‘Cover-Up’ Label Deemed Unfair

Re: Editorial “Something to Hide? Sheriff Department’s Lack of Candor Erodes Public Confidence” (Jan. 11):

As the sheriff, I have taken an oath of office to uphold the law. It is unfortunate that your editorial writer now asks me to violate that oath.

California law very clearly states that peace officer personnel records are confidential and may not be disclosed, except under very limited circumstances. There is no secrecy here, no “hush-hush,” no cover-up. Peace officer personnel investigations and disciplinary actions cannot be made available for public review. That is the law, and I must obey it.

Because of the tremendous public trust and responsibility placed upon us as peace officers, we thoroughly examine all situations where an employee is suspected of violating policy, procedure or the law. We owe it to the public, and to the involved employees, that these investigations be exhaustive and fair. All sides of every issue must be examined and the laws governing personnel inquiries must be followed.

When an employee is found to have violated a policy, appropriate discipline is applied. When establishing the level of discipline to be given, prior policy violations are always considered. The intent of the disciplinary process ranges from reinforcing appropriate behavior to firing those employees whose actions are inconsistent with our mission as a professional law enforcement agency.

Do we hold press conferences to announce the results of personnel investigations? Absolutely not! The law is very clear on that.

Personnel disciplinary actions often become public knowledge when the employee appeals our decision to the Civil Service Commission. Since these hearings may not occur until months after an investigation has concluded, the circumstances of the inappropriate conduct may lack the newsworthiness that your reporters want. We do not conduct internal investigations for the purpose of reporting the news. We conduct them to ensure that we weed out the bad and exonerate the innocent, while protecting employee rights that have been granted under state law.

When an investigation reveals that an employee has violated the law, we make an arrest. In these cases, arrest information is made available to the media at the time of arrest as is done in all of the criminal cases we pursue. This same procedure was followed when my son, who is an adult, was arrested. (His arrest report was hung on the press board just like all the others. How that translates into a “cover-up that deceives the press and the public” is beyond me.) If you, as a reporter, choose to take that information and use it as the basis for a story, that is your business. If you choose not to use it, that is your business as well. But, please don’t beat on me for “hiding” something that was never hidden.

As you correctly noted in your editorial, the vast majority of the men and women in the Sheriff’s Department do wear the badge with pride and honor. Thank you for recognizing that.

The small number of employee disciplinary actions that take place here is overshadowed by the size and scope of the department. The 1,250 employees of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, along with hundreds of volunteers, carry the badge, honor the oath and serve the community with distinction. The respect they have for the law will always overshadow the inappropriate or unlawful actions of a few.

Along with the vast majority of my employees, I will continue to respect and uphold the law. I only ask that you properly recognize our efforts to do so.

LARRY CARPENTER

Ventura County sheriff

* Re: Editorial “Something to Hide?” (Jan. 11):

By using your example, I might subtitle this letter, “L.A. Times’ propensity to scandalize erodes public confidence in freedom of the press.”

You accused the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department of deceiving the citizens it is sworn to serve by covering up two incidents.

The first involved three employees who were dismissed for misconduct that the department could not legally talk about. The second was an arrest that was in the public record that the L.A. Times has free access to.

Where is the cover-up or the deception? I contend that it is with you.

Employees have legal rights that protect them and their families from tabloid-type reporting, and arrest records are there for you to report on. If you missed an opportunity to embarrass someone a week sooner than you actually did, then don’t blame the Sheriff’s Department. They have served my city of Fillmore and Ventura County admirably and don’t deserve scandalous commentary from the L.A. Times.

A short while back you did a reader survey regarding journalism ethics. You reaffirmed my opinion that it is just a contradiction of terms.

BOB STROH

Fillmore