Police Brutality

The Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to hire a Los Angeles County sheriff's watchdog to run its new Office of Independent Review, which will monitor the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Steve Connolly, who has served seven years as an attorney with the Los Angeles County Office of Independent Review, will evaluate internal affairs investigations within the Sheriff's Department. He will also advise the department about investigations into deaths of inmates in the county jails and uses of force by deputies.

Six Mexican officers have been placed under house arrest on suspicion of homicide after an American man died in police custody in the resort city of San Jose del Cabo, a prosecutor said. Baja California Sur state deputy prosecutor Omar Barajas said the officers were placed under house arrest Sunday while authorities investigate. He identified the victim as a 38-year-old man from Oregon, but the U.S. Embassy could not confirm his name or hometown.

A third Orange County sheriff's deputy has left the department amid allegations related to a grand jury investigation into the 2006 beating death of an inmate in the county's largest jail, a department official said Friday. Deputy Sonja Moreno was placed on administrative leave five months ago after allegedly admitting that she had lied under oath during the grand jury investigation into the beating death of inmate John Derek Chamberlain at Theo Lacy Jail in Orange.

A third Orange County sheriff's deputy has left the department amid allegations related to a grand jury investigation into the 2006 beating death of an inmate in the county's largest jail, a department official said Friday. Deputy Sonja Moreno was placed on administrative leave five months ago after allegedly admitting that she had lied under oath during the grand jury investigation into the beating death of inmate John Derek Chamberlain at Theo Lacy Jail in Orange.

A riot at Tijuana's notorious La Mesa State Penitentiary has left three inmates dead and 25 people injured as prisoners threw rocks and set fires to protest alleged police brutality, according to Baja California state authorities. The riot broke out Sunday afternoon, a day after a 19-year-old inmate died while guards searched cells for drugs and weapons. Inmates took control of the sprawling prison, which has a history of uprisings.

As the death toll mounted after two separate riots at a prison here, Baja California state authorities came under fierce criticism Thursday for allegedly brutal tactics used by police on inmates and the treatment of inmates' relatives who had gathered outside the prison.

A Chicago policeman released Wednesday from an Iowa prison hopes to rejoin the police force shortly. Michael Mette, 31, was sentenced to five years in an Iowa prison after being convicted of an assault charge resulting from an October 2005 fight in which he punched a Dubuque student, who suffered a broken nose, cheek and jaw. Mette said he hit the student in self-defense. Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley had called for his release. The Iowa Court of Appeals found that a district judge erred when she ruled that Mette could have retreated from the altercation.

In the wake of a series of deadly officer-involved shootings, Inglewood Police Chief Jacqueline Seabrooks announced Wednesday that her officers would begin new training in tactical decision-making next month. Seabrooks told reporters that the training would help officers better assess situations that could escalate to the use of deadly force. "At the end of the day, we are talking about a program that is to professionalize and enhance a skill set," Seabrooks said.

In a strong signal to the incoming Obama administration, California's Jerry Brown and 13 other attorneys general called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use the 1990 Clean Air Act to crack down on global warming emissions. The law already covers ozone, particulates and other unhealthful substances. But the Bush administration has said it is "ill-suited" for controlling carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. In a letter to the agency Monday, the attorneys general said the air act "has a proven track record of effectively dealing with complex air pollution problems . . . and it has done so without harming the economy."

An Orange County sheriff's deputy has been charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly punching a jail inmate in the face while holding a set of keys, cutting the inmate's face, authorities said. The deputy, Ryan Keith White, left the Sheriff's Department a few days after the May 12 incident, said John McDonald, a spokesman for the department. McDonald said the department could not say whether White, a deputy for 11 months, resigned or was fired. White allegedly became frustrated with the inmate, Blaine Bowker, while searching the inmate's cell for prohibited items, according to a district attorney's news release.