Officer Sues UCLA, Claims Discrimination

A campus police officer has sued UCLA for discrimination, contending that his career was ruined because of his complaints about abuses within the department, ranging from allegations of brutality to ticket-fixing on behalf of a university regent.

His attorney said six other officers he represents will file similar lawsuits next week.

In his suit, filed in Santa Monica Superior Court Jan. 29, Charles A. Harold said he was defamed, threatened and finally discharged, all because he spoke up for minority group members since he became a campus officer in 1989.

The complaint names as defendants the regents of the University of California, UCLA Chancellor Charles Young, campus Police Chief John C. Barber and other campus officials.

Campus spokeswoman Linda Steiner Lee declined to respond to the charges.

“It is our policy not to comment when we are the subject of litigation, so we cannot comment at this time,” said Lee, assistant director of public information for UCLA.

Harold, 32, argues in his suit that he has standing to sue under state and federal anti-discrimination statutes because he identifies with or acts as a spokesman for minorities. Although an Anglo, he was raised by a black stepmother and is married to a Latina.

Patrick McNicholas, the attorney for all the officers, said the six others, all African-American or Latino, will charge that they were denied promotions, assigned to undesirable beats and otherwise discriminated against because of race. The university police force has about 50 officers.

Harold is a 10-year officer who previously worked in San Gabriel and Culver City. He has been on paid administrative leave for eight months, barred from returning to the UCLA police office unless escorted by a commanding officer. In recent months, he has worked as a private investigator.

“I’ve said I wanted to go back, but they don’t want me back,” he said in an interview.

In his lawsuit, Harold said that the university administration routinely allowed the campus police to disregard university policies and state law and that he was reprimanded for complaining about it.

The violations included the cancellation of a traffic ticket issued to a taxi driver who was nabbed driving the wrong way on a one-way street, Harold said.

His lawsuit alleges that the ticket was fixed after the passenger, UC Regent Dean A. Watkins, complained to Young.

Harold, who was awarded 76 service commendations in the course of his career, said he also got into trouble for complaining about the following incidents, according to the suit:

* A campus police lieutenant put his boot on the head of a black youth who looked up after being ordered down to the ground. Later, an assistant chief refused to accept a complaint from the youth about his treatment.

* The use of police dogs to find trespassers in UCLA’s Japanese Gardens.

* The cancellation of a traffic ticket against a doughnut shop worker who was the friend of a campus police commander.

* The use of excess force against suspects who ran from arresting officers.

* The dismissal of charges against a man for carrying an assault rifle onto campus. The man was the son of a state parole officer, the lawsuit said.

McNicholas said Harold and the other plaintiffs will be seeking compensation for salary lost, mental and physical pain and anguish and damage to their reputation. They will also seek to be restored to their jobs or promoted, he said.