December 2015 – Just checking another box?
Last month I wrote a Warning Bells article on the recent training all of the officers on the Department went through o officially entitled, “A National Discussion on Public Trust and the Preservation of Life.” This was the warrior versus guardian training, or “Operation Stand Down/Hug a Th ug,” depending on your view. Every officer was put through somewhere between four and six hours of training. Two or three hours of the training were on Mental Evaluation Unit techniques and Use of Force policy. The training was given to officers assembled in division or larger groups. [Full Article]
November 2015 – Warrior or Guardian?
Now that the entire department has been retrained under the new policing theory of “not a warrior, but a guardian,” a new philosophy fueling discipline is likely to follow. Pundits have called the training “Operation Stand Down” or “Operation Hug a Thug” but if you have been around long enough, it is nothing more than the swinging of the pendulum or the turning of the circle back to where law enforcement has been before. [Full Article]
October 2015 – Stunned by Common Sense
Of course, common sense is extremely uncommon, but Sheriff David Clarke of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, threw a lot of it out at the Delegate’s Conference this year. He was one of the key speakers along with Mayor Eric Garcetti and District Attorney Jackie Lacey. A luminous group to be sure. [Full Article]
September 2015 – Finally, a protocol for IA interviews
Most of the time, Internal Affairs investigators and representatives of accused officers getalong. After all, it is a state law that requires personnel complaint investigations and it is a state law that requires the right to representation. By law the interview will be done and the officer gets a representative. Why fight?[Full Article]
August 2015 – One more way to get an out of policy use of force on your record
In April 2014, the Police Commission added one sentence to the shooting policy under the Deadly Force heading. That sentence is, The reasonableness of an officer’s use of deadly force includes consideration of the officer’s tactical conduct and decisions leading up to the use of force.” In other words, your previous alleged tactical mistakes and poor decisions are wrapped around you like chains as you go into the fight. The spotlight is no longer on the reasonableness of the decision that you made at the moment you pulled the trigger. The spotlight is now a floodlight that looks at the tactics and decisions you made before you ever reached the decision to use force. It may be an out of policy use of force before you draw your gun. [Full Article]
July 2015 – How video is used in the prosecution of an officer
It is a sobering thing to be in a criminal court as the defendant rather than an officer’s usual role as a witness against a defendant. But don’t think that it could never happen to you. All of us are one allegedly poor decision away from being prosecuted if the moon and stars all line up against us when that decision is made. The chances for that alignment increase exponentially when there is a video. [Full Article]
June 2015 – Body Warn Video Policy Issued by Department
Around 800 body cameras are going to hit the streets shortly. Seven thousand more are on the way. On April 28, 2015, the Police Commission approved and the Department issued the body worn video (BWV) policy, officially called “Special Order 12, Body Worn Video Procedures-Established.” There was a lot of debate and some confusion about what some of the language in the policy meant. So, what does it say and how is it different from the DICV policy? [Full Article]
May 2015 – It Never Sleeps
Even when you delete something, it is still there. It can be mined and recovered. I am speaking of the internet. It contains Google, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Myspace and many more sites for communications that too often end up as exhibits in personnel complaints. [Full Article]
April 2015 – Sleep and Use of Force Interviews
According to the latest Use of Force Annual Report posted on the Police Commission website, statistically, about 1 percent of your arrests will result in a use of force. That means that for 1 in every 100 arrests, you will have to fight. About two-tenths of 1 percent of contacts with citizens will result in a use of force. So in about 1 in every 500 citizen contacts, you will have to fight. It is most likely that you will get in a fight on a Thursday. Whether the moon is full or not, it doesn’t seem to matter. [Full Article]
March 2015 – Body Worn Videos and Privacy
The train is coming and nothing is going to derail it. LAPD has 7000 body cameras planned for the near future, and not to be outdone, President Obama has promised funding for another 50,000 body cameras nationwide. It’s a run-away train because few are thinking about all of the ramifications of thousands of officers videotaping hundreds of thousands of contacts with citizens. Simple questions like, where is all that data stored and who gets to look at the videos will require careful thought and planning. [Full article]
February 2015 – Thank goodness! The discipline system IS fair after all!
At least that is the conclusion arrived in the recently released investigation report written by the Department and given to the Police Commission in November of last s rampage, Chief Beck directed the Department to conduct focus groups to express their s claims of bias in the disciplinary process. Five hundred civilian and sworn employees participated and their viewpoints were analyzed. The report, in essence, says that there is no evidence of bias and page after page of statistics are given proving it. The report mentions and then dodges the real issues that plague the system. If it has any value, it maybe in the recommendation section that lists six objectives. [Full article]
January 2015 – “Words Have Meaning”
This may be a new concept to LAPD management. It takes a civilian to look into the Department forest and see a tree. And it only took two and a half years. This is a follow up to a Warning Bells article from February 2014 entitled, “Failing to Anticipate the Unexpected is Misconduct.” It told the story of a traffic collision that resulted in a Board of Rights that was widely felt to be unfair by the officer’s peers. Over 50 had volunteered to appear at the Board as character witnesses for the officer. [Full article]