Annual Review of Sheriff's Department Issues Released

The county Office of Independent Review has released its ninth annual report on the , addressing issues ranging from off-duty deputy DUIs to the use of tasers to the handling of use-of-force complaints.

The Office of Independent Review (OIR) is a county organization made up of attorneys that provides oversight on the department, and issues annual reports on pertinent issues with the department.

The 112-page report (which can be viewed in its entirety to the right) makes for some lengthy reading, but here are some of the highlights:

• Off-duty deputy DUIs rose from 2006 to 2010, and there were 40 arrests made in 2010 of off-duty Sheriff's Department personnel.  The report suggests that one reason for the rise could be that there has been less tolerance of deputies getting a pass from their fellow officers when driving drunk.  It also mentions that so far in 2011 there have only been 13 arrests, and suggests the prevalance of off-duty DUIs could now be dropping.   This section of the report also discusses off-duty officer use of department firearms, and refers to a specific accidental shooting that occurred.
• There were 43 shots fired incidents in the county in 2010, 23 of them were someone was shot (20 where shots were fired and no one was hit).  That is comparable to 2009 where there were 42 incidents, and 27 where someone was hit.
• The report suggests that the department needs to do a better job complying with guidelines directing investigations of instances where an unarmed civilian is shot a deputy to be completed within 90 days.  There were eight shootings of unarmed civilians by deputies in 2010, according to the report.
• Three people have died since 2009 from being tasered by officers.  Internal Affairs Bureau boards have cleared officers in two of the cases, and a ruling in the third incident is still pending.  The OIR report suggests that further changes are needed in department training videos, including instructing officers to cease using tasers once a suspect no longer poses a threat to himself or others, and to instruct officers to give a verbal warning before using a taser on them.
• The report shows that there has been an increase in the length of investigations for use of force complaints and non-hit shooting incidents, to 10.4 and 10.8 months on average respectively.  In recent previous years it has taken less than 8 months for non-hit shootings, and less than 10 for use of force, the report shows.
• The report very briefly discusses the problem of having regular Homicide Bureau detectives investigating use of force allegations.  The report discusses an incident in which a suspect shot a deputy and was arrested shortly after with serious injuries.  The suspect told homicide detectives he was beaten by the arresting officers, and those detectives did not inform the Internal Affairs Bureau or the arresting officers' unit commander.  The complaint did not make it to them until months after, making it difficult to investigate the allegations.
• The number of inmates in the county system has steadily declined over the last year, from about 19,000 to about 14,400, mostly due to budget cuts
• There is a whole section on custody issues that were raised by the Mexican consulate specifically regarding a couple of cases involving Mexican nationals where abuse was alleged.  The section also mentions the accidental deportation of a mentally challenged U.S. national to Mexico.
• There has been a rise in the prevalence of financial crimes on the part of off-duty Sheriff's personnel.  The section also has a list of other deputy violations which appear to be mentioned as isolated incidents rather than a pattern of behavaior.
• There is a long section reviewing the department's investigation into the death of Los Angeles Times reporter Ruben Salazar in 1970.  Salazer was killed after being struck in the head by a police projectile while in a cafe during protests that were taking place in East Los Angeles.  Hunter S. Thompson's reporting on the incident is recommended Altadena Patch reading.

Editor's note: This story has been amended to note new information about off-duty deputy DUIs.