DEPUTIES UNION DISPUTES REPORT.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Breaking years of silence, the Los Angeles deputy sheriffs union is lashing back at a special counsel's critical review of department shootings and foot pursuits, saying in a report scheduled to be released today that it is ``handcuffing law enforcement.''

Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs' President Roy Burns said criticism by Special Counsel Merrick Bobb in a 2003 semi-annual report is influencing some sheriff's officials to discourage the use of foot pursuits.

``(These reports) are handcuffing law enforcement, who need to be able to protect the public,'' Burns said. ``We are losing the battle. Our own guys are being ambushed. If this tool is taken away from us, all that will do is leave more criminals on the streets to prey upon society.''

Bobb, who has been writing semi-annual reports on the Sheriff's Department since 1994 and was given a $225,000 contract last year, said Thursday that he plans to respond to the union's report.

``I'm glad ALADS is paying attention to my reports and starting a dialogue,'' Bobb said. ``I hope it proves to be a useful one.''

In the 2003 report, Bobb analyzed 239 sheriff shooting cases from 1997 to 2002 and found 22 percent involved shots fired by deputies during or at the end of a foot pursuit.

In the report, Bobb called many of the pursuits tactically unsound and said the department had not done its best to eliminate unnecessary shootings.

Bobb recommended that solo foot pursuits of armed suspects be forbidden unless the suspect presents an imminent threat of harm to others, and he said foot pursuits in which deputies have lost sight of fleeing suspects should be terminated in favor of surrounding the area with deputies to search for the suspect.

ALADS said it did its own review of foot pursuit reports filed by deputies at the Lancaster, Norwalk and Century stations and said weapons were only used in 13 percent of the pursuits and firearms in only 1.3 percent of the cases.

Of 300 foot pursuits analyzed at those stations from 1998 to 2004, ALADS said it also found that single-deputy foot pursuits were no more dangerous than multi-deputy pursuits.

``Data collected from the review demonstrates clearly that (Bobb) is wrong on many of the key assertions in his report, including his primary point that single-officer foot pursuits are more dangerous,'' Burns said.

Burns said one of the reasons deputies are involved in solo foot pursuits is that most patrol alone. Burns is advocating two deputies in patrol cars and said about 90 percent of Los Angeles Police Department officers patrol with partners.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com