Lopez attorney: Sheriff's office 'encourages' use of deadly force

[AnotherMcIntosh]

6. More than 10 years ago, the California Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

found that the Sonoma

"community had lost confidence in the complaint process offered citizens by the law enforcement departments. Although each department has a commendation and complaint pamphlet/form, it was unclear whether these were readily available. The community perception was that filing a complaint was intimidating, discouraged, and if filed, the process took significant time and did not lead to satisfactory resolution."

http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/sac/ca0500/ch5.htm

Among other things, they recommended that

"officials should ensure commitment from law enforcement command structure for alternatives to the use of deadly force and provide resources to the departments for implementation."

http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/sac/ca0500/ch5.htm

It appears that the City of Santa Rosa has followed that recommendation and has fewer needless shootings while the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department has not. The attorney for the Lopez case will be able to make his case, in part, by comparing training methods and statistics.