The COC met with East L.A. residents, who expressed concern about sheriff gangs that operate with impunity. (Courtesy Loyola Law School)

L.A. County Civilian Oversight Commissioner Sean Kennedy concluded his remarks at May’s Thursday with the League with a twofold assessment of the challenge of holding the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) accountable:

▪  First, he sees transparency as vital for accountability of the massive LASD bureaucracy and believes that such transparency will be possible only in the distant future, through a change of LASD’s culture.

▪  Second, he sees transparency coming through growing awareness of the need among progressive criminal justice professionals, politicians, and the public at large.

Presentation

Citing the findings of President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, Kennedy described LASD as one of the sheriff’s departments that have been slowest to adapt to the evolving view of officers’ role as guardians of the communities they serve rather than as warriors in battle against them. He identified several key issues for LASD’s road to transparency and accountability:

▪  The use of body-worn cameras (BWCs) at all sheriff’s stations. LASD has dragged its feet on implementing full use of BWCs. Kennedy sees them as evenhanded, critical tools for transparency, needing full funding by LASD.

▪  The transmission to defendants in criminal trials of the Brady List of deputies compromised by misconduct and judged unfit for court testimony. LASD has resisted sharing this list of over three hundred deputies with the district attorney, resulting in innocent people being convicted and imprisoned at profound cost to them, their families, communities of color in general, and taxpayers.

▪  Recent police reform legislation that removes some confidentiality. A study published in the Stanford Law Review cited California as the state most resistant to transparency and accountability by law enforcement, due to confidentiality laws secured by powerful law enforcement unions. Recent legislation has made huge changes in law enforcement standards regarding the use of force, sexual assault, and lying in court.

▪  Fifty years of gangs in LASD. Kennedy and his students at Loyola Law School recently produced a report on this subject for presentation to the Civilian Oversight Commission (COC). They found that despite investigations and promises to do something to end the LASD’s gangs (which the department refers to as “cliques”), most L.A. sheriffs did not shut down these gangs. Sheriff Alex Villanueva continues to resist the COC’s effort to do this. The department’s gangs are located in low-income and minority neighborhoods—Antelope Valley, Compton, South L.A., and East L.A.—in which they prey on local residents.

News flash: At the COC’s May 20 meeting, COC commissioners grilled Sheriff Villanueva about the presence of such gangs and whether he supported getting rid of them. With no affirmative answer from him, the COC unanimously called on the county counsel to prepare an ordinance banning department gangs.

▪  The use of subpoena power. Voters supported Measure R last year, giving the COC subpoena power to secure information and testimony from LASD. Sheriff Villanueva contests the measure as unconstitutional. Kennedy cited California Government Code Section 25303, which authorizes boards of supervisors to supervise all county officers, including sheriffs. He recommends that the COC use subpoena power more frequently.

▪   Alternative ways to bring accountability to LASD:

• The County Charter could be amended in ways other than allowing appointment of the sheriff.
• The COC should hold more public hearings on transparency and accountability issues, using subpoena power to obtain needed information.
• We all should be litigating to enforce the California Public Records Act.
• The California attorney general can and is now investigating the LASD.
• Police reform legislation could be introduced in Sacramento.

Kennedy referenced the Obama administration’s President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing as a valuable roadmap for change, with sweeping recommendations advancing changes required to turn from a warrior to a guardian stance in which sheriffs and police officers engage positively with community members.

Q&A Session

Q: Has the Board of Supervisors generally been supportive of COC recommendations?

A: Yes, but often BOS has been silent in face of pretty startling information, e.g., deputy gangs.

Q: Are audits of departments’ practices useful tools for change?

A: Audits can be key to securing real accountability. NACOLE (the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement) has a very helpful list of best practices.

Q: Do you believe the L.A. County sheriff should be appointed or elected?

A: I respect both sides of the question, but personally I prefer an appointed sheriff, as LAPD has shown in being more open to reform.

▪  Elected sheriffs are a drag on reform, with no incentive to reform.

▪  Appointed sheriffs engage with civilian officials more frequently.

▪  Also, in our system, a sheriff has to be a law enforcement official. But running a huge bureaucracy requires skills and knowledge beyond that of law enforcement.

Q: If LA can’t agree on reforms, would federal oversight be a good alternative?

A: Federal court consent decrees are important in assuring accountability.

Kennedy invited the audience to attend an online series of public forums on L.A. policing at Loyola Law School’s Policing Los Angeles page. To view Kennedy’s address to the League, watch the YouTube video available through the LWV-PA website. For those interested in seeing for themselves how COC’s struggle for LASD transparency and accountability is proceeding, watch the May 20 COC meeting with the Sheriff on deputy gangs.

The Policing Subcommittee of the LWV-PA Social Justice Committee welcomes volunteer observers for the COC, as well as local police departments. Please contact Kris Ockershauser at kmopas [at] earthlink.net. LWV-PA members can serve as important contributors to efforts for positive change in L.A. County’s criminal justice system.

—Kris Ockershauser, Policing Practices Subcommittee