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LAPPL Response to LA Times Op-Ed
May 11, 2007
Letter to the Editor
Los Angeles Times
Re: Lift the veil of secrecy on police misconduct
Merrick Bobb, in his commentary on the McArthur Park incident, has unwittingly identified the downside of opening police commission hearings to the public – that officers will be judged not on what they did, but on what police administrators and the police commission believe the public wants to happen.
In the wake of the incident, and before he had any facts with which to make an informed judgment, Department leaders were providing commentary on the incident that was critical of the officers involved. Before the Department could completely review the facts and make an informed judgment on the actions of individual officers, the LAPD relieved 60 officers from duty for "retraining." The Department didn't want to wait for any facts to get in the way of a final judgment of a daily stream assigning blame.
And why, one might ask, did the Department endeavor so mightily to "get in front of the stories" with placement of blame? Why did other officials who also would later have to sit in formal judgment of officers as part of administrative proceedings do the same? Because they were scared of perceived public opinion and didn't want to be seen as "protecting" officers. They decided that it was more important to cater to perceived public opinion than to make informed decisions based on facts.
The actions Department leaders only strengthen, and add to, previous arguments as to why the Board of Rights hearings should remain closed. It is clear that they would only turn into show trials if the public were allowed in. If anyone believes Bobb's argument that we can have no confidence that the department will mete out any punishment unless the hearings are open, the saga of the past weeks clearly show that belief to be false. The LAPD apparently doesn't need all the facts to punish officers. It is hard to imagine, given Department actions in this case, that they will be inclined to let officers get off scott free if the facts show they did something wrong.
The purpose of department discipline is to hold officers accountable for what the facts show they did wrong, not what the public believes they did wrong. In Bobb's world, the discipline process only is working if its outcome satisfy politicians or self appointed "community leaders", or what he deems to be prevailing public opinion."
Very truly yours,
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Los Angeles Police Protective League
ROBERT BAKER
President
Train station shut after explosive device taken
By Stuart Pfeifer, Times Staff Writer
May 10, 2007
A man believed to be a transient walked off with a suitcase containing a component of an explosive device during a Sheriff's Department training exercise Wednesday at Union Station, causing officials to close the busy downtown transit hub for 90 minutes and snarling commutes for hundreds of Amtrak, Metrolink and MTA passengers.
Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies had placed the suitcase in a public area of the historic downtown train station so that dogs could practice searching for explosives. A man described by witnesses as a transient walked off with the suitcase about noon. He was not found, despite a search that involved about 100 deputies, Sheriff's Cmdr. Dan Finkelstein said.
The device by itself did not pose a threat to the public, Finkelstein said.
Sheriff's officials closed Union Station while deputies and Los Angeles police officers searched for the man. About 200 Amtrak passengers were forced to wait in two trains during the station closure, said Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham.
Metrolink and Metropolitan Transit Authority trains were not allowed into Union Station during the closure, affecting hundreds of other passengers. Metrolink trains ran behind schedule much of the afternoon, said rail system spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell.
Also inconvenienced were dozens of patrons who had planned to dine at Traxx, the popular restaurant inside the station. Traxx general manager Melanie Makaiwi said she called about 45 people who had made reservations to let them know about the restaurant closure.
"We wrote the day off" as a loss, she said.
The Sheriff's Department trains its explosives-sniffing dogs four hours a week, often in public places, to keep their skills sharp, Finkelstein said.
The department will investigate how someone was able to take the suitcase without deputies noticing.
It was the first time explosive material had been lost during the department's trainings, Finkelstein said.
Makaiwi said she found a bright side of the station closure.
"For me, it was great. I actually got some stuff done today. It gave me a couple of hours to catch up," she said. "Thanks, Sheriff's Department."
LAPPL Statement On Attack On Officers At MacArthur Park
Los Angeles, May 2, 2007- Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) President Bob Baker today issued the following statement regarding last night's incident in MacArthur Park where officers were attacked following a May Day rally.
"As Chief Bratton says, 'sometimes policing isn't pretty and there is little if any time for reflection and discussion before action.' The clash at MacArthur Park started when Officers tried to disperse demonstrators who had moved off the sidewalk onto the street. Several people at the rally threw rocks and bottles at officers. Our officers gave a legal dispersal order and were met with violence. In the coming days it will become clear what transpired. Until then there should be no rush to judgment."
Editors Note: Because this incident is under investigation, the LAPPL will not be giving any interviews regarding this matter at this time.
Supreme Court Backs Police in Chase Case
Rules Against Teen Paralyzed After Car Was Run Off Road
WASHINGTON (May 1) - Police may use tactics that put fleeing suspects at risk of death to end high-speed car chases, the Supreme Court said Monday in ruling against a Georgia teenager who was paralyzed after his car was run off the road.
In a case that turned in part on a video of the chase in suburban Atlanta, the court said it is reasonable for law enforcement officers to try to stop a fleeing motorist to prevent harm to bystanders or other drivers.
"A police officer's attempt to terminate a dangerous high-speed car chase that threatens the lives of innocent bystanders does not violate the Fourth Amendment, even when it places the fleeing motorist at risk of serious injury or death," Justice Antonin Scalia said in his majority opinion.
The court sided 8-1 with former Coweta County sheriff's deputy Timothy Scott, who rammed a fleeing black Cadillac on a two-lane, rain-slicked road in March 2001. The nighttime chase reached speeds of up to 90 miles an hour.
Victor Harris, the 19-year-old driver of the Cadillac, lost control and his car ended up at the bottom of an embankment. Harris was rendered a quadriplegic.
The court, in a nod to modern technology, for the first time posted the dramatic video on its Web site.
Many large police forces have strict rules for when officers can begin high-speed pursuit, limiting chases to instances where there has been a felony crime committed, a misdemeanor crime involving a weapon, or suspected drunken drivers who are an obvious road hazard.
Harris was wanted only for speeding.
Joshua Dressler, an Ohio State University law professor and expert on the Fourth Amendment, said he did not think that police would relax those policies. "The clear trend of police departments in major urban areas has been to limit police chases in general," Dressler said. "There have been so many injuries and deaths as a result of police chases and such great risk of harm to innocent bystanders."
More than 350 people died each year on average from 1994 to 2004 because of police chases, a group of Georgia police chiefs said in court papers in this case.
Yet officers now have less to fear from the tragic results of a car chase because of Monday's ruling, Dressler said. "This ruling may result in even faster chases and therefore perhaps increase the risk of harm not only to the speeder, but also innocent bystanders."
Innocent parties hurt in such incidents always have had a hard time winning lawsuits against police and Monday's decision will make their claims harder to prove, Dressler said
Harris sued Scott after the crash, claiming the deputy's decision to ram the Cadillac violated Harris' Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable seizure.
Lower federal courts ruled the lawsuit could proceed, but the Supreme Court said Monday that the officer could not be sued for his actions. Justice John Paul Stevens dissented.
Scalia described a "Hollywood-style car chase of the most frightening sort, placing police officers and innocent bystanders alike at great risk of serious injury."
During oral argument, justices repeatedly invoked the video to support how recklessly they believed Harris was driving.
Stevens, however, said that a district court judge and three appellate judges who watched the same video concluded otherwise. Those judges determined the issue should be decided after a trial, not by a judge in a pretrial ruling.
In the courtroom, Stevens said that was preferable to the case "being decided by a group of elderly appellate judges," a reference to himself and his colleagues on the court . At 87, Stevens is the oldest justice.
In his written dissent, however, Stevens suggested his colleagues were too young to appreciate the situation.
"Had they learned to drive when most high-speed driving took place on two-lane roads rather than on superhighways...they might well have reacted to the videotape more dispassionately," he said.
Scalia said people could watch the tape and decide for themselves. "We are happy to allow the videotape to speak for itself," he said in a footnote that accompanied the ruling.
Police Indicted in Shooting of Elderly Woman
AP
ATLANTA (April 26) - Three current and former police officers have been indicted in the shooting death of an elderly Atlanta woman during a botched police drug raid.
The officers were part of a narcotics raid on the home of 92-year-old Kathryn Jonston. Johnston was shot to death in her northwest Atlanta home on Nov. 21.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday morning that two of the narcotics officers have reached a tentative plea deal for his involvement in the shooting. The paper attributed its information to people close to the investigation.
Under the reported deal, two officers would plead guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to violate a person's civil rights ending in a death, voluntary manslaughter and other state charges.
The newspaper said the officers will cooperate with authorities who are investigating the way narcotics officers obtained and filled out applications for warrants.
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