Different Speeds for Wheels of Discipline

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca took a month to investigate and discipline the deputies who fired 120 shots into a Compton neighborhood.

But nearly a year after a Los Angeles police officer was videotaped beating a car-chase suspect with his flashlight in another part of Compton, the LAPD has yet to determine what, if any, discipline he and other officers involved should receive.

The differences in how the two agencies handled the two cases speak to the difficulty law enforcement officials face in quickly identifying police misconduct and determining appropriate discipline.

The slow pace of officer discipline at the LAPD -- which can take a year or more -- has been criticized in the last year by community groups and a federal court monitor, as well as Police Chief William J. Bratton, who has proposed ways of speeding up the process.

But unions and attorneys representing officers fear that quicker action would open up the disciplinary process to political pressure, especially in the event of high-profile cases like the two in Compton.

Baca said Friday that he had pushed for a quick resolution to his deputies’ case in part to demonstrate to the Compton community that he took the matter seriously. The shooting, which took place on a residential street, sent bullets flying into homes and residents diving for cover.

“In the minds of all of us, delayed justice is no justice at all,” Baca said. “There’s no question it’s in the best interest of everyone -- the public, the deputies, the observers and even the critics -- to bring this to a place where people feel that the department has accounted for the problem as best it can.”

But he and other sheriff’s officials said a quick resolution would not have been possible unless the 12 deputies themselves had cooperated.

Under a 1990 settlement agreement between the department and the deputies union, deputies are permitted to avoid interviews by internal investigators until the district attorney’s office has completed its criminal investigation into an incident, which can take months.

The settlement was designed to protect deputies against incriminating themselves during the internal inquiry and having this information used by prosecutors to prepare criminal prosecutions. But Baca and others said this often slows internal disciplinary investigations.

In the Compton case, the deputies agreed to talk to internal affairs investigators and even issued a public apology to residents for the damage to their homes.

“If they hadn’t done that, I’m not sure we would have achieved this case in this time frame,” said Michael Gennaco, head of the Sheriff’s Department’s Office of Independent Review. “It may serve as a model in the future to be able to turn around cases with more speed without sacrificing thoroughness.”

Indeed, Baca now says he would like to change the 1990 agreement so deputies would be required to cooperate with internal affairs immediately after an incident.

The May 9 events in Compton began as the pursuit of a man in an SUV. After Winston Hayes drove the vehicle onto a lawn and toward officers, the deputies opened fire. It turned out that Hayes was unarmed.

A Sheriff’s Department report released this week found that the deputies had formed a rough circle around Hayes, who was struck four times. One deputy was also injured.

Eleven deputies were suspended for two to seven days, mostly for tactical mistakes, including endangering deputies and others by cross-firing, as well as for failing to take cover and to keep a safe distance from Hayes. Another deputy was suspended for 15 days because he got involved in the pursuit against orders.

Baca said the pace of the department’s response might have been much different “if someone had died in the incident.” More serious disciplinary cases in the agency have been known to drag on.

“It’s just pure luck that the deputy was not fatally wounded,” the sheriff said. “It’s our luck that the suspect was not fatally wounded. And it’s pure luck [that] all those rounds did not kill an innocent citizen. This is a lesson for all of us.”

The Stanley Miller case, by contrast, has proceeded far more slowly. In that incident, the Compton resident was driving a stolen Toyota Camry about dawn when police gave chase.

With two TV news helicopters and an LAPD chopper overhead, Miller jumped out of the car and sprinted. Police were chasing him on foot when he suddenly stopped running. An officer drew and re-holstered his weapon, then tackled Miller, who had his hands in the air.

Officer David Hale tackled Miller, and Officer John Hatfield kicked the suspect, then struck him in the body with a flashlight, according to documents.

Hatfield and several officers later reported having heard Hale yell that the suspect had a gun, prosecutors said. No gun was found.

Immediately after the incident, Bratton said some of the officers’ tactics had been wrong but declined to say whether he thought discipline was warranted.

Then, in February, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley announced that he would not prosecute any of the officers, saying there was a lack of evidence.

Bratton recommended in April that Hatfield and Hale lose their jobs and that four other officers involved in the incident be suspended.

But the chief doesn’t have the final word. Under LAPD policy, a Board of Rights, consisting of two commanding officers and a citizen, conducts a final review and determines any disciplinary action.

The board’s hearing on the Miller case is continuing, and a decision is not expected until summer.

Previous boards have overruled the police chief in high-profile cases.

The LAPD’s disciplinary policies came under criticism two years ago, when a Board of Rights cleared Officer Edward Larrigan in the May 21, 1999, fatal shooting of Margaret Mitchell, a mentally ill homeless woman who had allegedly threatened him with a 12-inch screwdriver.

The Police Commission ruled that the shooting had violated LAPD regulations, but the Board of Rights found it to be justified.

Bratton, along with some police commissioners, has proposed giving the chief final authority over punishment. Some community activists are also pushing for an amendment to the City Charter to change the disciplinary process.

But some worry that changes designed to speed up the procedures could backfire.

“Just because you get instant results doesn’t mean you get good results,” said Bob Baker, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

The emphasis on quick disciplinary action could allow deputies and officers to avoid possible criminal sanctions if investigations were cut short because of a desire to appease the public and put the matter to rest, critics said.

Erwin Chemerinsky, a former USC law professor who played central roles in rewriting the City Charter and reforming the Police Department, was no less cautious.

“It’s very important that an officer who commits wrongdoing be disciplined,” he said. “But it’s also important that an officer receive due process before he’s disciplined, and often due process takes some time.”

Others, however, believe that Baca has the right idea.

“To me, the best way is the quick way,” said lawyer Harland Braun, who successfully represented one of the Los Angeles officers prosecuted in the 1991 Rodney G. King beating.

“I think what happened here, the sheriff immediately accepted responsibility instead of putting up a stone wall and saying nothing’s wrong,” Braun said. “They look more credible.”