LAPD Captain Investigated in Alleged Sex Harassment : Supervisor Reassigned While Complaint Is Reviewed

A Los Angeles Police Department captain has been temporarily reassigned amid allegations that he made sexual advances toward a female officer under his command.

Internal Affairs investigators are reviewing a complaint against Capt. Robert Kurth, commander of the West Los Angeles Division and a veteran of 27 years on the force, police officials confirmed.

Kurth, 48, allegedly made numerous overtures toward Officer Catherine Shuman, 33, during the last two years.

Among other things, Kurth allegedly touched Shuman’s thigh while in a car, complimented her figure after she returned from maternity leave and took her to lunch at a Westside hotel where he suggested they check in, according to a source familiar with the case.

A supervisor who recognized Shuman’s concerns reported the situation on her behalf.

“She was visibly distressed in the station and her fellow officers noticed it,” the source said of Shuman, a six-year veteran who last served as coordinator of the station’s community police advisory board but is now out on stress leave.

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Kurth declined to comment. But his attorney, Barry Levin, denied the allegations.

“Capt. Kurth has never sexually harassed any employee,” Levin said. “We can say unequivocally, that never occurred.”

Kurth moved last week to West Bureau in Hollywood, which oversees the Westside’s four divisions, including the West Los Angeles station.

An LAPD spokesman said Kurth was “on loan” to the bureau, working on a citywide community-policing project while the investigation continues.

But the spokesman emphasized that the temporary move was not an indication of guilt.

“We have one employee who has made a series of allegations. They need to be investigated,” said Cmdr. Tim McBride, a department spokesman.

“We have an obligation to both . . . employees, the department and the people of Los Angeles to do a fair and impartial investigation.”

Kurth took command of the West Los Angeles Division about 2 1/2 years ago, as the Police Department was finishing a sweeping audit into allegations of sexual harassment and gender and racial discrimination at the station.

The audit found a number of instances of sexual harassment and concluded that the environment there had become uncomfortable for many female officers.

In the wake of the probe, two veteran officers were transferredfor misconduct and several otherswere reassigned as part of a routine process aimed at reinvigorating veteran officers.

Depictions of the station vary since Kurth’s arrival. Many officers praise the captain for treating his rank-and-file officers fairly and openly.

Some officers say they were surprised to learn about the recent allegations involving Kurth, a highly respected commander among LAPD officials.

They note that Kurth was viewed by many as a force of change at a station that suffered from a troubled image dating back to the early 1980s, when some male officers formed an informal group known as “Men Against Women” or M.A.W., to protest what they considered unfair promotions of female officers.

“He was brought in to steady the ship,” said Gary Fullerton, a former officer at the West Los Angeles station and now director of the Police Protective League.

“He seemed to be a straight shooter. He always took his job very seriously.”

At least one female officer at the West Los Angeles station said she has not encountered any problems with sexual harassment on the job.

“I’m not familiar with any specific concerns or complaints of anyone else,” said Lt. Carol Aborn, a night watch commander.

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Some LAPD officials privately said they were uneasy about Shuman’s claims, saying the former community relations officer has raised allegations of sexual harassment against other men in the department.

Carol Sobel, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union who is advising Shuman, acknowledged that the officer has complained about other instances of alleged sexual harassment.

But in at least one previous instance, other female officers corroborated Shuman’s allegations, lodging complaints of their own against the same male counterpart.

“This is a department that has pervasive discrimination throughout it,” said Sobel, who is representing 70 female officers in a class-action lawsuit against the LAPD.

“It is far from shocking that a female on this job would experience harassment from more than one person.”

Times correspondent Susan Steinberg contributed to this story.