Monitoring of the Antelope Valley Settlement Agreement

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What is the Antelope Valley Settlement Agreement?

In August 2011, the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Civil Rights Division, launched an investigation of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) in response to complaints and allegations of violations of the Fair Housing Act in the Antelope Valley of southern California. Upon completion of their investigation in June 2013, the DOJ issued their findings that the LASD's Lancaster and Palmdale Stations had engaged in a pattern and practice of conducting stops, searches, and seizures that were unreasonable and in violation of the Constitution and federal law.

The LASD and DOJ subsequently entered into negotiations regarding appropriate remedies, and the parties developed the Settlement Agreement, which was ultimately signed and filed with the US District Court for the Central District of California in April 2015. The purpose of the Settlement Agreement is to ensure that the residents of the Antelope Valley are provided with police services that are lawful and fully consistent with the Constitution of the United States and contemporary policing practices.

The sections of the Settlement Agreement are as follows: (click on each for a summary of that section)
  1. Stops, Seizures, and Searches
  2. Bias-Free Policing
  3. Enforcement of Section 8 Compliance
  4. Data Collection and Analysis
  5. Community Engagement
  6. Use of Force
  7. Personnel Complaint Review
  8. Accountability

Monitoring the Settlement Agreement

Dr. Angie Wolf and Joseph Brann serve as lead monitors for the Settlement Agreement. Evident Change serves as the administrative organization for the project, which Dr. Wolf manages. The lead monitors and the team they have brought together offer an extensive and diverse pool of skills and experience that will assist in this endeavor.

The monitoring team is responsible for assessing and evaluating the LASD's progress in implementing and achieving the reforms outlined in the Settlement Agreement. Working with LASD and DOJ in a collaborative manner, the monitoring team will help to ensure that the agreed-upon reforms are instituted and that the constitutional policing practices and expectations laid out in the Settlement Agreement are met. In addition to the ongoing community engagement efforts described below, the monitoring team will produce semi-annual (every six months) reports describing progress toward achieving the goals of the Settlement Agreement. You can find these reports in the "Documents and Reports" section below.

The Monitoring Team

Community Engagement

One of the eight key objectives of the Settlement Agreement is to bring about improvements in the way the LASD engages with Antelope Valley community members. The goal of this community engagement is increased communication, understanding, and trust between community members and the department.

The monitors will assess and evaluate LASD's community engagement efforts by attending community meetings and events, engaging with community members, hearing from them through this website, and analyzing the results of an annual community survey that will be carefully designed to seek input from all community members.

The community is invited to reach out to the monitoring team to share observations and concerns and ask any questions related to the Settlement Agreement. Contact Barbara Lona using the information in the "Contact the Monitors" section below. Ms. Lona will direct inquiries to the appropriate team member.

Please note that the role of the monitors in Antelope Valley is limited to the activities and purposes specifically identified in the Settlement Agreement. Community members with questions or comments regarding community or law enforcement issues not related to the Settlement Agreement are encouraged to contact the appropriate government agencies and representatives, many of which are linked below.

Contact the Monitors

By Phone or Mail

Contact Barbara Lona at (800) 306-6223

Media queries may be directed to Erin Hanusa, Evident Change Director of Communications, (800) 306-6223

Address mail-in inquiries to

Antelope Valley Monitoring Team
c/o Monitor Angie Wolf
520 3rd Street, Ste. 101
Oakland, CA 94607

FAQ

How can I contact the monitoring team with a question or concern?
Inquiries and concerns can be sent to Barbara Lona using the contact information above.
How do I make an inquiry or send a question to the Sheriff's Department?
Inquiries and questions can be sent to the Sheriff's Department general email here.
How do I share a comment or complaint about the Sheriff's Department?
Comments and complaints regarding the Sheriff's Department need to be submitted directly to the department on a Commendations and Complaint Form.
This can be done in person at a station, at various community locations such as public libraries, or online.
For more information, click here.
For the online form, click here.
How do I get information about the Community Advisory Committees?
See the Community Advisory Committees links at the Compliance Unit website here.

Documents and Reports

Dr. Angie Wolf

Chief Program Officer
Evident Change
Areas of Expertise: Research Methods, Process and Outcome Evaluations, Gang and Community Violence, and Policing Strategies

Dr. Angie Wolf, who holds a doctorate in ecological/community psychology from Michigan State University, will serve as a court-appointed monitor. Dr. Wolf directs all of Evident Change's justice-related work, and her areas of expertise include gang violence, policing strategies, social and organizational change, and community mobilization strategies. Dr. Wolf is the principal investigator of Evident Change's policing and gang violence research. She manages Evident Change's facilitation of the Camp Kilpatrick juvenile probation redesign in Los Angeles County. Dr. Wolf was the project director for the California Cities Gang Prevention Network, a collaboration between 13 cities that elicited information from complementary and adversarial entities to establish best practices for developing and implementing a model plan to reduce gang violence in communities. Dr. Wolf also directs research on female gang involvement, funded by a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Additionally, Dr. Wolf has reviewed and assessed consent decree reforms against the State of California Department of Juvenile Justice for the Office of the Special Master.

Dr. Wolf has extensive experience working with law enforcement agencies. Currently, she is developing and evaluating strategies for innovative policing approaches in California with the Salinas Police Department, and she is also engaged in violence prevention evaluation projects with the Ventura County Sheriff's Department and the City of Richmond Police Department. She also directs a Bureau of Justice Assistance-funded project to develop training tools and curriculum for law enforcement relating to children of immigrants in Austin, Texas, and Oakland, California. Dr. Wolf has also worked with the San Francisco Police Department to train, implement, and evaluate a protocol for children at the scene of an arrest.

Joseph Brann

Chief Executive Officer
Joseph Brann & Associates
Areas of Expertise: Community- and Problem-Oriented Policing, Management Performance and Accountability, Organizational Performance, Policing Reforms Implementation

Joseph Brann will also serve as a court-appointed monitor. Mr. Brann is an expert in policing, has extensive monitoring experience, and is the founder of Joseph Brann & Associates, a consulting firm dedicated to improving organizational performance and management accountability in the public sector. The firm conducts organizational assessments and evaluations on behalf of numerous local, state, and federal public safety agencies across the country.

Mr. Brann has served as a monitor or special consultant responsible for assessing and evaluating policing and jail reforms in the California jurisdictions of Riverside and Maywood, as well as the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department; Cincinnati, Ohio; Cleveland, Ohio; and Seattle, Washington. He has significant experience in the implementation of police reform measures, improving policies and systems governing the use of force and complaint investigations, and integrating enhanced data system capabilities that support meaningful evaluation of law enforcement performance.

Mr. Brann joined the Santa Ana, California, Police Department in 1969, where he became known as a pioneer in the community policing movement. In 1989, he was appointed Chief of Police in Hayward, California. His vision and leadership there resulted in successfully integrating community-oriented policing principles and problem-solving strategies, and he gained recognition as a national model for other agencies. Following passage of the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, President Clinton appointed Mr. Brann as the founding Director of the newly created Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The COPS Office has played a pivotal role in promoting community policing and employing collaborative problem-solving strategies to more fully engage the police with their communities. The agency added and/or redeployed more than 100,000 officers to advance community-oriented policing and had a significant influence on the reductions in crime and disorder that were experienced nationally. Mr. Brann holds an MPA from USC and a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

Saul Green

Of Counsel
Miller, Canfield, Paddock, and Stone, P.L.C.
Areas of Expertise: Monitoring and Implementation of Police Reforms, Internal Investigations, Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution

Saul Green received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School; he is currently Of Counsel to the law firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock, and Stone, P.L.C., where he serves as a member of the firm's litigation group. Mr. Green represents persons under criminal investigation or indictment, conducts internal investigations for organizations that may be the victims of criminal illegal conduct, provides consultation to law enforcement agencies on the implementation of police reforms and best practices, and conducts alternative dispute resolutions.

He was appointed by President William J. Clinton as the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan and served in that position from 1994 to 2001. From 2008 to 2011, Mr. Green served as the deputy mayor of Detroit, Michigan, with principal oversight of the Police, Fire, Law, and Homeland Security departments.

Mr. Green also serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan Law School, where he co-teaches seminars on fair housing and public safety.

David Muhammad

Chief Executive Officer of Solutions, Inc.
National Justice Partner, Independent Consultant
Areas of Expertise: Community-Engagement Initiatives, Organizational Development and Change Management, Project Implementation Consultation and Technical Assistance, Positive Youth Development, Violence-Prevention Strategies, Data-Driven Performance Management

David Muhammad is a leader in the fields of criminal justice, violence prevention, and youth development. He will lead the monitoring team's community information-gathering efforts, which will include organizing and conducting listening sessions, focus groups, and individual interviews. With Ms. Barbara Lona, he will review and make recommendations regarding the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's recently implemented community-engagement initiatives.

Mr. Muhammad is the lead consultant and technical assistance provider to five California counties through the Sierra Health Foundation's Positive Youth Justice Initiative; he also provides leadership and technical assistance to the CeaseFire Violence Reduction Strategy program in the California cities of Oakland and Stockton. Mr. Muhammad is the executive director emeritus and strategic advisor to the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC), which provides support and advocacy for those who have been incarcerated.

As the former chief probation officer for the Alameda County Probation Department in California, Mr. Muhammad ushered in enormous reform and moved Alameda County away from a deficits-based correctional model to a strengths-based Positive Youth Development model.

Prior to his work in California, Mr. Muhammad served as deputy commissioner of the New York City Department of Probation and as chief of committed services for the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services in Washington, DC.

Joe McGrath

Public Safety Consultant
Areas of Expertise: Corrections, Use of Force Investigations, Internal Investigations, Ethics for Public Safety Officers, Management Accountability, Organizational Structure

Joe McGrath served with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) for more than 30 years, working in four different prisons and the CDCR headquarters. He was promoted through the ranks and held many positions, including serving as Warden at Pelican Bay State Prison. Mr. McGrath ended his correctional system career in the CDCR as the Chief Deputy Secretary for Adult Operations, where he was responsible for the operation of all 33 California state prisons and for parole supervision statewide.

Mr. McGrath has authored several CDCR policies, including their policy on the use of force and their policy on employee investigations and discipline. He co-authored a chapter of the college-level textbook Managing Special Populations in Jails and Prisons, published by the Civic Research Institute. He i s a certified Phi Theta Kappa instructor in leadership and ethics for public safety officers.

Today, Mr. McGrath continues to work in the field of criminal justice. He provides consulting services to several law enforcement jurisdictions, including the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department and the Denver Sheriff's Department, and has served as an expert witness for both the prosecution and the defense in various criminal cases, and as a plaintiff's and defendant's expert witness in numerous civil cases.

Ron Sanchez

President and Senior Project Manager
Veritas Assurance Group
Areas of Expertise: Governmental Auditing, Consent Decree Compliance Auditing, Internal Affairs Auditing, Organizational Governance and Risk Management

Ron Sanchez will provide auditing services in relation to use-of-force incidents, personnel complaints, and investigative stops for the Antelope Valley monitoring project. Mr. Sanchez joined the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in 1975 and retired as a captain. In 2001, upon approval of the federal consent decree between the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the LAPD, Mr. Sanchez was handpicked to establish the LAPD's audit division, whose mission-similar to that of the implementation unit described in this court order-was to evaluate departmental efforts toward compliance with the consent decree's mandates and to oversee the department's implementation of the entire consent decree.

Within two years, the audit division moved from conception to a nationally recognized auditing entity. It was cited by the DOJ monitoring team as the "shining star of the Consent Decree." Audits included, but were not limited to, the areas of command accountability, STOP (racial profiling) data, internal affairs investigations, integrity testing, use-of-force investigation and adjudication, training plans and delivery, arrest and bookings, field operations and activities, detective operations, officer-involved shootings, community engagement, and critical incident response. For more than four years in that role, Mr. Sanchez provided leadership as the audit division's commander and chief audit executive.

Dan Koenig

Former Commander (Retired)
Los Angeles Police Department
Areas of Expertise: Daily Policing Operations, Organizational Management and Structure, Organizational Oversight and Accountability

Dan Koenig will be a partner with Mr. Sanchez and will be similarly engaged in the use-of-force, personnel complaints, and investigative stops audits. Mr. Koenig worked in, supervised, and managed patrol and detective operations for 33 years at the LAPD, as well as providing direct staff support to three LAPD Chiefs of Police. Upon his retirement, he served as the executive director for the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners.

Paul Figueroa

Captain of Police
Oakland Police Department (California)
Areas of Expertise: Community Policing and Patrol Response; Law Enforcement Training Design and Delivery; Police Legitimacy, Procedural Justice, and Implicit Bias; Risk Management Strategies; Law Enforcement Accountability and Auditing; Community Trust-Building

Paul Figueroa joined the Oakland Police Department (OPD) as an officer in 1995; he currently serves as the OPD's Captain of Police. Mr. Figueroa has extensive experience in field command, criminal investigations, accountability, and community policing programs. He has served as commander in the OPD's Patrol Division, Training Section, Internal Affairs Division, and Inspector General's Office, and has additionally served as Chief of Staff to the Chief of Police. He has worked to increase the legitimacy of the police, and of procedural justice practices, in Oakland, California.

Mr. Figueroa holds a bachelor's degree in political science from California State University, East Bay and a master's degree in public administration from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. In 2012, he received his doctor of education (EdD) in organizational leadership from the University of La Verne in Southern California. Combining his academic pursuits and professional vocation, he has worked to create a model for building trust between police and the communities they serve.

Mr. Figueroa is also a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the Police Executive Research Forum Senior Management Institute for Police.

Chris Hartney

Senior Program Specialist
Evident Change
Areas of Expertise: Organizational Process and Outcome Evaluations, Feasibility Assessments, Statistical Analysis, Strengths-Based Programming

Chris Hartney is a senior researcher with Evident Change. He has been with the organization since 2001 and has two decades of professional experience in research and statistics. Mr. Hartney's work at Evident Change has been funded by various federal, state, and local government agencies and philanthropic foundations. His most recent work includes the development of a new approach to prison for young adults, emphasizing intensive, strengths-based rehabilitative and educational services in small, secure facilities. Part of this project is a feasibility assessment of using a Pay for Success mechanism to fund service delivery.

Mr. Hartney's prior research at Evident Change has included a national evaluation of the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative; bed-space needs forecasts for youth tried as adults in Baltimore, Maryland, and youth involved with the juvenile justice system in Arkansas following system reforms; a review of the causes and impacts of youth deincarceration in California's youth prison system; a national evaluation of Parents Anonymous; the potential cost savings of alternatives to incarceration for non-serious adult offenders; the validation of a Structured Decision Making® system in Washington, DC; the interplay of media coverage, public sentiment, data trends, and policy making with regard to youth violence in major US cities; and a survey of health care access for system-involved youth in 58 California counties.

Mr. Hartney has authored several Evident Change publications documenting disproportionate representation of people of color in the justice system and other issues in justice and corrections, including spotlights on women, Native American youth, youth younger than 18 in the adult corrections system, and international corrections. He is co-author of several peer-reviewed articles and has presented study findings before a variety of professional, governmental, and community groups. Prior to joining Evident Change, his research work included educational assessments and research on health consequences for communities exposed to industrial accidents. Mr. Hartney has a BA from the University of California at Berkeley and has completed all master's-level coursework in experimental psychology at San Francisco State University.

Chris Scharenbroch

Associate Director of Research Analytics
Evident Change
Areas of Expertise: Data Analysis, Data Collection, Technical Support, Risk Analysis

Chris Scharenbroch has extensive experience with data analysis, data collection, and technical support. Since joining Evident Change, he has worked on a variety of projects, including risk assessment analyses for child protective services agencies in Minnesota; California; and Queensland, Australia. Recently, he has been analyzing data for a Department of Justice evaluation of the Baltimore Police Department's stop and arrest history. He has developed Structured Decision Making® data management reports for jurisdictions in Minnesota, California, New Jersey, Virginia, and Queensland. In 2004, he began serving as the primary analyst for "ad hoc analytics," a data analysis and reporting service retained by various jurisdictions in the state of California. Mr. Scharenbroch received his bachelor's degree in sociology with a concentration in analysis and research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Barbara Lona

Research Associate
Evident Change

Barbara Lona has been assisting with monitoring project management and administration at Evident Change since 2016, first as an administrative assistant and now as a program associate. She has been working since 2014 with the Los Angeles County Probation Department and other county agencies on the remodel of Camp Kilpatrick, a pioneering camp facility and rehabilitative model for youth involved in the juvenile justice system. In addition, Barbara has worked in nonprofit funding development, taught preschool, and interned with the University Hospital pediatric unit in San Antonio. Barbara has a BA in child development and BS in biology from Mount St. Mary’s College; she earned her MS in child life from the University of Laverne.

1. Stops, Seizures, and Searches

LASD agrees to ensure that all investigatory stops, seizures, and searches are conducted in accordance with the Constitution or laws of the United States. Investigatory stops shall be part of an overall crime prevention strategy and will not contribute to counterproductive divisions between LASD and the community. All investigatory stops will be adequately documented for tracking and supervision purposes.

2. Bias-Free Policing

LASD shall deliver police services that are equitable, respectful, and bias-free and in a manner that promotes broad community engagement and confidence in the department. LASD will continue to conduct regular training for deputies, supervisors, and command staff to prevent discriminatory policing.

3. Enforcement of Section 8 Compliance

LASD agrees not to violate the Fair Housing Act by participating in practices such as:

LASD shall document, report, and analyze all incidents involving voucher holders.

4. Data Collection and Analysis

LASD agrees to improve its data collection, analysis, and reporting, including establishing protocols for the collection and analysis of data to assess whether there are trends and patterns that indicate bias or practices that would run counter to constitutional and effective policing.

5. Community Engagement

LASD agrees to promote and strengthen partnerships within the community, to engage constructively with the community to ensure collaborative problem solving and bias-free policing, and to work to increase community confidence in the department.

6. Use of Force

LASD agrees to revise its force policies and practices to reflect its commitment to upholding the Constitution in regard to protecting human life and the dignity of every individual and maintaining public safety. Antelope Valley deputies and staff will endeavor to use force only when necessary, to use only the level of force necessary for the situation, and to de-escalate the use of force at the earliest possible moment.

7. Personnel Complaint Review

LASD will ensure that all allegations of personnel misconduct are received and are fully and fairly investigated. Personnel who commit misconduct will be held accountable pursuant to a fair disciplinary system and consistent standards. All Antelope Valley deputies and supervisors will be provided training about proper complaint intake, classification, and investigative techniques. Audits of these practices will be conducted semi-annually.

8. Accountability

LASD will strengthen its accountability mechanisms to provide personnel with the support, mentoring, and direction necessary to consistently police constitutionality. LASD will utilize relevant data to determine compliance with the Settlement Agreement, identify trends or patterns of concern, and ensure personnel development needs are met and other appropriate corrective actions are carried out.