When a top official responsible for oversight of the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department announced recently that he is being forced out of his position, it brought to a fever pitch tensions that had been building for months.<\/p>\n
On one side are watchdogs who say efforts to bring reforms and transparency to the Sheriff\u2019s Department are being stymied. On the other are county officials who claim fresh perspectives are needed on the Civilian Oversight Commission.<\/p>\n
The showdown is playing out as the commission continues fighting the county for access to internal sheriff\u2019s department records on deputy misconduct, including investigations into gang-like cliques said to rule over certain stations and promote a culture of violence. <\/p>\n
Robert Bonner, the oversight commission chair, wrote in a letter last month that he was \u201cinvoluntarily leaving\u201d the body he has been a member of since its founding in 2016. Bonner, 83, said in an interview that he was chairing the commission\u2019s May meeting at the L.A. County Hall of Records when he unexpectedly received a letter from County Supervisor Kathryn Barger stating that she would be appointing someone to replace him.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Bonner gave his first address to the commission since revealing his time as chair will end this month.<\/p>\n
Bonner said he was \u201cstill surprised\u201d that he had been \u201cdismissed without so much as a phone call from Supervisor Barger.\u201d<\/p>\n
And he had choice words for other county operators that he described as thorns in the commission\u2019s side.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can be treacherous. The county bureaucrats \u2014 and this includes, by the way, the county counsel\u2019s office \u2014 they guard their turf and see an independent commission as a threat to that turf,\u201d Bonner said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are forces within the county,\u201d he added later, \u201cthat do not want to see real, effective and meaningful oversight over the sheriff\u2019s department.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helen Chavez, a spokesperson for Barger, said in an email that Bonner\u2019s claims that the supervisor summarily dismissed him were made \u201cfor dramatic effect\u201d and \u201care not only inaccurate but also mischaracterize the circumstances of his departure\u201d from the commission. <\/p>\n
\u201cHis assertion that his presence alone was essential to achieving reforms is both self-serving and dismissive of the dedicated Commissioners and staff who are collectively advancing the Civilian Oversight Commission\u2019s mission,\u201d the statement said. \u201cThese reforms are bigger than any one individual, and they will continue without interruption.\u201d<\/p>\n
Barger, who chairs the county\u2018s Board of Supervisors, told The Times in a statement last month that she is \u201ccommitted to broadening the diversity of voices and expertise represented on the Commission.\u201d <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger attends a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting in 2023.<\/p>\n
(Irfan Khan\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
She said her decision to replace Bonner \u201creflects my desire to continue cultivating public trust in the oversight process by introducing new perspectives that support the Commission\u2019s vital work.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Patti Giggans, an ally of Bonner\u2019s on the commission, stood up for the departing chairman during what he said would likely be the last of the body\u2019s monthly meetings he\u2019d attend as a commissioner.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a feeling all of us here, all the commissioners, appreciate your leadership, your tenacity, your brilliance and courage to go up against forces that are not necessarily yet in agreement with what effective oversight means,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
The County Counsel\u2019s office said in an email that it \u201chas fully supported the COC, as an advisory body to the Board, in its efforts to seek the information it needs to play a powerful oversight role on behalf of LA County citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n
But some observers note that the county counsel is in an awkward position, since the office represents multiple parties involved. That includes the Civilian Oversight Commission, which has been trying to enforce subpoenas, as well as Barger\u2019s office and the sheriff\u2019s department.<\/p>\n
Peter Eliasberg, chief counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said it seems to him that nearly every time such a dispute comes up, the county\u2019s lawyers side with the sheriff\u2019s department.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s either intentional or it\u2019s incredibly short-sighted for Commissioner Bonner to be pushed out at this point, at a time when he\u2019s been spearheading incredibly important reforms,\u201d Eliasberg said. \u201cIt feels to me like this is an effort once again to hamstring this commission.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bonner, who previously served as a federal judge and was head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, isn\u2019t the only commissioner to acrimoniously leave the oversight body this year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, right, talks with former oversight official Sean Kennedy during the annual Baker to Vegas law enforcement relay on April 5 in Baker, Calif.<\/p>\n
(William Liang \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n
In February, Loyola Law School professor Sean Kennedy resigned<\/a> after county lawyers sought to stop him from filing a brief in court in support of Diana Teran, an advisor to former L.A. County Dist. Atty. George Gasc\u00f3n who faced felony charges from the state. Teran was accused of improperly accessing records about sheriff\u2019s deputies, but a state appellate court recently moved to dismiss<\/a> the case.<\/p>\n Kennedy said in February that he quit because he believed it was \u201cnot appropriate for the County Counsel to control the COC\u2019s independent oversight decisions.\u201d <\/p>\n