Sheriff’s watchdog unit is critical of Santa Monica police detectives

Santa Monica police detectives improperly led witnesses and engaged “in an unusual mixture of facts and advocacy” in a child endangerment investigation of a school board member, according to an independent report released this week by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s watchdog unit.

The case involved accusations that Oscar de la Torre, a member of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board, failed to break up a fight between two youths.

The city ordered the report after De la Torre accused the agency of pursuing a politically motivated probe related to the March 16 fight between two 17-year-old boys outside the Pico Youth & Family Center, which De la Torre operates. Prosecutors rejected charges against De la Torre, who insisted he intervened the moment it was safe to do so.

The report by Michael Gennaco, head of the Office of Independent Review, found that police acted appropriately in launching the investigation of De la Torre. But Gennaco took issue with the detectives’ approach to the probe, noting that during witness interviews they used techniques such as “advocating a point of view and feeding witnesses information.”

The report noted that detectives treated witnesses like suspects, gave information to one witness, failed to interview another and told parents of the dangers posed by adults like De la Torre.

In one instance, the report noted, a detective told the father of one of the boys involved in the fight, “I just think it’s important for you as a father to know Oscar was there. He’s an adult. He runs the Pico Youth & Family Center; supposed to be promoting peace, resolution of disputes through nonviolent means through dialogue....I would hope that an adult would not let a fight continue because of the potential for somebody to get hurt bad ... all it takes is one smack on the head could make somebody paralyzed, could screw up their brain, could kill them.”

The review also found detectives mischaracterized the statements of a youth center worker in the police investigation report. Gennaco concluded that the probe was an “unusual mixture of facts and advocacy, and was not a dispassionate rendering of the facts” and suggested the Santa Monica Police Department establish better investigation and interview techniques.

Santa Monica Police Chief Timothy Jackman issued a statement saying the department was “committed to following the recommendations of the report entirely. We will be moving swiftly to ensure implementation.”

De la Torre said the report’s finding had vindicated him.

“I think the report confirms that malicious intent fueled a sham investigation against me and the goal was to deprive me of my freedom and to ruin my career,” he said. “The Santa [Monica] City Council must restore the public trust that has been lost due to this unwarranted attack against me,” he adding, saying he was considering his legal options.

The police investigation of De La Torre began after the superintendent of schools alerted police to a cellphone video that showed the school board member at the scene of a fight between two teens in an alley next to the youth center.

According to Gennaco’s report, De la Torre apparently arrived at the start of the fight, which lasted a minute, as both teens threw some glancing punches and wrestled each other to the pavement.

De la Torre and another student reached out toward the fighters when they fell to the pavement but backed away when they got up, according to the report. When the fighters fell to the ground a second time, De la Torre broke up the fight and got the teens to shake hands.

richard.winton@latimes.com