Star Free Press

Friday, April 27, 1984

County Scene

County Panel Upholds Firing of Deputy

By Skip Rimer

 The firing of a Ventura County sheriff’s deputy who once reportedly told a supervisor he made errors on a report because he was high on marijuana has been upheld by the County Civil Service Commission.
 
The commission, in a decision announced Thursday, said the firing of Deputy Scott Shaw on November 15 was justified.
 
“It is the collective opinion of the Civil Service Commission that law enforcement officers must be held to a higher standard of conduct than most, to ensure the confidence and respect of the citizens they serve,” the commission wrote. 
 
“Scott Shaw, while possessing many fine qualities which might otherwise make him an outstanding law enforcement officer, has demonstrably failed to meet that higher standard of conduct.” 
 
Shaw, 23, Van Nuys, who had been a deputy since July 1980, was fired for allegedly lying to his superiors, falsifying reports, violating regulations by storing evidence in the wrong locker, and acting in a manner that discredited the department. 
 
Four specific incidents were cited by the commission:
On June 24, while writing up a report, Shaw misstated the sequence of events leading to the arrest of a man in the Silver Strand area.
 
In that case, according to testimony at Shaw’s hearing before the commission in February, the deputy said the man attacked him after he had stopped his car for a traffic violation.  A witness, however, said the man never touched the deputy.
 
On June 30, in another report, Shaw lied about why he had stopped a vehicle in the Silver Strand area, gave a false description of evidence, and lied about the timing of when he tested the driver for drug symptoms. 
 
Shaw said he stopped the vehicle because he thought it was lost or stolen, but dispatch reports showed the deputy got information about the car only after he had stopped it. 
 
The driver was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of drugs.
 
In trying to justify the errors on the June 30 report, Shaw gave four conflicting statements related to his observations and actions during the arrest. 
 
According to evidence presented at Shaw’s hearing, at one point when asked about errors in the report, the deputy at first claimed they resulted from his being high on marijuana.
 
He later changed his story about why he had made mistakes, department officials said.
 
Also on June 30, Shaw put the evidence in the case in a storage locker instead of an evidence locker as department policy required him to do.
 
In its written decision, the commission also noted that a complaint was filed against Shaw in December 1981, alleging that he used unnecessary force on a jail inmate, gave false statements to his superiors when questioned, and failed to behave properly.
 
The department later found all of those allegations to be true.
 
Shaw can appeal, but he would have to do so in Superior Court. 
 
His attorney Cynthia R. Saffir of the Santa Monica law firm of Silver and Kreisler, was not available for comment, but an attorney in the office said no decision would be made on an appeal until lawyers have reviewed the commission’s decision. 
  
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County Panel Upholds Firing of Deputy - Star Free Press - 04-27-84
County Panel Upholds Firing of Deputy - Star Free Press - 04-27-84