Sheriff announces new policy, releases new crime statistics

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca on Wednesday announced a new department policy for pursuing armed suspects.
Baca also announced that violent crime dropped more than 12 percent county-wide last year, and that crime decreased in the service areas of all San Gabriel Valley sheriff's stations except Altadena.
Experts said Baca's new policy on foot chases would lead to a decrease in deputy-involved shootings. The policy advises deputies that it may often be safer to chase an armed suspect for the purpose of trapping him or her in a search perimeter rather than always trying to immediately take a suspect into custody.
"We don't want to have our deputies unnecessarily put themselves in harm's way," Baca said.
The wording of the mandate tells deputies to be "cautiously persistent."
Baca said he wants deputies to consider all of their options when chasing after an armed suspect, such as calling for backup, calling for helicopter or dog, firing warning shots or using less-than-lethal weapons.
"We are talking about a very difficult part of policing," Baca said.
Deciding whether or not to use deadly force is "a one- to two-second decision-making process," he said, calling the task the "ultimate challenging decision of any deputy, period."
Baca said he hopes the policy will make deputies less likely to shoot people.
"You don't have to go barreling in in any case, and put yourself in a position where you have to use your gun," he said.
Michael Gennaco, head of the Office of Independent Review civilian oversight group, helped draft the language of the new policy.
Gennaco said the policy "allows for better decision-making, because you have time on your side."
"I think it will increase deputy safety, reduce the use of deadly force and help change the culture," Gennaco said. "Instead of chasing bad guys, what the department is trying to do is not let the suspect dictate the outcome but let deputies use tactics and resources to dictate the outcome."
While Baca said the new policy was not in response to any specific deputy-involved shootings, Gennaco said he believed the change was likely triggered by community outrage over deputy-involved shootings of unarmed suspects in recent years.
In September of last year, Darrick Collins -- a 26-year-old man who was not armed -- was shot in the Athens neighborhood near South Los Angeles as sheriff's deputies were pursuing him during an armed robbery investigation. His family has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county.
There were 42 deputy-involved shootings in 2009 compared with 37 the previous year, sheriff's spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said.
Sixteen of last year's deputy-involved shootings were fatal, she said. In 2008, nine were fatal.
The department had 40 deputy-involved shootings in 2007, 48 in 2006, 48 in 2005 and 57 in 2004, Nishida said.
In addition to announcing the new policy, Baca presented crime statistics showing a 12.36 percent decrease in violent crime county-wide between 2008 and 2009, as well as an 11.09 percent decrease in property crime.
Data revealed that every San Gabriel Valley sheriff's station except Altadena showed a decrease in major crimes, such as homicide, robbery, rape, burglary and auto theft.
The sheriff's Altadena Station handled 7.6 percent more Part I crimes in 2009 than the previous year, and 21.2 percent more than in 2004.
The increases were due to more reports of assaults, burglaries and arsons.
Major crimes dropped in 2009 by 7.5 percent at the Temple Station, 11.9 percent at the Industry Station, 17.6 percent at the Norwalk Station, 10 percent at the Pico Rivera Station, 0.7 percent at the San Dimas Station and 14.5 percent at the Walnut Station.
Other significant crime trends included a doubling of homicides handled by the Pico Rivera Station from four in 2008 to eight in 2009.
Rapes in San Dimas increased from 11 incidents in 2008 to 17 in 2009.
At the sheriff's Industry Station, the only major crime showing an increase was arson, rising from 25 incidents in 2008 to 40 incidents last year.