Report 2021-105 Recommendation 29 Responses
Report 2021-105: Law Enforcement Departments Have Not Adequately Guarded Against Biased Conduct (Release Date: April 2022)
Recommendation #29 To: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
To ensure that it adequately investigates possible biased conduct and implements effective corrective actions, Los Angeles Sheriff's policies should require that investigations include a formal determination that makes clear whether biased conduct occurred or not, as well as the rationale for reaching the determination.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2023
No update at this time
- Estimated Completion Date: None
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending
1-Year Agency Response
As stated in the above guidelines, investigations regarding serious misconduct are determined through the investigative process and formal determinations are made in order to impose appropriate discipline, if any.
- Completion Date: March 2023
- Response Date: May 2023
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending
LA Sheriff has not provided documentation to substantiate that it has implemented this recommendation through developing a policy requiring formal determinations regarding biased conduct or the rationale for those determinations.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
6-Month Agency Response
There is no change to the status of this recommendation from the previous response.
- Estimated Completion Date: Unknown
- Response Date: October 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending
60-Day Agency Response
The definition of Bias behavior in policing has been fiercely debated in the past, and to date, a clear and exhaustive definition of actions or behavior considered to be bias have not been identified by the state or any other governmental entity. Therefore, independently modifying or establishing an obtainable, realistic, and all-inclusive investigative process and discipline matrix would be difficult at this time.
- Estimated Completion Date: TBD
- Response Date: June 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending
Los Angeles Sheriff raises the same objection to this recommendation as it did to our recommendation 24. We disagree that the present lack of a statewide definition of bias prevents it from improving its investigations into biased conduct consistent with our recommendations. We summarize the reasons for our disagreement in our assessment of Los Angeles Sheriff's response to recommendation 24, and describe them more fully in the text of the report.
All Recommendations in 2021-105
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.