By Stephen Hobbs
The Sacramento Bee
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is not sufficiently handling investigations into use-of-force complaints against officers, according to a review by the state’s prison oversight agency.
An Office of the Inspector General team gave prison officials the lowest rating — “inadequate” — in all but one of the 13 cases it evaluated. The review was one part of the Inspector General’s effort to monitor how department officials investigate, and discipline, colleagues following a range of allegations, including dishonesty, sexual misconduct and intimidation.
In this case, oversight agency staff looked over investigations that were already completed.
In one example from 2023, four officers were accused of punching and kicking a handcuffed inmate in the ribs, face and head.
A department investigator did not interview the accused officers or at least two others who were potential witnesses. The investigator also failed to look into an allegation that one of the four guards “made an inappropriate comment” about the inmate’s gender identity.
Also in 2023, an officer was accused of unreasonably slamming an inmate to the ground and ignoring his need for medical help. An internal review by the prison department found there was not enough evidence to confirm the allegations. Inspector General staff agreed.
But department staff did not hold a conference to discuss the findings for more than six months, “beyond the deadline to impose disciplinary action against the officer, if warranted.”
A guard in 2024 was accused of using pepper spray on an inmate whose back was turned to the officer. A department review said there was not enough proof to support the claim.
Yet the Inspector General said the prison department investigator did not interview inmates who were potential witnesses and did not review, or even request, all potentially relevant video evidence.
The oversight agency argued the incident should have been investigated further.
The prison department, in a statement, did not directly address the cases outlined by the Inspector General but said it “is undertaking a comprehensive reform of its approach to addressing allegations of staff misconduct, with the objective of strengthening accountability and enhancing transparency.”
Prison officials “implemented emergency regulations aimed at improving the grievance and appeal process, as well as refining the Department’s investigative procedures,” the statement added. “These emergency regulations concerning staff misconduct are intended to become permanent following the conclusion of a thorough public comment period.”
A spokesperson for the California Correctional Peace Officers Association union did not respond to a request for comment.
The recently released review is only one in a series of Inspector General assessments of department investigations. The oversight agency also publishes more detailed reports on an annual basis.
Those have also documented concerns about the department’s handling of internal investigations. In one 2023 report, the Inspector General said prison officials performed “sufficiently” in 45 of 192 cases it reviewed that involved administrative and criminal allegations. In another from 2024, the oversight agency reviewed 162 cases and “determined the department’s performance was poor both in conducting staff misconduct investigations and in handling the employee disciplinary process.”
State lawmakers earlier this year also approved a request by the Inspector General to hire more staff to monitor the department’s handling of staff sexual misconduct complaints.
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