LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department has condemned the practice of racial profiling and agreed to promptly revise its anti-bias instruction to officers, expand diversity training and develop community outreach programs as part of a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

The settlement resolves a claim brought against the department for stopping and searching dozens of African-American community college students based on their race during an incident on the campus of Los Angeles Trade Technical College in October 2007.

Under the settlement, the Sheriff's Department will implement sorely needed changes, including examining current anti-racial-bias procedures. Additionally, the department will revise its policy to state that department officials will do everything within their power 'to guarantee racial profiling and bias-policing are not practiced.'

'Our constitution and laws protect the community against law-enforcement harassment based on skin color, and this settlement is one step towards ensuring that the Sheriff's Department never allows that to happen again,' said Catherine Lhamon, racial justice director at the ACLU/SC. 'This agreement brings the department into the 21st century and provides the community with important protections against racial profiling.'

Added Jeffrey H. Dasteel, a partner at the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP: "Skadden is very proud of its tradition of commitment to pro bono service, and particularly of its work with the ACLU on matters of racial justice. With this agreement, the Sheriff's Department acknowledges that racial profiling cannot and will not be tolerated."

The claim was brought against the department after 14 sheriff's deputies walked onto the campus of L.A. Trade-Tech on Oct. 17, 2007, allegedly looking for drug dealers, and detained 33 black students and one Latino student who attempted to take pictures of the incident.

Deputies searched the male students and forced the entire group, including four women, to sit on the ground in the middle of campus with their hands behind their heads, some for more than an hour. Deputies harassed and humiliated these students, treating them like criminals in front of the faculty, administrators and fellow students. Yet the students were never told why.

'We were all so upset about what happened. Knowing the department will make changes to the way they go about treating people is something I am proud of,' said Rev. Darrin Simington, a youth minister at the Alpha and Omega Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, who was among the dozens of people detained by deputies in the incident. 'We look forward to seeing the new changes in the department, especially because these changes will be written in stone.'

Officials from the Sheriff's Department have defended their actions, saying they were part of an investigation into illegal drug dealing on campus. But a report by the Los Angeles Community College District, which oversees the school, concluded that the roundup constituted racial profiling.

As part of the settlement, the Sheriff's Department will widely distribute the revised policy within its ranks and post it at L.A. Trade-Tech. The supervising deputy at the community college will also meet with the students harassed to explain the changes the department will make.

'With the ACLU behind us, we were able to get something real accomplished,' Rev. Simington said.

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LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The ACLU of Southern California has strongly urged Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens to revise the department’s inadequate Taser policy in order to restrict and guide future use of these potentially lethal weapons.

In a 10-page letter to the sheriff released today, ACLU/SC Orange County Director Hector Villagra strongly recommended that the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) limit the use of Tasers to situations where death or serious bodily injury is threatened – whether to a deputy, the public or a suspect. If the OCSD is unable to adopt such strict limitations on Taser use, Villagra noted, it should at least revise its policy to ensure safer, more effective and more accountable use of Tasers.

“The department’s current policy does not take into account the persistent and unresolved concerns about the safety of Tasers, or the rising death toll associated with their use,” Villagra said. “Until it is clear through independent and comprehensive research that Tasers don’t pose an unreasonable risk, a more prudent policy must be adopted.”

Nationally, 320 people have died since June 2001 after being shocked by Tasers. In Orange County, five people have died since 2005 after being stung with the weapons, including Jason Gomez, a 35-year-old father who died in April 2008 after turning himself into authorities.

In addition to urging limits on the use of Tasers, the ACLU/SC letter recommends the department prohibit multiple or prolonged shocks that can impair breathing, and ban the use of Tasers by more than one deputy on a single person.

The suggested revisions would amount to a significant rewriting of the OCSD’s current policy on Tasers, which in places is vague or refers only obliquely to potential problems. With little independent research available on assessing Tasers’ safety, and the manufacturers themselves warning of possible dangers, it’s crucial for the department develop a policy that ensures safe and effective use of these powerful weapons, Villagra noted.

Many of the recommendations are based on practices proposed by groups of law-enforcement experts, including the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). For example, PERF recommends that individuals who are shocked with a Taser receive medical monitoring. At least two municipal police departments also suggest that law-enforcement officers be required to check the response of a subject once a shock has been administered.

The Taser can be a deadly weapon, and as such, the ACLU/SC believes that deputies need to be held accountable when they use it. All data on the use of Tasers, including how many times a deputy triggered a weapon and what type of shock was used -- be it the dart or the Taser gun -- needs to be available for public scrutiny. The ACLU/SC believes OCSD supervisors should also be called out to the scene every time a Taser is used, to establish proper oversight.

“The ACLU/SC hopes that Sheriff Hutchens will adopt our recommendations not only for the safety of the public, but for the credibility of the department,” Villagra said.