Sheriff’s Dept. No. 2 on U.S. Brutality List : Law enforcement: Justice Department says data on complaints against officers is preliminary and may be misleading.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department ranks second in the nation among law enforcement agencies in the number of police brutality complaints filed with the federal government, according to a study released Tuesday by Congress but quickly denigrated by the Justice Department.

The study, conducted by the civil rights division of the Justice Department, reported an average of 34 complaints are filed each year that allege federal civil rights violations by deputies in Los Angeles County.

The Los Angeles Police Department ranked 11th nationally, with an average of 14 brutality complaints filed with federal officials each year. The San Diego County sheriff’s office was 10th, with an average of 15 a year.

Justice Department officials were caught off guard by release of their study, which is marked “draft--for internal discussion purposes only.” They pointed out that the figures may be meaningless because they represent “unsubstantiated allegations” and include only complaints received by the federal government and not those filed directly with law enforcement departments, local prosecutors or other groups.

The study also did not include a review of the eventual disposition of the complaints.

Sgt. Larry Lincoln, a spokesman for the county Sheriff’s Department said, “It would be speculative to comment on a report released in Washington just today. We need to have an opportunity to evaluate the entire report.”

“As Justice Department officials said, the data is incomplete and requires further analysis,” Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F.Gates said in a statement released by department spokesman Cmdr. Robert S. Gil. “However, as time goes on, it will become more and more clear that the LAPD is a well-run, well-managed and well-disciplined department.”

The study was launched last year by then Atty. Gen. Dick Thornburgh amid public outrage over the videotaped beating of Rodney G. King by LAPD officers. The rankings were compiled from a review of 15,000 complaints of police misconduct the Justice Department received between October, 1984, and September, 1990. John R. Dunne, the department’s civil rights chief, told a House subcommittee earlier this month that no pattern emerged from the data even though a preliminary review last spring showed that 187 police departments generated 49% of the complaints.

New Orleans police ranked highest nationally with an average of 35 complaints. The Jefferson Parish, La., sheriff’s office, covering the New Orleans suburban area, ranked third with an average of 23 complaints annually, followed by San Antonio police with an average of 21 complaints.

New York City police averaged 14 complaints--the same number as the LAPD.

Rep. John Conyers (D--Mich.), chairman of the House Government Operations Committee, said the study was “a major disappointment” because it did not include the percentage of alleged victims who were black. Justice Department spokesperson Amy Casner said the civil rights division does not compile figures on the race of victims.

The Justice Department now is conducting a grand jury investigation to determine if the four LAPD officers acquitted last month in the King beating should be prosecuted for federal civil rights violations.

The department’s study said that “the statistical analysis of these data does not reveal any strong relationship in explaining why one agency is more likely to have received a greater number of complaints than another agency.”

Conyers, in his statement, said he remains concerned that “racial discrimination manifests itself in police brutality.” He said the General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, is reviewing the Justice Department’s performance in carrying out its study.

Times staff writer Hector Tobar in Los Angeles also contributed to this report.