Third of Sheriff’s Officers Feel Undertrained : Law enforcement: First department attitude survey also finds concern about loss of tolerance of ethnic groups.

More than a third of the sworn officers in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department believe they are “undertrained” for their current jobs and half have been the subject of internal investigations during their careers, according to the first department survey of employee attitudes.

The survey, released Wednesday by Sheriff Sherman Block, also found that “significant numbers” of deputies, detectives, sergeants and lieutenants felt they had become less tolerant of other ethnic groups since they joined the department.

“Although most people say their (racial) tolerance has not decreased, any negative movement on this scale is troublesome and should be countered,” said the study.

Almost one in three white officers reported a declining tolerance for ethnic groups--an attitude shared by only one in seven minority officers.

At his monthly meeting with the media, Block said the survey was distributed last January to his 11,000-member department as part of an effort to assess the attitude of sworn officers and civilian employees.

Block said that some of the findings are based on perceptions, rather than reality. “Other things, perhaps, are factual things that we were not aware of, or were aware of and ignored,” Block said.

The sheriff said he had just received the survey results and could not comment on specifics, although he acknowledged that he was surprised to learn that employees “don’t have a high view of management.”

The study, conducted by ASI Market Research Inc. of Burbank, singled out management as the “single greatest problem facing the Sheriff’s Department.” The survey of 2,895 sworn officers and 801 civilian employees blamed management problems, in part, for declining morale among workers.

And although most employees said they were happy or satisfied with the department, many also complained about an unfair disciplinary process and what they said was inadequate supervision.

“When asked to rate the supervisory process throughout the department, both sworn personnel and civilians appear lukewarm at best,” the report said.

The report also concluded that “one of the most significant problems uncovered by this research is the promotion process” with 38% of the sworn officers and 25% of the civilians ranking the department’s performance as poor--the lowest rating in the survey--and contending that favoritism, including “cronyism,” was responsible for many promotions.

“Only 14% of the personnel think that promotions are based more on merit than on inappropriate criteria,” said the report.

Although training programs were lauded by employees, many workers said the amount of training they received was inadequate, the report said. In its findings, 36% of the sworn personnel and 49% of the civilians indicated that “they feel undertrained for their current position.”

Of the sworn officers, 31% of those who said they worked patrol duty or in the jails complained about a lack of training, while 57% of those on administrative duties said their training was inadequate.

The study found that 24% of those who supervise others said they received no training at all.

The departmentwide survey of employees was the first for an agency that has been shaken recently by several controversial shootings and excessive force allegations against deputies. But sheriff officials said they were not alarmed by the findings.

“I am very appreciative of the fact that we were allowed to ask questions of the rank-and-file and can now address the problems that have surfaced,” said Cmdr. William Stonich, who headed the committee that oversaw the $60,000 survey, which is part of a two-year-old program to improve community services.

Stonich said executive staff members had been aware of some of the attitudes expressed in the survey, including the fact that some sworn officers had shown a decreasing tolerance toward ethnic groups.

“Certainly any degree of tolerance level being lowered is a matter of concern,” he said, “but what was encouraging, too, was that while many (employees) indicated a lowering of tolerance, a like number indicated that their tolerance had been increased. And the bulk said their attitudes remain unchanged over a period of time.”

Stonich speculated that if a similar survey had been conducted among the public at large, the numbers would have been similar. He added that the department has already launched “cultural awareness” training for deputies and other sworn officers.

Sgt. Art Reddy, president of the Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Assn., said his organization--which represents 2,500 Sheriff’s Department employees--from deputies, sergeants and lieutenants to civilian jail employees--has reviewed the survey and lauded the department for its efforts.

“I think the Sheriff’s Department has done a good job, not just recently, but for many years in trying to get officers to be more sensitive in their ethnic and cultural awareness,” he said.

Reddy also said that the finding that half the officers had been under investigation at one time or another, was reflective of a sound department.

According to the study, “being under investigation is commonplace among sworn personnel” and a “large number of the cases” probably result in exonerations.

“We look at that as a very positive thing for the sheriff,” said Reddy, “because it shows that if there is a complaint, the department does not sweep it under the rug, it is investigated.”

The Assn. for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs, a union which represents 6,500 deputies, had no comment.