The Justice Department has ramped up its investigations into police excessive force claims.
Such "pattern and practice" investigations — so-called because they seek to identify unconstitutional patterns and practices by police — are on a steep upswing, according to a review of Justice Department statistics.
Experts on race, the law and police accountability say the rise in such cases reflects, in part, a disturbing increase in cases of police abuse across the country that can't be entirely explained away by an aggressive civil-rights-minded attorney general or a change in the political winds.
There is no question that there is a problem," said Sam Walker, emeritus professor of criminal justice at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, and the author of more than a dozen books on police accountability, civil rights and police oversight.
The Civil Rights Division, he said, has doubled its number of attorneys since President Obama took office, has moved to complete the few investigations that were under way, and is opening new ones with regularity
Last year alone, the division's Special Litigation Section, which oversees pattern-and-practice investigations, has released findings of investigations into seven law-enforcement agencies, including Seattle. There were none released in 2010 and two in 2009.
When he was in Seattle last month, Perez said the division had 20 ongoing pattern-and-practice investigations nationwide.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017242781_doj15m.html
ACLU files federal lawsuit against Sheriff Baca over jail abuse:
The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California Wednesday filed a federal civil rights lawsuit that accuses Sheriff Lee Baca of failing to stop a “pattern and practice of deputy-on-inmate violence” inside L.A. County jails.
Baca is responsible for the operation of the jails. His deputies act as guards. The suit also names three of Baca’s top commanders.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of inmates, says Baca and his commanders “are aware of the culture of deputy violence that pervades the jails but have failed to take reasonable measures to remedy the problem.” The suit says the sheriff is in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, which provide citizens reasonable protection from violence and excessive force.Baca has yet to respond to the lawsuit. In the past, he has said he is quick to fire deputies who engage in abuse, and has begun implementing reforms to prevent future abuse.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2012/01/18/30849/aclu-files-federal-lawsuit-against-sheriff-over-ja/
ACLU lawsuit cites a "sick culture of deputy-on-inmate violence" in L.A. County jails:
http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/01/abu-ghraib-los-angeles-county-jail-abuses