Study: Deputies’ Use of Force in O.C. Jails Low

A report commissioned by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department found that the number of use-of-force incidents by deputies in the jails is low but that they are fostered by a culture in which deputies quickly turn to violence to control inmate behavior.

The report was completed amid growing accusations of jail beatings, including several that have led to civil-rights probes launched by the FBI over the past year.

Worried that some deputies may be overly aggressive, sheriff’s officials asked an outside consultant to examine the number of use-of-force incidents in jail in 2000 and the first part of 2001.

The report’s author, consultant Raymond Nelson, found that deputy training should be improved so that guards are taught how to avoid physical confrontations with inmates.

“Within the organizational culture, force is seen as the primary source to control negative inmate behavior,” Nelson wrote.

“While force might be necessary to control some inmate violence, it is a low-quality source of power that should be utilized as a last resort.”

The report recommended that sheriff’s officials set up leadership training sessions to teach young deputies how to communicate better with inmates to reduce tensions and avoid using brute strength.

Sheriff’s officials on Tuesday said they will begin implementing the classes in the new year.

“The goal is not to have any altercations at all, so we want to make sure everyone is trained,” said Assistant Sheriff Rocky Hewitt. “We want to continue to improve.”

Sheriff’s Department Under Renewed Scrutiny

The report’s release comes at a critical time for the Sheriff’s Department, which has come under renewed scrutiny in the past year over the way it runs the jails.

Besides the ongoing FBI probes, local prosecutors earlier this year rebuked sheriff’s officials over a “fatally flawed” investigation into one inmate’s complaint that he was beaten by guards.

The county also faces about 20 civil lawsuits filed by inmates claiming they were beaten by guards.

Still, Nelson praised the way sheriff’s officials have “thoroughly investigated . . . any signs of abuse.” About a fifth of all use-of-force incidents at Theo Lacy Branch Jail in Orange are scrutinized by Internal Affairs, the report said.

The consultant recorded 255 use-of-force incidents last year. He called the level of violence used by deputies “remarkable” given that the county’s jail system is the 10th-largest in the country.

With about 5,000 inmates housed in Orange County at any one time, the jail system compares favorably with the Denver sheriff’s detention complex, where deputies resorted to force 170 times last year with just 2,000 inmates.

“I was very impressed with the administration,” Nelson said in an interview Tuesday. Jail “is a very violent area. The best thing about them is their management commitment to do better.”

The report noted, however, that making comparisons to other jails is difficult because each jurisdiction has a different definition of a use-of-force incident.

Among the report’s major findings is that there is a growing rift between rank-and-file deputies and jail managers over what sort of force is acceptable.

Deputies are trained in the sheriff’s academy to use whatever force they feel is necessary to control inmates--an approach one deputy described as “more like street fighting,” the report said.

Young deputies view their stint in the jails, which can last up to eight years, as a “necessary evil” before jumping to a patrol assignment and use the job to try out their use-of-force skills, the report said.

But jail supervisors question whether some of the violent episodes they review could have been avoided had deputies acted with more restraint, the report said. And deputies have come to view the supervisors’ attempts to reduce violence with suspicion.