A report released Thursday details the allegedly “constitutionally troubling” impact of a now-disbanded unit of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.

The Domestic Highway Enforcement Team (DHET) was formed in 2012 in an effort to cut the flow of narcotics on the 5 Freeway near Santa Clarita, but was later suspended in 2018 after allegations of racial profiling, according to a report from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

“The data, records and other information OIG has reviewed for purposes of this report show that DHET practices had a constitutionally troubling impact on Latino drivers,” according to the report. “They were stopped and searched by the DHET at a much higher rate than drivers of other races or ethnicities.”

Racial Disparity

The purpose of the DHET was to disrupt the flow of contraband and proceeds from the narcotics trade that were believed to be traversing the 5 Freeway corridor through the Santa Clarita Valley Station’s jurisdiction, according to the report.

In a six-month period, April through September 2018, the DHET conducted a total of 916 traffic stops on I-5 from the Newhall Pass to the Kern County line.

The OIG review and analysis of the traffic stop data showed over 67 percent of the occupants of the vehicles stopped were Latino.

The percentage of Latinos pulled over by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) in the same stretch of the highway was about 43 percent.

“The impact on Latinos has the potential to negatively impact the public’s trust in the department and cause concerns about the overall effectiveness of the DHET’s program,” according to the OIG’s findings.

Latinos were both stopped and searched at much greater rates than other racial or ethnic groups, and yet, there was a very low rate of success in finding contraband, less than 2 percent, according to the report.

“Criminal Profiling”

OIG staff met with Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station management personnel who oversaw and supervised the DHET to ask what criteria were used to determine which vehicles to follow and stop.

Management stated DHET deputies used “criminal profiling,” not racial profiling, to decide.

Criminal profiling generally refers to criteria suggesting that a particular violation of the law may be occurring, but which may be insufficient to establish the necessary reasonable suspicion or probable cause to detain a person for investigation, according to the report.

The criminal profile criteria used by the team to carry out a pretextual traffic stop include factors such as: driving an expensive car, driving a car that needs repairs, driving with an out-of-state license plate, driving a rental car, acting too calmly, acting too nervously and having a car filled with air fresheners, according to Sheriff’s Department officials in an interview with OIG staff.

When drivers or occupants are identified based on these factors, deputies then look for traffic violations that will legally justify a stop, according to the report.

“The factors listed above give DHET deputies a great amount of discretion when deciding which motorists to stop, given that they include a broad spectrum of behavior and characteristics that many, if not most, motorists exhibit while driving,” said the report.

The Arrests

Of the six months of traffic stop data OIG reviewed, an estimated 26 traffic stops — less than 3 percent — resulted in arrests, and only 21 of those stops resulted in narcotics-related arrests.

The charges included narcotics possession and distribution, kidnapping, money laundering, outstanding warrants and stolen vehicles, among others, according to the report.

Seizures made by the team during the six-month period included 320 pounds of a variety of drugs, 10,585 Oxycodone pills, over $100,000 in currency and five handguns, according to the report.

In 2017, the team seized 11 pounds of Fentanyl, the largest roadside seizure in the nation that year, during a traffic stop on a patrol, according to Sheriff’s officials.

The Prosecution

The team presented 36 cases to the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) for prosecution in federal court. Those cases resulted from arrests that occurred between 2012 and 2017.

Out of those cases, the federal prosecutor secured 16 convictions, said OIG officials.

Roughly one-third of the cases filed by the USAO were eventually dismissed by the federal court on constitutional or credibility grounds, according to the report. As early as 2014, the Sheriff’s Department was made aware by the USAO of the credibility concerns regarding a deputy assigned to the enforcement team.

“Despite those concerns, the department allowed the deputy to stay on the team and no analysis of the team’s cases and dispositions was conducted to determine if there were any systemic issues with the way the team conducted its stops, secured consents to search or documented evidence,” according to the OIG findings.

The significance of the federal cases is twofold.

First, members of the team were found to have allegedly violated motorists’ constitutional rights.

Second, the department allegedly ignored “red flags” about the DHET’s practices and one of the team member’s credibility, according to the OIG report.

The Recommendations

As part of the Office of Inspector General’s report, there are 26 recommendations based on the alleged “lack of oversight” of the highway enforcement team.

The over two-dozen recommendations range from more training for deputies assigned to the team, if reinstated, to written policies detailing the goals and expectations of the team.

The report also recommended that the department have a stand-alone policy that clearly prohibits racial profiling. One does not currently exist, according to the OIG.

The inspector general also called upon the department to develop a department-wide policy requiring deputies to articulate the reasons for seeking a consent search, as is already required at some stations.

As of Monday afternoon, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s officials were not available for comment.

To see the full Office of Inspector General’s report, click here.

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