There continues to be discussion about whether the LA County Supervisor appointed Citizens Commission on Jail Violence should allow Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies, present and recently retired, talk to the commission secretly.
As KPCC’s Frank Stoltz reported after the commissions last meeting in mid December:
Former federal Judge Robert Bonner said because of the “extremely sensitive” nature of inquiring about jail violence, deputies should be allowed to testify in private to a subcommittee of the commission.
“I think you’re going to get a lot more candid testimony if you interview them in a setting that is not necessarily open,” Bonner told his colleagues in their second-ever meeting. “They should have some assurance of confidentiality.”
Bonner, who once led the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, added, “I don’t think we want a situation where people are coming in with hoods over their faces” in a public meeting.
Sheriff’s deputies may be unwilling to publicly talk about wrongdoing at the jails out of fear of retaliation by their colleagues.
No kidding.
According to what we have heard from the growing list of LASD people who have contacted us with information pertaining to WitnessLA’s own investigations, many deputies fear retaliation will come, not just from colleagues, but from superiors.
In a letter to the LA Times published Thursday, former Sheriff’s Department Commander Robert Olmsted communicated the same message as he advocated unequivocally for anonymous testimony:
….The special commission to investigate allegations of abuse in L.A. County jails is right to consider allowing jail deputies to testify anonymously. Few if any would come forward otherwise, as those within the organization know the department is very unforgiving to a member who doesn’t “go with the flow.”
I agree with Sheriff Lee Baca that the department should try to be as transparent as possible, but it’s more important that the truth comes out. The department’s core values state, “I commit myself to honorably perform my duties with respect for the dignity of all people.” Are jail inmates not people?
The department has the responsibility to serve both deputies and inmates to get to the core of the problem in its jails. Anonymity for department witnesses is the only way to get to the heart of the issues.
Let us hope that the commission agrees.
NOTE: The Citizens Commission on Jail Violence meets today, Friday, January 6 at 10 a.m. in the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 500 West Temple Street, Rm. 381B