Disparity Found in Sheriff’s Lawsuits

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has paid hefty settlements in recent years in civil cases in which deputies were not disciplined, suggesting that internal affairs investigators “let an officer off the hook when a judge or jury would not,” according to a new report.

Of 29 cases settled for $100,000 or more in the last five years, eight resulted in discipline or a department policy change, Merrick Bobb, special counsel to the county Board of Supervisors, wrote in the report, to be released today.

In one case settled for $375,000, a 110-pound woman was pushed into the hood of a patrol car, chipping two teeth and fracturing her jaw. The woman had interfered with deputies when they stopped her cousin in Compton, mistakenly believing that the cousin was a burglary suspect, Bobb wrote.

In a case settled for $150,000, deputies who wrestled with a woman holding her 14-month-old daughter struck the woman in the face before she fell or was pushed through a glass coffee table, Bobb wrote. The deputies said they had been worried that the mother was hysterical and clutching the girl around the neck too tightly. In both cases, internal affairs investigators found that the use of force was within policy, Bobb wrote.

Such disparities between settlements and discipline, a historical problem for the department and other police agencies, fuel “the fire of those who would strip the sheriff of the privilege of investigating and disciplining his own employees,” Bobb wrote.

But sheriff’s officials Thursday said they rely on hard facts to decide whether wrongdoing occurred. In deciding whether to settle a lawsuit, however, they must weigh the possibility that a jury will be swayed by emotions.

“Civil suits are not just about facts but jurors’ feelings about the facts,” said Sheriff’s Chief Bill McSweeney, who oversees internal affairs, training and risk management. “Police managers need more than a feeling to discipline officers. They need evidence that is persuasive that misconduct occurred.”

Despite his own criticism, Bobb wrote that he was optimistic the department was moving in the right direction. Many of the incidents leading to the 29 cases occurred before the creation of the county’s Office of Independent Review, which oversees internal affairs probes.

That office is now monitoring these types of cases, among others, improving the chance that deputies will be disciplined for conduct that leads to large settlements, Bobb said. The office oversaw three of the 29 internal affairs cases. In two of those, the department did impose discipline.

Bobb, a Los Angeles lawyer, started issuing semiannual reports on the Sheriff’s Department in 1993. This, his 19th, also praised McSweeney and his Risk Management Bureau, citing its aggressive efforts to settle legitimate claims fast and fight dubious ones as the reason for a large reduction in litigation costs last year. In fiscal 2004, the department spent $5.6 million to resolve lawsuits, compared with more than $10 million in each of the previous two years.

At the same time, Bobb wrote, the department has tried to learn from cases in which it has paid out hefty settlements.

In 2002 and 2003, the Board of Supervisors approved $2.9-million settlements in two cases involving illegal strip searches of jail inmates before their arraignment. Since then, Bobb said, the department has tightened its policies on strip searches.

His report offered measured praise for the department’s decision to draw up a new policy limiting foot pursuits. But Bobb described the policy as too vague to ensure that violators were disciplined and criticized the department for not mandating training on the new procedures.

The Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, which represents most rank-and-file deputies in the department, has long rejected arguments that foot chases are inherently dangerous and called on the department to leave decisions about when to chase up to deputies.