County Officials Deny Latino Charges of Racism : Minorities: A Civil Rights Commission panel has ordered an investigation. Police departments and courts are among agencies targeted by advocacy groups.

Officials said Monday that there is no evidence of widespread institutional racism in Orange County and that allegations by Latino advocacy groups are overblown.

Responding to the news that a panel of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission has ordered an inquiry into the allegations, the officials stressed that there is no routine discrimination against minorities by city or county agencies or the courts.

Presiding Orange County Superior Court Judge Donald E. Smallwood said that although bias against minorities may occur “from time to time” in the courts, there is no evidence that this is widespread, as alleged by witnesses at a fact-finding session held Saturday by the commission’s panel in Costa Mesa.

As for why Orange County has few minority judges, which Latino groups say results in bias against minority defendants, Smallwood said, “The bench doesn’t have anything to do with hiring. . . . The governor appoints judges, so any allegations should be addressed to the governor.”

The Civil Rights Commission’s 18-member advisory panel said the allegations were serious enough to warrant a full-fledged inquiry, which may begin with a formal hearing in February.

The complainants, most of them Latinos, targeted the county’s Superior and Municipal Court systems, police departments and municipal code enforcement departments, among other governmental agencies.

That an inquiry has been ordered does not mean that the allegations are valid, said the commission’s western region executive director, Philip Montez.

However, Montez has said he senses resistance among government authorities to cooperation with the commission and that federal subpoenas may be necessary to force some of them to respond.

The allegations are based on incidents and policies that have been or are being reviewed by state and federal authorities. An appellate court last week, for example, found that the Orange Police Department violated the civil rights of youths detained as suspected gang members by photographing them for “gang book” files.

Orange Police Chief John Robertson said the ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeal was “disheartening.” The department is no longer using the gang-book approach, said a spokesman, Sgt. Barry Weinstein.

Still, police officials said, there was no discrimination involved in the practice.

“We are not discriminating against anyone. . . . That is not our policy nor our procedure,” said Weinstein.

Other allegations involve discrimination in the enforcement of housing and health codes.

Santa Ana City Manager David N. Ream said that contrary to criticism, his city has been even-handed in regulating street vendors and enforcing housing codes.

“Our record is real clear in terms of what we’ve tried to do with overcrowding ordinances,” Ream said. “We feel that’s a health and safety issue.”

Santa Ana Councilman Miguel A. Pulido Jr. said he believes there is no basis for such allegations.

“We don’t discriminate as to race or creed or color,” Pulido said, adding that “some of the people testifying (Saturday) are long-term activist types.”

Zeke Hernandez, one of the Latino leaders who testified Saturday, tried to lend perspective to the latest debate on minorities in the Southland.

“We’re not basically saying that those who make the decisions are racist,” said Hernandez, former state director of the League of United Latin American Citizens. “What we are saying is . . . the system has gone to the point that it’s not paid attention to the demographic and cultural change in Orange County. There are just roadblocks in terms of minority participation.”

Times staff writer Mary Lou Pickel contributed to this report.