SHERIFF'S PERSONNEL MISCONDUCT ON RISE, REPORT SAYS.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

A growing number of Los Angeles County sheriff's personnel made false statements, falsified documents and remained silent when fellow deputies used excessive force, a civilian review panel said in a report released Wednesday.

The Office of Independent Review report found the number of personnel whom internal affairs investigators determined had made false statements or falsified official documents and reports rose from three in the second quarter of 2001 to 17 during the same three-month period this year.

Meanwhile, the number of county Sheriff's Department personnel who were discharged as a result of misconduct rose from two in the second quarter of 2001 to 11 this year.

The Office of Independent Review found that more than two-thirds of Sheriff's Department internal investigations result in a finding of policy violations and that supervisors do receive discipline, although proportionally lower than that of deputies.

``We are trying to lift the curtain off the traditionally secret area of discipline and officer misconduct,'' OIR Chief Attorney Michael Gennaco said.

Department spokesman Steve Whitmore said Sheriff Lee Baca appreciates what the OIR does and that this report is another indicator of its effectiveness in correcting problems it identifies.

``The OIR and the sheriff work well together because the sheriff affords the necessary access to the OIR so it can do its job,'' Whitmore said. ``It's a prime example of how two entities that could be in conflict are working well together to right any wrongs that may exist.''

The OIR was created in 2001 by Los Angeles County supervisors to review hundreds of internal investigations to ensure fairness and to prevent people's civil rights from being violated by the 16,000 employees of the Sheriff's Department.

The OIR also found a number of cases in which deputies said they did not observe fellow deputies using excessive force although the incident was ``occurring immediately around them.''

``This tends to prompt the suspicion that the deputy is being less than candid in order to protect himself or a colleague,'' Gennaco wrote.

In one case caught on a video camera across the street, a deputy claimed he did not see or hear a physical altercation among other deputies and a juvenile although the incident occurred only a few feet away.

``People were getting scratched and uniform buttons were ripped off,'' Gennaco said.

Gennaco also expressed concerns in the report about the quality of investigations when jail inmates allege excessive force.

One case settled this year for $300,000 involved allegations by an inmate that his neck was twisted by a deputy in 1999 at Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic. The departmental investigation had determined there was no evidence supporting his allegations and the deputy was not disciplined.

But the Office of Independent Review found that the investigation included ``an appearance of bias, deputies hulking over the inmate during questioning, leading questions by interviewers and selective questions'' and a failure to explain the inmate's injuries.

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com