Keeping Sheriff Dept. Reform Alive

When the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors created an oversight body to chart the reform process within the Sheriff’s Department, it wisely recognized that ensuring the integrity of change depended not only on setting an agenda but monitoring it closely over time.

A plan of reform was first outlined in 1992 by the Kolts Commission, which issued sweeping recommendations to deal with a raft of misuse-of-force complaints and lawsuits against sheriff’s deputies. Commitment to that plan has been embodied in follow-up reports published by a special counsel. Another of those periodic reviews was released last week.

Since mid-1992, the latest report says, there has been a 63% decline in the number of excessive-force lawsuits against the Sheriff’s Department and investigations involving multiple uses of force and beatings have dropped.

However, the report points to lingering problems. One is continued leniency in departmental disciplining of officers found to have used unnecessary force. Another problem involves Sheriff’s Department rookies, who start by working at county jails and spend up to five years in that job; too often, the report found, they use gratuitous force against inmates.

The Sheriff’s Department has shown a willingness to change. That’s commendable. But, as is clear from the progress reports, that willingness must be constantly reaffirmed by department leaders if the remaining problems are to be rooted out.