Several commission members say arrestees should not be released at nighttime without access to transportation, and that deputies should not have the discretion to ask a woman to lock her purse in her car when arrested.
By Knowles Adkisson / The Malibu Times
With members of Mitrice Richardson’s family in attendance, the Malibu Public Safety Commission voted 3-1 at its meeting last week to recommend that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department change its policies regarding the apprehension and release of arrestees. The commission voted to make the recommendations despite reminders from Malibu/Lost Hill’s Sheriff’s Station officials present at the meeting that the department is not bound by recommendations from the City of Malibu.
Mitrice Richardson is the young woman who went missing in September of 2009 after being released from the Lost Hills/Malibu station in the middle of the night without her purse, cell phone, money or transportation. She had been arrested for not paying a restaurant bill in Malibu. Her remains were found in a Malibu canyon nearly a year later. The Sheriff’s Department has faced heavy criticism for releasing her without any means of being able to get home, and the young woman’s family has filed multiple lawsuits against the department alleging negligence.
On Wednesday last week, the Public Safety Commission recommended that all arrestees be permitted to retain possession of their purse, wallet and/or cell phones. The commission also said arrestees should not be released during nighttime hours without a means of transportation. The recommendations now go to the city council, which will decide whether to make a formal request to the county Sheriff’s Department to change its policies.
The proposal met opposition from Malibu/Lost Hill’s Sheriff’s Station Capt. Joe Stephen.
“That would not be appropriate,” Stephen said of the City of Malibu ordering changes to Sheriff’s Department policy. Stephen said decisions to change policy are only made within the department.
“We welcome any positive ideas that could help public safety,” Stephen said. “Whether they would be implemented, I could not promise that.”
However, Stephen said the department has already incorporated some of the suggestions following a review of Richardson’s case, including making sure all arrestees have their cell phones on them when they are taken to jail.
“It’s not common practice to take every woman’s purse and put it in the trunk,” Stephen added. “That’s at the discretion of the officer, and the arrestees.”
Commission Chair Carol Randall said that since most deputies are not female, they may not realize how important a purse is to a woman.
“I don’t know that someone who doesn’t carry a purse or a handbag would realize how important that is to a woman,” Randall said to the captain. “And I wouldn’t expect you to understand that. But I do and I’d like to pass on to you that fact.”
The commission also heard from Monique Lukens, a Northridge resident who was written a ticket several months ago for failing to pull over in a timely manner for a late-night traffic stop. Lukens, who has addressed the city council several times on the issue, said she had been seeking a well-lit area to pull over and that the ticket was unjustified.
Lt. Jim Royal, the station’s liaison to the City of Malibu, said while the department is sensitive to the issue of women concerned about their safety at night, deputies are trained to view a person’s refusal to pull over in a timely manner with suspicion.
“It would obviously alert a well-trained and reasoned officer that something is amiss,” Royal said.
Royal advised that if a person has doubts about whether the person pulling them over is actually a law enforcement officer, he or she can call 911 and ask the operator to confirm that the officer is legitimate.
When someone does not pull over immediately, Royal said, deputies are trained that the person could be either about to flee, arming themselves or attempting to find a well-lit area. Royal said deputies take into account how the person drives after the patrol car’s lights go on. He said deputies have the discretion to decide whether or not to ticket a person in that situation, depending on whether the driver drives responsibly.
“I have a problem with discretion, because my discretion is different from yours,” Commissioner Marlene Matlow said, referring to both the purse issue and the concept of what constitutes a well-lit area. “And when it’s left to the officer’s discretion to make a decision on what they want to implement, and that officer may be one of those bad apples, then that could be problematic.”
Royal said discretion was important to Sheriff’s deputies because “there are so many variables” in law enforcement situations.
“Generally speaking, we need discretion,” Royal said.
Commissioner David Saul was the lone dissenting vote on the commission’s recommendations. Saul said the commission did not have the expertise to alter Sheriff Department policy.
“I think we’re overreaching our area,” he said.