Special Counsel to Board of Supervisors
(Monitor of Sheriff's Department)
This site includes semiannual reports of Special Counsel Merrick Bobb and staff discussing the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD). These reports are prepared at the direction of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors pursuant to its appointment of special counsel to conduct ongoing monitoring and critical review of the LASD's performance. Concerns about police misconduct and its high cost to the County, both in terms of frayed community relationships and the financial burden to taxpayers, led to the Kolts Report and the decision of the supervisors to order full implementation of the Kolts recommendations.
When the Kolts Report was published, there was criticism that the report had not recommended a civilian review board which would take over the LASD's power to investigate and discipline police misconduct. Unwilling to take so far-reaching a step, but wishing to respond to a need for active, ongoing monitoring and oversight, the supervisors, with the concurrence of the sheriff, created a continuing role for special counsel. Rather than disbanding the Kolts staff, the supervisors requested that special counsel retain such staff as was feasible, and the Board set aside an annual budget to defray the expenses of special counsel and staff incurred in monitoring the LASD and preparing the semiannual reports. At the Board's direction, special counsel disseminates data about the LASD and comments on its significance. At the request of the Board and the sheriff, special counsel has also participated in the formulation and implementation of risk and liability management strategies with the LASD.