Lawyer Group Says U.S. Pledges Probe of Abuses Against Latinos

Members of the Mexican American Bar Assn. of Los Angeles County said Monday that the U.S. Justice Department has agreed to investigate dozens of alleged civil rights violations against Latinos by police, sheriff’s deputies and others.

Bar association members said they met with Assistant Atty. Gen. Deval L. Patrick and five members of his staff and received a pledge that the Justice Department would “allocate the resources necessary to investigate any police departments found to be violating the civil rights of Latinos.”

Patrick--Atty. Gen. Janet Reno’s top civil rights aide--could not be reached for comment Monday because federal offices were closed in observance of Columbus Day.

Luis A. Carrillo, one of the attorneys who attended the meeting with Justice Department officials, said the message was clear: “They are going to do something about the problem. We want to put the police agencies on notice that business as usual has to stop.”

Citing a “reign of terror” against Latinos in Southern California, the attorneys presented federal officials with a list dating back to 1987 of more than 30 incidents that have resulted in the deaths of at least 23 Latinos. Most involved shootings by law enforcement authorities, none of whom was prosecuted.

The lawyers also cited the much-publicized case of William Masters, a civilian who fatally shot one graffiti tagger and wounded another in January, claiming self-defense. Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti declined to prosecute Masters on manslaughter charges. Masters was convicted on misdemeanor gun charges.