Police Chiefs Rally Behind O.C. Sheriff in Shooting : Inquiry: A coalition of black groups, however, seeks more details about the death of a deputy during training.

As the county’s police chiefs rally behind Sheriff Brad Gates at a difficult time, a coalition of black civic groups on Thursday demanded more information about the death of Deputy Darryn Leroy Robins and called for an independent investigation of the Christmas Day shooting.

In an unusual action, members of the Orange County Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Assn. gave a unanimous vote of confidence to Gates at its regular monthly meeting Wednesday afternoon.

On Thursday, a group of organizations from the county’s African American community requested more details about Robins’ death and insisted that the state attorney general or the U.S. Department of Justice investigate the shooting. The Orange County district attorney’s office is now looking into the incident, which officials have described as accidental.

“We are concerned about the appearance of conflict between the district attorney and the Sheriff’s Department, which have such a close relationship,” said Eugene Wheeler, president of 100 Black Men of Orange County, an organization of professionals and business and civic leaders.

Last week, the Orange County chapter of the Urban League issued a similar call for state and federal authorities to join in the investigation, and noted that Robins, who is black, was shot by a white deputy.

The coalition members who spoke out Thursday represent such organizations as the Black Chamber of Commerce, the Baptist Ministers Conference, the National Council of Negro Women, the Prince Hall Masons, as well as 100 Black Men.

Coalition members also said they were concerned that the deputy who shot Robins was the target of a 4-year-old arrest warrant in a traffic case, as disclosed last week in The Times. They said they wondered if there was a double standard for law enforcement personnel that had been revealed by the shooting.

Robins, 30, was mortally wounded in the face by Deputy Brian Scanlan, 32, during an impromptu training session behind a Lake Forest shopping center on Christmas Day.

This week, in his first public statement since the shooting, Sheriff Gates said that Scanlan apparently violated department policy by using a loaded gun during the exercise that led up to the accident.

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Because Gates is working hard to comfort the Robins family and run his department in the wake of the shooting, members of the chiefs and sheriffs association say they wanted to issue a symbolic gesture of support for his efforts on behalf of local law enforcement.

“The Robins shooting was a tragic event that could occur to any one of us, and Brad Gates has handled it appropriately,” said Irvine Police Chief Charles S. Brobeck. “I don’t think people know how devastating an effect this can have on a chief and a department. I know he is going through tremendous personal pain.”

The chiefs and sheriffs association is a professional organization of top-ranking law enforcement officers from the county’s 25 police agencies. It deals with regional police issues and seeks to improve intra-departmental relations.

With virtually no discussion, Costa Mesa Police Chief David L. Snowden made the motion for a vote of confidence, which was seconded by Huntington Beach Police Chief Ronald E. Lowenberg. A voice vote was taken.

Snowden described Gates as “an unsung hero” who has been unfairly maligned in the media over the Robins shooting.

“If you think about it, Sheriff Gates has been one of the outstanding leaders in this county. It seems to me--and I’m not alone--that the press is just continually bashing him,” Snowden said. “You take this incident and the media blitz, it’s just a little bit more than any human being should be asked to endure.”

“These are the sheriff’s peers in law enforcement,” said Assistant Sheriff Rocky Hewitt, conveying Gates’ appreciation for the show of support. “He is still emotionally traumatized from the recent tragedy. He will always feel a terrible sense of loss.”

Despite assurances from law enforcement that the Robins shooting would be fully investigated, civic organizations from the county’s African American community issued a statement Thursday questioning the current inquiry and what they have deemed to be “a serious lack of specific details surrounding the actual occurrence.”

To avoid any possible conflict of interest, the coalition recommended that the shooting be reviewed by a state or federal law enforcement agency that does not work closely with the Sheriff’s Department.

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Although they acknowledge Gates’ earlier statements about policy violations, coalition members say they will ask the Sheriff’s Department today to promptly disclose to the public more comprehensive information about the incident.

Considerable suspicion, Wheeler said, has been generated in the black community because information has been slow in coming and initial reports in the media indicated that Robins might have shot himself with his own gun.

“Coming out of the black experience tells us there is something wrong with that picture,” Wheeler said. “Too many times in our history, we have heard that we cut our own throats, tarred and feathered ourselves, or hung ourselves in the jail.”

Wheeler cautioned that the coalition members were not accusing anyone of racism at this time, though he said it is incumbent upon Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi and the sheriff to show that race had no part in the shooting.

Prosecutors say the current policy of using the district attorney to investigate officer-involved shootings ensures that the probe will be independent because it avoids the potential pitfalls that can occur when police departments investigate their own officers.

“We’re an independent agency,” said Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Maury Evans. “We’re conducting the investigation, and we will complete our investigation as soon as we can.”

Lt. Dan Martini, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department, said the agency would like to release more details about the case to satisfy community concerns, but is restricted by county regulations that limit the information that can be released in officer-involved shootings.

“One of the frustrating things we have is that there are a lot of things we’d like to say but because of the intensity of the investigation and the fact that the district attorney is conducting it, we can’t. That leaves questions in the community, then speculation sets in.”

As part of an effort to provide information about the shooting, the Sheriff’s Department publicly released this week copies of its department regulations and training manuals.

Wheeler said he and others in the coalition also want to make sure that law enforcement officers are held to the same standards as the rest of the community. He noted that Scanlan had an outstanding warrant for his arrest from a traffic violation and questioned why nothing has been done about it for so long.

“What is happening in this situation?” Wheeler asked. “I know if I were stopped for something and the officer found out I had a warrant, I would be arrested.”

As part of the department’s code of ethics--stated in the newly released policy manuals--sheriff’s employees must pledge to “keep my private life unsullied as an example to all” and to “be exemplary in obeying the laws of the land and the regulations of my department.”

In addition to the traffic warrant, the district attorney’s office was in the process of collecting a portion of Scanlan’s wages because he had failed to pay an estimated $10,000 in child support for his two children.

Martini said the department does not routinely screen employees for arrest warrants unless there is reason to believe that there was a warrant that would interfere with a deputy’s ability to do the job.

Martini acknowledged, however, that employees are required under department regulations to report to a supervisor any incident that could result in criminal prosecution. Failure to report an arrest warrant could “certainly” represent a violation of that section, Martini said. He added that he did not know whether Scanlan reported his warrant to a supervisor.