December 2022 Warning Bells article
Board of Rights is Being Torpedoed
The orchestration of the demise of the all-civilian Board of Rights has been in progress for some time. The chief made the plan known in a May 2020 Los Angeles Times article. He felt that he lacked power to control the department because his disciplinary decisions could be overruled by a Board of Rights. Furthermore, all-civilian panels were too lenient in his view. The Inspector General (IG) marched in lock step with the chief’s desires. An initial report analyzing Boards of Rights was filed with the Police Commission in May of 2021. A final report was filed with the Commission on 11/22/22. One finding was, of course, that all-civilian Boards were too lenient. No surprise. Using the IG’s logic and statistical analysis, one could find by comparing the vigilantes in 1860 Los Angeles (who executed suspects without trial) to trial by juries (who participated in trials and examined evidence) that juries were too “lenient” because they executed fewer suspects. Maybe the difference in the execution rate is not leniency. Maybe it is attributed to due process and justice. [Full article]
Lybarger Statement. Why and What.
November 2022 Warning Bells article
If you have ever been interviewed in a personnel complaint, and you had a knowledgeable representative, you are probably familiar with the Lybarger statement. At least you have heard of it. Do you know what Lybarger actually is? Where it comes from? What it means? Why it is important? Read on. [Full Article]
Boys and Girls WILL Get Together
October 2022 Warning Bells article
A few months ago, the Department revised the “relationship” manual section. Personal relationships between Department employees, that is. The Department recognizes the rights of employees to become involved with each other but lays down some limits. At the risk of throwing cold water on true love, those limits were expressed as “it is the Department’s intent to ensure that personal relationships do not cause unrest, lend themselves to the perception of favoritism, adversely affect morale, officer safety or the safety of others, or otherwise disrupt Department operations.” [Full article]
Out of Policy Shooting Punishments
September 2022 Warning Bells article
Whenever there is an Officer-Involved-Shooting (OIS), the anti-police activist groups will be critical, and the media as likely as not will complain that officers are never disciplined for shootings. So, ever sensitive to the media, the Police Commission ordered the Inspector General to conduct an audit on all “out of policy shootings” from 2015 through the end of 2020 and the discipline involved. It often takes a year to finish an investigation and then the discipline system often takes months to arrive at a final disposition. The report was delivered to the Police Commission (PC) in March of this year. [Full article]
SWAT under the microscope again
August 2022 Warning Bells article
The phrase “happy hunting” has now apparently been assigned to the lexicon of phrases that indicate that police officers “glorify violence.” At least according to the Los Angeles Times which all too often seems to dictate the attitude of the Police Commission. In the July 26 meeting of the Commission, the Department presented a ten-year examination of SWAT caused by an article in the LA Times according to Chief Moore’s report. SWAT is a specialized highly trained squad of LAPD’s Metropolitan Division. (Metro) [Full Article]
No More Lawsuits for Miranda Violations
July 2022 Warning Bells article
It is not often that the thousands of ways you can be sued is reduced by one, but that is what the U.S. Supreme Court just did. Failure to properly Mirandize is no longer grounds for you to lose your house. Too bad for Terence Takoh, good news for LASD Deputy Carlos Vega, and routine for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the most reversed court in the land, that is once again reversed by the Supremes. And, given that the Miranda rules have gotten more and more complicated, good for law enforcement in general. [Full Article]
Bad Boys! Bad Boys! Watcha Gonna Do When They Come for You?
June 2022 Warning Bells article
The Internal Affairs 2021 Discipline Report is out. There were Bad Girls too, but proportionally fewer of them. Only 13% of the complaints were on the ladies and they comprise 18% of the Department so the gents are proportionately badder! [Full article]
May 2022 Warning Bells article
Surviving Special Order 3 – Limitation on Pretextual Stops
Last month, I discussed the IG report that resulted in the Police Commission requiring the Department to implement a policy on pretextual stops. It is now policy, and it is time to discuss the rules imposed by Special Order 3 and what an officer needs to consider before flipping on those reds and conducting a stop. [Full article]
April 2022 Warning Bells article
Stop Data Interpretations Differ
“Lies, damn lies, statistics.” Said Mark Twain in classifying the types of lies. LAPD officers are subject to a brand-new set of rules for making observational stops of pedestrians and vehicles. This new policy entitled “LIMITATION ON THE USE OF PRETEXTUAL STOPS” was unanimously passed by the Police Commission on 3-1-22 and adds section 1/240.06 to the Department Manual. [Full Article]
March 2022 Warning Bells article
Judge Dismisses Criminal Charges on 3 LAPD Officers re FIs
This is undoubtedly good news for the involved officers, but it is doubtful if they wanted to go through this process even with this favorable result. It may be beneficial to examine the judge’s ruling as an example of what can happen to an officer who writes a report that turns out to be not supported by Body Worn Video in the prosecutor’s opinion, even when there is no intent to create a false document. As has been the subject of previous Warning Bells articles, three officers were criminally filed on for violating 134 PC and 118.1 PC, both felonies. An extensive audit was done by Internal Affairs resulted in a second set of 3 officers having the same criminal charges filed against them. It was the second group of 3 officers that are the subject of this article. The officers went through a 3-month preliminary hearing that generated almost 2000 pages of transcripts. All three officers testified and were extensively cross-examined. What can we learn by walking in their shoes and what precautions can be taken to not be forced into that walk ourselves? [Full Article]
February 2022 Warning Bells article
To Talk or Not to Talk
Setting aside Abraham Lincoln’s advice that it is “better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt,” the decision to talk or not to talk can have repercussions if you are a police officer. Different considerations arise depending on who is requesting the interview. Internal Affairs? Employee Representative? Public Defender Investigator? Workers Comp investigator? City Attorney? Each situation requires some thought about potential ramifications of each request and some techniques to reduce possible negative consequences. Let’s consider some common situations which might arise. [Full Article]
January 2022 Warning Bells article
Old Time Rep passes
On January 1, 2022, Sergeant Thomas A. Dawson passed away peacefully in his sleep. He was 80 years old and after serving as an LAPD officer for 47 years, he only made it for a little over 2 years after retirement. Tom was one of the old time Defense Representatives in the days when officers were represented at Boards of Rights by fellow officers. He was among the most active reps garnering enough overtime (no cash in those days) to eventually take a year off in specials to attend law school. Tom was totally dedicated to officer rights. Reminiscences of Tom flood back memories of how it was in the “old days” and how we got to where we are now in officer representation. Those were bumpy times for Defense Representatives, and Tom bumped back as often as he was bumped. Let’s walk down memory lane. [Full Article]