Report: Paris Not Pampered; Mel's Another Story

The official word is in: Something was definitely not kosher about the way officials handled Mel Gibson's infamous 2006 DUI arrest.

According to a just released report from the Office of Independent Review, three employees working in the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department violated policy in connection with the actor's booze-fueled anti-Semitic bust.

But when it came to Paris Hilton's equally high-profile jailhouse merry-go-round earlier this year, the report says there was no celebrity favoritism involved. More on that later.

As for the Gibson mess, the OIR, an oversight body charged with annually analyzing the Sheriff's internal investigations, found that "the violations resulted from the decision about when and how to release Mr. Gibson from custody."

Without naming names, the report said two sergeants and one jailer were involved and all received wrist slaps for their roles.

Per the OIR, the trio was found to have given preferential treatment to the Oscar winner during his arrest and his time in custody.

For instance, Gibson was not palm printed, as is customary, upon his release from custody. The review also found that, once released, a deputy on duty drove Gibson directly from the jail to the impound lot to retrieve his car, without first receiving approval from a supervisor.

As for some of the more egregious breaches on Gibson's behalf, the review confirmed that officers censored of the actor's post-arrest comments—"sugar tits," anyone?—"to deflect attention from alleged inflammatory statements that he made."

Four pages of the original arrest report, which detailed Gibson's anti-Semitic tirade, just so happened to have been pulled from the file once the actor's arrest was made public.

Per the OIR, a supervisor attempted to bury the offending pages, though the decision to do so was later overruled by a captain. However, while the actions taken by the officials were found to be in violation of the department's policy, the review determined that the misconduct was done out of concern, not a cover-up, and was overall a "fairly sensible" response.

"Because of a concern about certain information gathered during the arrest falling prematurely into the hands of media sources and because there was no clear Departmental guidance provided on how to handle this scenario presented, supervisors made spontaneous decisions with regard to how to package the information and describe the arrest," said the report, according to a copy leaked to TMZ.

"While these decisions do not indicate a violation of department policy, and were fairly sensible, they do point out the need for creating a thoughtful and systematic approach for how to handle future scenarios."

For their indiscretions, two of the three employees received a written reprimand, while the third received a one-day suspension without pay.

On Aug. 17, 2006, Gibson pleaded no contest to one charge of misdemeanor drunk driving. The actor, whose blood-alcohol level was 0.12 percent when he was busted on July 28, 2006, was given three years' probation, ordered to pay $1,400 in fines and attend four and a half months of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings five days a week, a course of rehabilitation he completed in August.

As for the department's dealings with Hilton, the OIR found employees had acted well within the proper scope of their authority in the heiress' probation-violation circus.

Despite an outcry when Hilton was initially granted an early release from jail by the Sheriff's Department—flouting the judge's order that she serve out her full 45-day term—"the investigations surrounding the Hilton jailing have, to date, not resulted in any founded violations of policy."