Panel Continues Probe Into Alleged Abuses By Deputies

The investigative panel reviewing allegations of brutality in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has examined 220,000 documents and interviewed 200 witnesses, according to a progress report released Friday.

Retired Judge James G. Kolts, who is heading the four-month-old investigation, said he has not reached any conclusions in the inquiry. The Board of Supervisors appointed Kolts to head the investigation this year after several controversial incidents involving sheriff’s deputies.

The progress report provides a rough sketch of the investigation’s scope. Kolts said he and his staff are reviewing sheriff’s training procedures and hundreds of excessive-force complaints.

“We are nearing the end of our purely investigative phase, and we are just beginning to analyze and sift through the information we have,” Kolts said in the report. He described the investigation as a “no-holds barred critique” of the department.

Investigators have logged 100 hours in ride-alongs with deputies and observed the agency’s response to an officer-involved shooting. “We have been on the scene of felony arrests, vehicle and foot pursuits and a gang-related death,” Kolts said.

He said he has received $430,000 in donated legal services to conduct the investigation. An accounting firm has donated its services for a statistical study of hundreds of use-of-force complaints. In addition, the county has spent $143,000 on the probe, mostly on salaries for Kolts and his staff.

Kolts said he has received the full cooperation of Sheriff Sherman Block. “We are hopeful that, no matter what uncomfortable truths we may eventually find . . . there exists within the Sheriff’s Department the will, flexibility and openness of mind that can lead to whatever meaningful reform within the department that may be necessary,” Kolts said.

The final report is due to be released July 15.

“Our goal is that our final report contributes meaningfully to strengthening confidence and trust between law enforcement in Los Angeles and the many communities it serves, in particular our minority communities,” Kolts said.