Sheriff’s Department Urged to Take Steps to Deter Misconduct

As the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart corruption scandal becomes part of the local civic landscape, a new report on the Sheriff’s Department has concluded that the county department must reduce its potential for similar misconduct, particularly in a popular community policing program.

In his semiannual report issued Monday, Merrick J. Bobb, a civilian expert on police reform who monitors the Sheriff’s Department for the Board of Supervisors, said the department has several sophisticated early warning systems in place, but that more needs to be done to deter misconduct.

Sheriff Lee Baca has said he is examining all aspects of his department in light of the Rampart crisis. Baca has broken with traditional law enforcement circles, in fact, by proposing a civilian head of internal affairs. His department is investigating two credit card fraud scams, including one that has left four deputies and seven civilian jail workers relieved of duty. In addition, a Century Station deputy recently was relieved of duty when felony charges were filed against him over alleged false reports and documents.

Bobb used Rampart as the backdrop for his report, looking at the possible areas of similar corruption in the county’s law enforcement agency.

“Given that Rampart looms over law enforcement in Southern California generally at this point, I thought it was very necessary to see whether the department had in place all the systems that were needed to try to minimize the risk that a Rampart could happen to them,” Bobb said Monday.

Although Bobb acknowledges in his report that he found no evidence of malfeasance in the Sheriff’s Department, he cited several areas in which deputies receive less-than-adequate supervision and where more clearly-delineated policies should be implemented.

In the highly touted COPS, or Community Oriented Policing program, Bobb said, deputies need stronger oversight, a more clearly defined mission and more training.

The deputy teams essentially work in communities eager for more law enforcement services; residents fill out surveys detailing their concerns, which then are used as blueprints for police. The deputies, however, don’t just conduct feel-good surveys; Bobb said they are being asked to run undercover surveillance and sting operations, suppress gang activity and perform other duties typically assigned to more highly trained, specialized units.

“It has become a de facto enforcement arm,” Bobb said.

Those deputies need to work under the same rules and protocols as those who work in such specialized units as narcotics, Bobb said.

Sheriff’s Department officials agreed with some of Bobb’s assessments, saying they have audited several specialized units including COPS and others in light of the Rampart crisis. Cmdr. Jay Sewards said the department is focusing on more training for the COPS deputies, particularly in duties conducted more routinely by other units, such as serving search warrants. Additionally, the department will continue to audit these units at the sheriff’s direction, Sewards said.

Department officials say the COPS program is highly successful, that the communities have nothing but praise for the teams. As further proof of his belief in the program, in fact, Baca offered the COPS teams as one approach to handling law enforcement in Compton, if that city decides to contract with the Sheriff’s Department.

Bobb also raised serious questions about the department’s “lack of clarity” on its gift and gratuities procedures, suggesting that Sheriff Lee Baca needs to carefully scrutinize how campaign contributors and supporters, among others, are treated, particularly if they could themselves become the subject of criminal investigations.

“How, then, should a law enforcement executive respond when a big campaign contributor, who also helps fund an important LASD [Sheriff’s Department] task force, offers the executive a personal gift?” Bobb asked.

The department received praise for its personnel performance index, a department-wide database that helps track deputies. The LAPD’s Board of Inquiry report conceded that the department’s failure to have such a powerful early warning system led to the LAPD’s inability to determine possible corruption.