An Old Rap Sheet

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has whisked away more than six years of dust and dropped a bombshell on Los Angeles County law enforcement. Specifically, it wants a special prosecutor appointed to pursue abuse and misconduct cases against city police officers and county sheriff’s deputies. That would take such prosecutions out of the hands of Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti.

The report also calls on the U.S. Justice Department to investigate allegations that the Sheriff’s Department once again has “associations” of deputies who unlawfully mete out their own brand of street justice. In addition, the commission is calling for the formation of a civilian review board to probe misconduct complaints against the department.

The city and the county can be forgiven for wondering what brought this on. The answer is one of the criticisms that the commission must face regarding this report. The commission took up the issue of misconduct and bias among Los Angeles deputies and police officers way back in 1993. Why did its inquiry last so long? How fresh are its conclusions?

Those who have read the report say that too much of the information it contains is outdated, particularly in regard to the Los Angeles Police Department. Quite a few of the commission’s recommendations, for example, have already been implemented by Bernard C. Parks, who became police chief in August 1997.

The delayed delivery of the report and its lack of current facts imperil the commission’s very serious charges: that much needs to be done to rein in problem officers in both the police and sheriff’s departments. If the commission was going to wait so long to release a report, it should have been a polished product, and this one is not.

Its special prosecutor recommendation, for example, seems ill-suited for the state or local level. Special prosecutors are not unusual and have been working in at least six states, but each situation involved a specific criminal case and was not some sort of open-ended mandate.

Clearly there are serious issues that demand attention in both departments. Recent news that deserves serious scrutiny includes indications that some sheriff’s deputies might be wearing the same tattoos used by a group of vigilante officers who were prosecuted years ago for brutalizing minority citizens. There have also been numerous reports of problems in certain sheriff’s stations with unusually high rates of officer-involved shootings.

Garcetti, for his part, has shown little fire for prosecuting problem officers. On the LAPD side, we must question the length of time it is taking to replace the resigned Katherine Mader as inspector general of the Los Angeles Police Commission. The inspector general is empowered to monitor the process of complaints against police officers.

Should there be a civilian review board for the Sheriff’s Department? Maybe. Should there be a Justice Department probe into secret gangs of deputies? That might be in order. But what’s needed are up-to-date facts that clearly explain such needs. The Civil Rights Commission report, with its recommendation for a special prosecutor, offers too little evidence that demands precise and direct action.