California DOJ civil rights probe of LA Sheriff’s Department headed to settlement, sources say
LOS ANGELES — More than three years after the California Department of Justice launched a civil rights investigation into the troubled Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the case is finally headed toward a sprawling settlement agreement expected to touch on issues including jail conditions, deputy gangs and staffing, according to sources familiar with the matter and emails viewed by the Los Angeles Times.
The investigative findings — which remain secret — span over 100 pages and sources say they include controversial recommendations for deputies to curtail making traffic stops, stop enforcing some drug laws and complete hundreds more hours of training.
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Initially launched in January 2021 under Xavier Becerra, California’s attorney general at the time, the probe came amid a string of controversial shootings, costly lawsuits, repeated allegations of deputy misconduct and then-Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s resistance to oversight.
Though a new administration is in place, many of the same problems remain – some of which the state detailed when presenting the findings of its investigation to department officials and other stakeholders in a recent meeting, according to four sources who asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak on the record.
Already, the findings and recommendations have sparked pushback, some from oversight officials who raised concerns about the lack of transparency and some from union leaders who questioned the practicality of the state’s nearly 400 recommendations.
The Sheriff’s Department said this week it was “not at liberty” to discuss the matter, while Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office did not respond to The Times’ request for comment. Lawyers for Los Angeles County said only that they’d been in communication with the state and “hoped to avoid litigation.”
The Sheriff’s Department is already subject to five more narrowly targeted settlement agreements overseen by federal courts.
