May Day Melee…..Accountability?

THE OTHER SHOE DROPS FOR MAY DAY

While the LAPD has yet to actually release the details the Daily News Rick Orlov has reported that Chief Bill Bratton wants “four officers fired, eight suspended and three demoted for using unauthorized force or failing to take action during the 2007 May Day melee in MacArthur Park that left dozens of peaceful protesters injured.”

More specifically, it is my unofficial understanding (from my own back-door chatting) that fifteen officers have been disciplined: Four, as Orlov reported, are slated for firing. One officer has been recommended for a ten-day suspension. Two are set for five day suspensions. Five officers will get three-day suspensions. And there will be three reprimands, which I guess are the demotions Orlov was talking about.

Mind you, Bratton is only making a recommendation. The four terminated officers will have the chance to defend their actions at a Board of Rights disciplinary hearing later on, according to the LA Police Protective League, which was quick to get out a statement (excerpted below).

The suspended officers could fight their discipline too, but likely will not. The way it works is…..if they fight and lose, they will not get the support of the police union, which picks up their salaries for the suspended days as long as the disciplined cops don’t unsuccessfully challenged the suspensions. This system was instituted during the bad old Bernie Parks days when officers were being suspended unfairly and needed the union’s protection.

(Forgive me if the above is too much inside baseball. When it comes to the LAPD, I happen to like inside baseball.)

Mayor Villaraigosa has scheduled a press conference for this afternoon at 3:15 to comment on the issue as well. In the past, AV has been very vocal about the public’s expectation that someone must be held responsible. (Rule of thumb: You can’t use your baton to whack little immigrant mothers with kids and decidedly non-threatening working press folks ON CAMERA and not have the public be a tad irritated if there is no appreciable consequence for someone in uniform.)

The LAPPL, however, does not want to see the rank and file guys as the only one’s taking the hit—which is what they’ve said in a diplomatic way in their release:

“The fact that officers have been served recommended discipline by the Department does not mean that the administrative process is over for the officers. Through the administrative process, we trust that each of the officers involved will be given a fair review that will evaluate their actions in the context of what they had been ordered to do, the tools and training they were given to accomplish those tasks, and the conditions under which they were operating.

“The Department’s official report on MacArthur Park clearly points out that the problems were caused by command and control, planning, and training breakdowns. At the time of the incident, Department Policy regarding use of force in crowd control situations was far from clear. Department policies were confusing. Officers are entitled to know exactly what use of force they can use when confronted with an individual who is impeding a skirmish line. They were trained that the integrity of the skirmish line is of paramount importance and they were trained that they could use the baton to preserve the integrity of the skirmish line.

“The LAPD itself has said that the confusion on the ground was primarily a result of lapses in communications and training. In addition, there were not enough officers on the scene, and there were no arrest teams behind them to take care of the rock and bottle throwers. The Boards of Rights must take into consideration lapses in training, communication, planning and command and control.”

This is both true and slightly disingenuous. While there was obvious failure at the command level, common sense—and the department manual—should be enough to keep officers from whacking people who represent no threat—either explicitly, or implicitly by their continued presence in the park—as several at the top of the LAPD food chain were quick to state a year ago. (Plus some of the videos show that many of the whackees were doing their best to move after the dispersal order.)

It should also be noted that Bratton was very quick to discipline those at the top of the May Day food chain within the first days and weeks after the whole mess occurred.

(For what it’s worth, I believe Bratton has handled the situation well from the gate—-although the League wishes he’d been more supportive of the officers, and LAPD critics will likely call for harsher sanctions.)

Yet, while everyone is talking about Bratton’s action (and the Daily News’ Rick Orlov has some actual Bratton quotes in his story that curiously has appeared first in the ContraCosta Times, instead of the Daily News.), there is no official word from the department on any of this.

In fact, the only player that has NOT put out a press advisory is the LAPD, which is set to release their formal statement this afternoon.

Speed it up, people.

(NOTE: Is it just me or has the LAPD press office been less press friendly of late than in previous Bratton years. I hope I am imagining things, as this would not be a good trend. Nor is it, I suspect, what the chief would want.)

UPDATE: The LA Times just put their story up and it has a few more details.

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PS: In an unrelated LAPD story, the funeral for Officer Spree Desha, the 35-year-old, 7-year LAPD veteran, killed in the Metrolink crash, will be held on Thursday at 9:30 at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral.

Whenever, our city has to bury a police officer, somehow it feels very personal—as well it should.