It was a great ride!
This is my last Warning Bells article as a League attorney, not necessarily my last article (see below). At the age of 74, it is time (maybe past time) to hang it up and get around to those hobbies, travel, and grandchildren that I have always wished I had more time for.
I leave with faith that things are well in hand. My replacement is Larry Hanna. Larry has been a League panel attorney for decades and has been a roll out attorney since 2000 handling hundreds of roll outs. He has been dealing with League problems and developing relationships with Department management for over 20 years. He will be working with Robert Rico, the current League General Counsel, who also has decades of experience in representing LAPD officers and is doing a great job in leading the legal battles in which the League is constantly engaging. And then there is League president Lieutenant Craig Lally, who brings his years of being a watch commander to shepherd us into getting things done. An active and knowledgeable Board of Directors fans out in multiple directions to address the hundreds of problems that hit the League’s in-basket. I would like to personally thank Craig, Jerretta Sandoz, Corina Lee, Becky Martin, Jamie McBride, Mark Cronin, Dave Abdalian, and Ralph Campos, not to mention all the past directors, who have supported the Legal Section’s efforts to represent officers.
Then there is the support staff at the League Legal Section who keep us afloat. Thank you Starlette Ferguson (master secretary), Lisa Yagi (expert Legal Plan guru), Helga Ibarra (grievance authority), and Joycelyn Maddox (paralegal legal eagle). Also, Cleme Ramirez in accounting that keeps the cash payments flowing to our numerous panel attorneys.
I have been involved with the LAPD for 51 years, 25 as an officer and 26 as a League attorney. Most of the time as an active officer I also functioned as a defense representative. In those days, we did Boards of Rights as well as personnel complaint interviews and Skelly’s. I passed the State Bar in 1978 and remained on the Department. It was my rep experience and attorney license that brought me to the League in 1995. I retired on a Saturday and was standing over a body at an officer-involved-shooting shortly thereafter representing an officer. I have never felt that I really retired from the LAPD until now. I wish the pension board had the same feeling!
A friend asked me what I would like to be remembered for after 51 years of service. A good question since one of the aspects of reaching old age is a tendency to wonder what your life was all about. Can I claim to have meant a difference? I have represented thousands of officers over the years, and like most experienced reps, I am gratified when an individual officer stops me in a hallway and thanks me for helping them 15 or 20 years ago, and I see that they are now supervisors or have otherwise prospered on the Department, but other than helping individuals (which is enough) can I feel good about any other accomplishment?
Nothing can be done without the help of others, but if you permit me to ring my own Warning Bell, I leave three things that I hope will be preserved and built upon. First, I was involved on the ground floor with Hank Hernandez and Tim Sands in establishing the Legal Plan under President Mitzi Grasso. I think it is the best in the nation. Second, I was present at the foundation of the Roll Out Program (it was only me responding, initially). The protocol we now follow in defending officers at officer-involved-shootings, including no voluntary statements, started with many conflicts that were eventually overcome. Especially these days, this defense representation protocol affords officers with the best protection possible when involved in a use of force. Third, and last, I spent hundreds of hours training representatives in defending officers including monthly training of ORS, Basic and Advance Rep School, and negotiating with the Department on discipline issues. The result was a standardization of officer representation where the right to representation is recognized, and IA investigators and employee representatives largely follow the same rules. Again, all three are the result of team efforts and all three need to be protected and improved on. I wish my successors well in this endeavor.
It is difficult to feel good about the current anti-police atmosphere, but I think the pendulum may start to swing back, not soon enough to stop the ridiculous legislation being generated in Sacramento I fear, but slowly, nevertheless. I leave with this advice to officers on the street. Advice I have repeated often. Develop knowledge, articulation, and accuracy. Know the law and policy, be articulate in your reports and interviews, and make sure you are accurate. WATCH THOSE VIDEOS before writing reports, testifying, or being interviewed!
It is not possible to stop cold turkey and leave a calling that has consumed my life for 51 years. As one of my hobbies, I am planning to continue to weigh in on LAPD life through my website at www.warningbells.com. There you will find the last ten years of Warning Bells articles, a timeline on the history of LAPD, book reports, opinions, handy links to legal issues, and publications. I plan to continue to write a Warning Bells article every month on the internet addressing current law enforcement issues. You can easily follow me and receive my posts and articles by going to www.warningbells.com and entering your email address in the enrollment box. I may be a dinosaur, but even when heading for extinction dinosaurs are allowed to roar.
Thank you all for allowing me this opportunity to live such an interesting and meaningful life. It was a great ride. And remember…
Be legally careful out there.
www.warningbells.com from now on.
