayers almost $32 million over the past four years.