Santa Monica orders probe into police investigation of school board member

Santa Monica officials have ordered an independent review of the Police Department’s conduct during an investigation of a school board member who witnessed a fight between two youths.

The decision came Tuesday after school board member Oscar de la Torre, a critic of the Police Department, accused the department of pursuing a politically motivated probe into an incident in March next to the Pico Youth & Family Center he operates.

After a four-month child endangerment investigation of De la Torre by Santa Monica police, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office last week declined to file charges against the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board member.

He had been suspected of child endangerment because he allegedly took too long to intervene in the fight, officials said.

The Los Angeles County Office of Independent Review, a civilian watchdog created by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to monitor the Sheriff’s Department, will produce the report, city officials said.

Santa Monica Police Chief Timothy Jackman requested that the office conduct the probe because it had done similar work in Inglewood and other cities.

Jackman said the office will review the De la Torre investigation for “legal and procedural perspectives to determine if it was handled properly and what, if any, changes in practice or procedures would be appropriate.”

Santa Monica detectives began their investigation of De la Torre after a cellphone video captured the school board member at the scene of a fight between a Latino teenager and a black teenager in an alley next to the youth center. Police claimed he did not immediately step in to break up the fight.

De la Torre said he rushed to the scene of the potentially racially charged fight after it began.

He has had previous run-ins with the Santa Monica Police Department, including being publicly criticized by a previous police chief for taking alleged gang members to a school campus.

Santa Monica police officials have defended their investigation of De la Torre’s actions, saying in a statement that it was conducted to “ensure accountability for child safety” and noting it was a “fight involving two children where their personal safety was in danger and Mr. De la Torre was the only adult present.”

Police officials said detectives followed normal procedures, including interviewing witnesses and obtaining a search warrant.

richard.winton@latimes.com