Guns Using Plastic Bullets Are Urged : Law enforcement: Grand jury says deputies should replace electric dart guns. The panel’s report gives generally favorable review to Sheriff’s Department.

The Sheriff’s Department should replace its Taser electric dart guns with weapons that shoot hard plastic bullets, the Los Angeles County Grand Jury urges in a generally laudatory report on the agency’s use of force and other procedures.

The 35-page report, a copy of which was obtained Thursday from the Board of Supervisors, was prepared at the supervisors’ request last summer after four controversial shootings by sheriff’s deputies.

The grand jury reported last December that there was no evidence meriting prosecution of thedeputies, but said it would conduct a broader inquiry into sheriff’s procedures. The report released Thursday is based on material including training reviews, testimony from Sheriff Sherman Block and others, and the results of ride-alongs with deputies.

The report contains as many commendations of the department as recommendations.

“The grand jury found no deficiencies in areas that were the focus of the inquiry,” the report states. “The findings of this inquiry reveal that the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department is a well-trained, highly motivated, adaptive law enforcement organization with fair disciplinary and corrective procedures designed to achieve results.”

Grand Jury foreman George Ackerman said Thursday that all 23 members of the jury contributed to the report.

In its most significant recommendation bearing on the use of force, the grand jury urged replacement of the Taser gun, which is used by sheriff’s deputies to fire darts to subdue violent suspects, with the Arwen gun, which fires hard plastic bullets.

The report called the Taser ineffective in a small number of cases and it implied that it caused more injury to suspects.

“The impact of the hard plastic round (of the Arwen) will knock down and take the wind out of suspects,” it said. It added that suspects hit by a Taser dart suffer an interruption of muscular control for up to 15 minutes and must be taken to a hospital for dart removal by medical personnel.

Some of the report’s recommendations did not make clear what changes were being advocated.

One, in a section dealing with the issue of abusive language and ethnic, racial and gender slurs, states:

“(Work) shift briefing and in-service training should set the example by constantly reminding deputies of their duty to treat all persons in a respectful, courteous and civil manner. Abusive and foul language must be avoided since they are examples of unprofessional conduct.”

Asked if this implied that the grand jury believed that the Sheriff’s Department has to improve in this area, Ackerman said: “The report speaks for itself.

“As foreman of the grand jury, I want to emphasize that I highly respect our sheriff’s organization and I believe that the people of Los Angeles are fortunate to have the kind of organization that Sheriff Block leads.”

Much of the report was in a similarly complimentary vein.

It praised Block for using private funds to purchase 100 copies of the findings of the Christopher Commission, which recommended major reforms of the Los Angeles Police Department in the aftermath of the Rodney G. King beating.

It also noted that a few months later, Block directed that the department’s basic training program for recruits be increased from 18 months to 21 months.

“Seven new subjects (of training) were added and others were expanded,” the grand jury report said. “New subjects include cultural awareness, gay and lesbian issues, cause of and origin of prejudice, laser village (a simulated encounter with a potentially armed suspect), and officer intervention . . . when acts are committed by a fellow deputy.”

The grand jury recommended that the Board of Supervisors “actively support and encourage the Sheriff’s Department to implement applicable recommendations contained in the Christopher Commission report.”

It also said that the department should further publicize its complaint-by-telephone system by displaying posters describing it in every sheriff’s station and in the field offices of supervisors.

On the subject of civilian complaints, it suggested that sergeants and lieutenants “who clear citizens released for wrongful arrest” should furnish them with complaint forms and claim forms for mistaken destruction of property. The officers also should give them instructions on how to complete and send in the forms, it said.

Other recommendations of the report:

* The supervisors should allocate $900,000 for the first-year costs of “teaming a mental health expert with a patrol deputy for mental health problem calls.” It said the cost could be offset by “savings produced by a low rate of confinement of mentally disturbed arrestees.”

* The supervisors ought to consider allocation of funds to equip additional patrol cars with video recording equipment and should fund “purchase of a suitable quantity of audio recorders.”

The report commended the Sheriff’s Department, among other matters, for its “objective review and evaluation” of the Christopher Commission recommendations, for high standards of personnel recruitment, for its programs of professional skills development of veteran officers and for its novel approaches for confronting the mentally disturbed.

James Kolts, the retired Superior Court judge who has been named to investigate the Sheriff’s Department for matters including allegations of excessive force, was not available for comment Thursday on the grand jury report. Others contacted, such as officials of the American Civil Liberties Union, declined comment until they had read the document.