On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Police Commission adopted new a new use of force policy that requires officers to try to de-escalate a situation before resorting to deadly force.
The LA Police Protective League, the rank-and-file union, backed the policy changes.
In a letter to the police commission, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said the new policy was developed in “conjunction with a review of use of force policies from law enforcement agencies throughout the country.”
The new policy requires officers to “attempt to control an incident by using time, distance, communications and available resources in an effort to de-escalate the situation, whenever it is safe and reasonable to do so.”
The department already trains officers to de-escalate, but de-escalation was not laid out in clear terms in the use of force policy. Reinforcing the concept within the department’s policy, means that the police commission will now be able to take into consideration an officers efforts to de-escalate a situation prior to a use of force.
In a 2016 report, the Office of the Inspector General directed the police commission to revise its use of force policy.
In 2009, the LAPD use of force policy was rewritten and consolidated. It removed “language to indicate that deadly force should be used only when necessary, or as a last resort, or that alternative options must be exhausted or appear impracticable,” the OIG said in its report. “The elimination of such language has the effect of making the current policy more permissive, removing the mandate that officers use available alternate means of resolving a potentially deadly encounter, such as by moving to a safer position when confronted by a person armed with a knife, or by using a less-lethal weapon in place of a firearm.” The changes to the use of force policy “implicitly broadened authority for the use of deadly force to situations where alternative courses of action may be available to the officer,” the report read.
The OIG said the policy must include “attempts at de-escalation whenever feasible as one of the factors for determining the reasonableness of an officer’s use of force.” The OIG also called for a use of force policy that established that “deadly force shall only be exercised when reasonable alternatives have been exhausted or appear impracticable.”
Chief Beck said the new policy was developed through meetings with the OIG and other stakeholders, including the police commission’s Use of Force Subcommittee, experts on the subject of use of force, and the Los Angeles Police Protective League.
Wonderful! However, one would think that this was already the policy. The sad part is that officers are probably frowning at the thought that critical thinking and deescalation training will become more useful than the time spent at the gun range.
Good start to the necessary police reform!
This story reminds me of a scene from Robo CopII. In that movie politicians and community leaders form a committee to program Robo Cop. They fill his head with so much PC nonsense (similar to this story) that he overreacts to petty crimes (like smoking in public) while ignoring the murder and maham that’s occurring right in front of his nose. You know ,just like Berkeley PD.
Kong, you’re exactly right. Reminds me of the jaywalker in Sacramento several weeks ago.
Sacramento PD is not too far ftom Berkeley PD. Coincidence?
Didn’t remind me of that at all, I am unaware of Sacramento Police sitting idly by while a riot ensued. False equivalency .
Selective memory gets confusing. Never raise your right hand.
Your hallucination is noted.
Don’t challenge a cop to fight, never a bright idea.
Mark Furhman had “selective memory” at the OJ Simpson trial. After raising his “right hand” his memory failed him, which resulted in perjury. Go figure.
What happened to go ‘ole days when you could smack them upside the head with the billy club and charge them with resisting arrest for getting uppity and talking back to a cop. Or, when the police had the elite cadre of fine upstanding officers called CRASH; when you could round them up by the dozen, smack them around, throw them in the paddy wagon and flip a coin to see who you could plant the crack on. Now they want you to try to deescalate. What next, treat people with respect. Takes the fun out of police work, I bet. Chief Gates must be turning in his grave, god knows what Chief Parker would do.
Those days are pretty much over. Cops are not perfect but accountability is measured more today than ever. The true examples that you speak of are retired, buried or starting a new life after prison sentences. The majority of LEO’S are there for the right reasons. We need more.
CF misses running from the cops and then blaming it on them when he started a fight he couldn’t finish. He wants more bad cops so he has something to talk about to offset who the real problem children in the country are, the ones that he doesn’t dare speak about.
Celeste doesn’t speak on them either, there are people out there who do though. You just won’t see Celeste talking about them or the articles they’ve written or books that tell the truth about crime in our country.
Another Cop: The majority of officers have always been there for the right reasons. Accountability is the “politically correct” term for throwing the officer under the bus pending the outcome of the investigation or civil service hearing. Forgive my cynicism, but law enforcement isn’t about enforcing the law anymore, its bout reducing civil liabilities…i.e….accountability. Does Charlie take his coffee black or with cream or sugar?
Another cop: We recently saw an example of “accountability” in Berkeley where the lack of proactive law enforcement resulted in injuries to local civilians and the destruction of personal property. Most law enforcement agencies in the U.S. now operate under the same policy. Far better to allow the destruction of personal property, than the photo of a police officer striking a rioter and the resulting civil suit which always follows. Again accountability=civil liabilities.
@Another Cop- I will agree with you that most LEOs, I believe, go into the force for the right reason. I will also agree that I think the examples from the Rampart era are no longer around, for the most part. However, I believe there is an occupational hazard. The badge, the gun, the power and working in certain neighborhoods, change some officers or brings out those bad qualities they had going in. I think there is bias in policing that results in unequal treatment and harassment of certain communities, not all the time and not by all officers. To point out the bad cops is not the same as being anti-cop. Just as there are occupational hazards with the legal profession or the medical professions. Wanting a thieving lawyer disbarred or malpracticing doctor disciplined and sued does not make me anti-lawyer or anti-doctor. I think its your colleagues like Surefire and Bandwagon, who think officers can do no wrong, are the problem. Officers like them give your profession a bad name in certain communities.
For example, Sure Fire wants to talk about the problem children. It has been my experience that children of my white colleagues do some of the same things as brown and black kids in the hood, such as smoke a little dope, write on walls, jaywalk, get in fights with others, petty theft. The difference is that when a white middle class kids does it, its a good kids doing something stupid, and folks do not want to throw the book at him. When its the poor brown or black kids, its the start of harden criminal on whom we have to come down hard because he will never been any good. I cannot help but think that Mr. Sure Fire is picturing brown and black kids with saggy pants when he thinks of problem children.
And, your colleague bandwagon, thinks there should be no accountability. I do not think he has come across any officer who has done anything wrong, and will not even entertain it, albeit probably with the exception of Christopher Dorner. No other government employee is free of oversight or public criticism, but he thinks there should be none for officers. He talks as if its the world against the cops and seems quite unhappy with the profession he chose. I almost feel bad for him and hope he had other options so he would be able to do somethings else. But, alas, maybe he is stuck and waiting for his retirement.
But, all well. Progress is slow, but it will come. At some point, the cowboys and dinosaurs will leave or retire. Take care.
You’re possibly functionally retarded CF as nothing I’ve ever written could possibly lead you to such brain dead conclusions about me. The problem you have with me is that I speak a truth that you can’t argue so you spin silly little tales of how you feel I must look at everyone. I actually agreed with the first part of your post and have done things to get rid of problem officers, real problem officers not ones that were railroaded by brass looking to pacify the public or some phony complaining cop hating scum like you.
I’ve dealt with posers and cowards like you a long time CF and I love cop work, family, friends, life and beating up on you here. You have nothing unless you can somehow show where I’ve made true racist comments or lied. Please do it, I’ll even give you more ammo.
First though I treated all idiots I dealt with the same, skin color never mattered you moron, why should it when you hooked someone or contacted them for any reason? Their behavior and what they did, you know the reason we were involved, was usually the key to how things went, not anything else but I’m sure you know that.
But it just irritates your lame dumb ass to no end that I can throw things out you have no answer to so you have to pull out child like trash talk. I can do that as well.
Here’s that ammo. Sorry but young male Blacks are creating the majority of havoc and crime in this country and for their percentage of the population the numbers are staggering. You saw what happened in Oakland yesterday right? Tell me when you’ve seen other races of young adults/teens involved in that type of takeover, and multiple times? Read Black Girl Bleed A Lot and Don’t Make the Black Kids Angry, get your sad self educated. Oh, never mind that would scare you, you know the truth. Won’t see Celeste use those books as sources either, not part of her agenda.
CF: You say, you do not paint all cops with the same brush……that you rhetoric is directed at the “bad” cops…..I must say that some of your past posts paint a different picture……but I will give you the benefit of the doubt. How about showing me the same courtesy. If you have spent anytime at all on this blog….you would know there have been many times I have been critical of those in law enforcement. That being said, my issues with Another cop are based on his upper management leanings in his posts. The next time some idiots are burning down your neighborhood and the police do not respond…….it will be due to some law enforcement executive more concerned with public perception and civil liabilities, than enforcing the law. Lastly, my loyalty lies with those who continue to go out everyday and serve the public regardless of “activists” such as yourself or our “leaders” in law enforcement demanding accountability. By the way, I am retired…………and actually enjoyed my job during my 26 years in law enforcement….
@Surefire – Really, you are not racist because you don’t use the N-word? Even David Duke does not use it anymore. Your analysis of social issues is rudimentary at best, something a C average high school kid would submit, or a tea party member trying to support his views. “Blacks are committing the majority of havoc and crime in this country?” Are you kidding me. If no other reason than their numbers, white people commit more crimes and have more welfare recipients. How about a little redneck kid with a bad hair cut going into a black church and killing 9. Or, a couple upstanding kids from the local trailer complex going into a school and killing 12. These are serious and complex issues that are beyond your pay grade. Please stick to issuing jaywalking tickets to the homeless.
@Bandwagon – Thank god you are retired. I can sleep better at night. Be honest, are you one of those overweight cops that couldn’t catch a cold. Please explain to me why there are overweight cops. I always assumed that chasing and catching criminals is a requirement of the job, and can never understand why the city allows officers to become overweight. Why? Oh well, at least you aren’t a menace to society anymore. That explains why you long for the days when America was great.
CF: Not to worry Trump is going to make America Great Again….actually, I was fast enough to catch little idiots like urself…Don’t worry about the fence…..it’s now going to be in this years budget. ..when ICE catches up with you….you can sneak back across………
David Dukes doesn’t use it, I don’t use it but you’re comfortable with it CF, speaks to what exactly? I should have added a line because I just looked back at what I wrote, “for their population number” and it is staggering. It’s not even close to White or Hispanic youth be serious and the violence associated with that group is out of control. Sure there are factors in the community that need to be addressed from the very start of a young mans life and programs that show they work need to be funded, but to ignore the reality of the death and criminality for the sake of sounding politically acceptable is where cowards retreat to instead of shrugging off the name calling from people like you who never did a thing to stop violence in a community block by block to help poor people of color even though deep down you’re a Klansman because all White cops who speak their mind are.
@ Surefire – Do not try to pull a Trump. You said “Blacks are creating the majority of havoc and crime in this country” AND “for their percentage of the population the numbers are staggering.” Are blacks really creating the majority of havoc and crime? Really? In what racist world do you live in. The world hasn’t changed because Trump got elected. And, do not flatter yourself by thinking you are doing something to help the poor or stop the violence. If you are paroling the street, you are getting paid, on the county’s dime, on my dime; its a job not some benevolent act. And, to be frank, you are getting paid very well, pension and all. Only government employees get those benefits these days. I do not blame you, it beats being a security guard at Walmart. In any event, its been a pleasure.
@Bandwagon – No worries. I’m here to stay. I’m as much an American citizen as you. Believe it or not, as long as an illegal alien is here when she gives birth, the baby illegal is not an illegal, but a US Citizen. What a great country. And, I rather enjoy Trump’s buffoonery, although I cringe when folks around the world ask about him, especially in Europe. Surely, you could have supported a more articulate redneck. In any event, makes for a great Colbert, John Oliver or Samantha Bee monologues. You should skip an episode of Duck Dynasty or Honey Boo Boo and check them out. They are funny. Take care.
You mean “undocumented immigrant” don’t you……illegal alien is so outdated! Welcome to America….u made it brother!
That you can’t read or debate is simple enough to see. Math simply isn’t your friend. Explained myself well enough, you are a racist, White hating and cop hating troll and nothing more.
Yeah because if someone pulls a knife on a police officer and lunges toward them, they should be trained to risk their lives even more. You’re comment is stupid and shows you know nothing about the dangers of law enforcement. I’ve never been beaten by police or hurt because I obey their commands. And I’m Hispanic. Your comment lacks critical thinking and amplifies your ignorance.