PROGRAM TO LIMIT FLASHLIGHTS' USE AS BATONS.Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department This article is about the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department, not to be confused with the smaller Los Angeles County Police The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) is a local law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. will begin a pilot project today aimed at reducing officers' use of flashlights to strike suspects during violent encounters. The department will experiment with two brands of flashlights that include pepper-spray dispensers - the TigerLight with a sprayer on the bottom and the Cobra StunLight with a sprayer next to the light. In a 2003 report, Special Counsel Merrick Bobb found that patrol deputies used flashlights in almost two-thirds of 365 cases between 1997 and 2002 in which a deputy struck a suspect with an impact weapon. Batons were only used a quarter of the time. If the test devices prove successful in helping the department reduce the number of times deputies hit people with flashlights, officials plan to use the flashlights throughout the department. ``The (pepper) spray will be right there on the flashlight so it will be able to be used quicker and safer,'' sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said. In his report, Bobb recommended the department use flashlights as impact weapons only in exceptional circumstances when a deputy has no other choice. ``The flashlight has been used as an impact device because when the fight starts, that's what's in your hand,'' said sheriff's Technology Exploration Project Cmdr. Sid Heal. ``It's human nature to defend yourself in the quickest, most efficient way possible.'' Michael Gennaco, chief attorney in the Office of Independent Review, said the equipment being tested could help reduce the number of items deputies have to carry, which now includes a gun and magazines, handcuffs hand·cuff n. A restraining device consisting of a pair of strong, connected hoops that can be tightened and locked about the wrists and used on one or both arms of a prisoner in custody; a manacle. Often used in the plural. tr.v. , pepper spray, a baton and radio. Newport Beach-based Universal Guardian Holdings Inc. will donate 500 of the $200 Cobra StunLights to deputies today. The lights will be distributed to deputies at the Lancaster, Temple City and Compton stations and at the North County Correctional Facility North County Correctional Facility (NCCF) is a Los Angeles County Jail, run by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Located approximately 40 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, it is one of four jails located within the Pitchess Detention Center (named after former in Castaic, Heal said. Late last year, TigerLight Inc. donated do·nate v. do·nat·ed, do·nat·ing, do·nates v.tr. To present as a gift to a fund or cause; contribute. v.intr. To make a contribution to a fund or cause. 500 of its $140 lights to the department. About 400 are in use at the Pico Rivera Pico Rivera (pē`kō rĭvĕr`ə), city (1990 pop. 59,177), Los Angeles co., SW Calif., SE of Los Angeles on the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo rivers; inc. 1958 with the union of Pico and Rivera into one community. , Century and East Los Angeles East Los Angeles, uninc. city (1990 pop. 126,379), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles, in an industrial area. It has a large Mexican-American population. There is a performing arts center and a cultural center. A junior college is there. stations and at the downtown Inmate INMATE. One who dwells in a part of another's house, the latter dwelling, at the same time, in the said house. Kitch. 45, b; Com. Dig. Justices of the Peace, B 85; 1 B. & Cr. 578; 8 E. C. L. R. 153; 2 Dowl. & Ry. 743; 8 B. & Cr. 71; 15 E. C. L. R. 154; 2 Man. & Ry. 227; 9 B. & Cr. Reception Center, Heal said. During the test, each participating deputy will be trained in the use of the equipment and will provide information to a San Jose San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. State University researcher and a team of graduate students about their uses of force. Troy Anderson, (213) 974-8985 troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com |
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