O.C. to vote on forming sheriff review board

Orange County supervisors are scheduled to vote today on a proposal to create a civilian review panel that would investigate allegations of abuse by sheriff’s deputies and recommend policy changes in the department.

The proposal comes after inmates beat a fellow prisoner to death in October in Orange County’s Theo Lacy jail, an attack that went on for half an hour without intervention from deputies, who serve as guards.

Six inmates were charged with the murder of John Chamberlain. His father has filed a $20-million claim against the county, alleging that guards instigated the attack and erroneously told inmates that the victim was a child molester. Chamberlain, 41, was charged with possessing child pornography.

The proposal has been touted by Supervisor John Moorlach, who says it would be an effective way to reduce the county’s liability from lawsuits by having a panel that could recommend policy changes when practices appear to increase the risk of being sued.

He has noted that the county has paid $1.5 million in settlements since 2000 and faces 31 pending lawsuits stemming from the county jail system.

Moorlach said the panel would reassure the public that allegations of abuse would be treated fairly by an independent group. “I’ve just got a concern about allowing individuals to have a forum to address certain issues that may occur at the jail and with deputy sheriffs, and I think this again provides a positive opportunity to benefit everybody,” he said.

The panel would have seven members. Each supervisor would nominate one member and the county chief executive would nominate two. The candidates would be approved by the board. The panel would probably need a staff of investigators and a director. Though it would have full investigative powers, it would have only advisory authority and would not be able to manage the Sheriff’s Department, order policy or personnel changes or impose discipline.

The Sheriff’s Department and the union representing sheriff’s deputies oppose the proposal, which would create oversight commissions similar to those in San Diego County and the city of Los Angeles.

Orange County Undersheriff Jo Ann Galisky said there was already adequate oversight of the department, including its own internal-affairs unit, the district attorney, the county grand jury and the state and federal justice departments. She said the proposed panel would be a “political body” that would do little to enhance smooth operation of the department.

“In terms of civilian oversight, we believe we have a pretty good model here,” Galisky said. “It’s never comfortable, but it’s exactly the way it should work.”

The proposal comes at a time that the sheriff’s deputies union and the county board have been in protracted, and at times prickly, negotiations over a labor contract. Moorlach has been an outspoken critic of the union, and the group has sought to bar him from funerals for slain officers. Moorlach said there was no political subtext to the proposal.

Wayne Quint, the head of the union representing Orange County sheriff’s deputies, said the proposal would create a costly bureaucracy with no real power. He said it increased the county’s potential liability because the plaintiff’s lawyers could use critical findings against the department in court. He noted that San Diego’s board costs roughly $500,000 per year to operate, while the county’s legal payouts from jail claims have totaled $1.5 million in the last seven years.

“I could see if he [Moorlach] was spending taxpayer money on something that has authority,” Quint said. “This doesn’t.”

christian.berthelsen@latimes.com