Head of SLO County deputy sheriff’s union fights demotion after excessive force complaint
A senior San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office correctional deputy is asking a judge to overturn his demotion after an internal complaint accused him of excessive force against a jail inmate.
Lars Luther is the president of the county’s Deputy Sheriff’s Association (DSA), which represents about 160 of the county’s non-sworn correctional officers. He filed a petition in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Friday, asking that a judge set aside his demotion in February 2019, restore his senior status, and award him back-pay and interest.
According to the petition, Luther was involved in the physical take-down of a San Luis Obispo County Jail inmate in a medical isolation cell in October 2018.
Though the inmate was reportedly not injured and did not allege the deputy used inappropriate force, the filing states, a formal written complaint was submitted against Luther from an unidentified department source days later.
In February, county Sheriff Ian Parkinson demoted Luther’s rank from senior correctional deputy — a rank he held for 26 years — to correctional deputy, and Luther later unsuccessfully appealed to the county’s Civil Service Commission.
Records provided by the county show that Luther has worked for the Sheriff’s Office since July 1990.
Neither Luther nor his legal counsel immediately responded to requests for comment Monday morning, but the petition implies that the demotion may have been politically motivated during a contested DSA president election.
An attorney representing the DSA did not return a request for comment about how the demotion might affect Luther’s position with the union.
The legal filing represents just one side of the story. The county has yet to file a response in court, and county counsel Rita Neal said Monday that her office had yet to be served with the paperwork.
Despite that, Neal said it’s the county’s position that the commission rightly upheld its disciplinary action against Luther.
The matter is scheduled for a case management conference in January.
‘Unnecessary’ take-down of jail inmate?
The petition filed Friday states that, as a senior correctional deputy, Luther’s duties included the training of new hires on jail procedures and use of force on inmates.
According to the filing, Luther had not previously been the subject of any complaints for excessive force over his 29 years with the department, though it notes that the commission upheld his demotion based in part on a 12-hour suspension he underwent in 2015 for alleged “’gender-based’ discourteous remarks directed to fellow employees.”
The petition notes that Luther has received two letters of reprimand; in 2016, he was reprimanded for a “profanity-laced tirade in the workplace directed at a newly promoted female lieutenant, and in 2018, he reportedly was reprimanded for making “inappropriate remarks to the sheriff’s assistant.”
While working a shift at the jail on Oct. 4, 2018, Luther ordered an inmate out of a medical isolation cell, which reportedly contained other inmates, after the inmate began kicking the inside of the cell door and yelling profanity at Luther, the petition says.
As Luther opened the cell door and directed the inmate to walk to the opposite side of a hallway, the inmate “dipped his shoulder and took an aggressive posture resulting in the application of physical force” by Luther to place the inmate against a wall, then take him to the ground to be handcuffed, the petition reads.
Th inmate was stood up and walked to another cell without further incident, the filing states.
“(The inmate) was not injured from the application of any physical force employed by (Luther) and did not complain to (Luther) or any other correctional employees that (Luther’s) actions were excessive or inappropriate,” the filing states.
A correctional sergeant filled out a use of force report, per department policy, after reviewing surveillance footage, and noted “some discrepancies about the use of force” that “could warrant further investigation and possible discipline.”
Luther was placed on administrative leave after a formal “internally generated” written complaint was filed against him on Oct. 10, 2018.
SLO deputy has ‘pattern of anger and outbursts’
In December 2018, Parkinson notified Luther of his intent to demote the deputy, and after Luther filed a response, Parkinson did just that.
At his June appeal hearings before the county Civil Service Commission — a five-member body that presides over employees’ appeals of disciplinary actions —the county called six witnesses that did not include the inmate who was allegedly subjected to the excessive force.
The petition infers that politics may have had something to do with the discipline.
During the lead-up to last year’s contentious county sheriff race between Parkinson and challenger Gregory Clayton, the correctional deputies’ union under Luther’s leadership voted to make an unusual move to not endorse either candidate after The Tribune published jailhouse video of the death of an inmate in 2017.
Evidence was reportedly presented at the hearings that Luther, who had been DSA president since 2017, was placed on leave “during the period of time that a contested election was underway for the position of DSA president, precluding (Luther) from communicating with fellow deputies and urging their support of his candidacy,” the petition reads.
The commission upheld the demotion in a ruling Aug. 28, finding that when Luther grasped the inmate’s neck and “slammed” the inmate against a wall during the incident, it was “unnecessary” as the inmate did not pose a threat.
The commission also noted that this was the fourth disciplinary measure imposed on Luther within five years where he “failed to control himself and his pattern of anger and outbursts,” the petition reads.
Luther and his legal counsel argue that the commission failed to adequately investigate the allegations and prejudicially abused its discretion in singling out Luther while not investigating actions of other deputies on duty that night.
Luther is seeking full reinstatement to senior correctional deputy with back-pay and interest retroactive to the demotion date, restoration of benefits, legal costs, and the removal of all records related to his demotion.
