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By Beth Barrett
and David Parrish
Daily News Staff Writers
At least 254 Los Angeles Police
Department officers were hamed
in three or more excessive- or un­necessary-
force complaints i~ a
recent six-year period, police
documents show.
Of them , at least 61 officers
were named in four complaints,
and 47 officers were named in
five or more complaints, the doc·
uments show.
The LAPD, which investigates
its own officers in such com­plaints,
concluded that of the 254
officers with three or more com­plain
ts , 1.6 p ercent s hould be
fired and 11 percent should be
suspended , records show.
More than 50 percent of those
suspensions were for five or
fewer days.
The LAPD is under investiga­tion
by a special commission
headed by former U .S . Deputy
Attorney General Warren Chris­topher
to determine whether an
excessive-force problem exists
within the Police Department,
and whether disciplinary pol­icies
or other practices have con­tributed
to a climate in which
brutality against citizc ~s _repeat- •In ro brutality complaints that all d • Of the (> 1 omcers who had
edly occ urs. The comm1ss1on "'.as LAPD officials had dismissed as ei- ~Patterns ege four excessive- or unnecessary-appointed
after the Marc~ 3 v1 d- ther untrue or unprovable, the city "If someone has three or more force complaints, none of the of-eotaped
beating of motonst Rod- rionetheless ended up paying more complaints, it is indicative of a pat- ficers was fired and seven were sus-ney
King by LAPD officers. than $750,000 to settle subsequent tern, and there may be some validi- pended. Four of those suspensions
The LAPD consiste~tly has ~e- lawsuits or to comply with a jury's , ty to those complaints. It can't just were for five days or less. Three re-fused
to make public details award. _ be a coincidence. It has to be taken ccived admonishments, or verbal
about which officers have been ; • Jf a complainant is t~ prov_e very seriously," said Ramona Rip- warnings. All four complaints
accused of brutality, _how oft~n tiis case when the LAPD mvesti- ston executive director of the again st each of the remaining 51 of-and
what the LAPD's internal in- gates its own o.fficers, he needs. an , American Civil Liberties Union of ficers were dismissed by the LAPD,
vestigations found. N.evertheless, ipdependent w1tn~ - a .credible I Southern Califomfa. which found no evidence of wrong-confidential
LAPD internal. af- person who doesn t know him - or "There's not always fire where doing.
fairs reco rds detailing excess!ve- an officer mu~t . report another offi· 11 t here's smoke, but where there is • Of the 4 7 officers who had five
o r unnecessary-force complaints cer's ~ngdomg. . . smoke you certainly go and look or more excessive· or unnecessary-made
against police officers ~rom · The mtemal affairs records show for the fire you certainly don't tum force complaints, three were or-
1983 to mid-1988 were obtained it is rare for one .officer' to report · your back ~n the smoke," she said. dered fired (one later was remstat-by
the Daily News. another for excessive force . . . Police Chief Daryl F. Gates re- cd) and three officers were suspend-
Those documents, and other For example, 47 officers ~ere f used to comment on his depart- ed t w i ce each and 11 were
. . · named in five or more complaints, ment's findings and other details of suspended once each . Eight of the
r'ecords reviewed by the Daily . for a total of 324 cases. But m o~y this article. He also refused to make suspensions were for five days or
News, show .that: : four of the 324 ( 1.2 percent) did any statement about his depart- fewer. The LAPD dismissed all of
• A relatively small n~mber of , one officer report another for ex- ment's policies and practices in in- the five or more complaints against
officers, 254, was na~ed in 30 per- cessive force. . vestigating excessive-force com- each of the remaining 30 officers
c!ent of all the excess~ve-- or unnec- 1• In one of those cases the officer plaints. after its investigations turned up no
essa ry-force complaints. The 25
4
who stepped forward ~as s~pend- The previously secret LAPD in- evidence of wrongdoing.
were among 1,93 .1 LAPD officers ' ed one day for not dis~losmg the temal affairs documents show: •Blacks made up 40 percent of
named in excess~ve- ~r unnece~- ,misconduct sooner, white.the offi- 1 •Of the 146 officers who had people who made co!11plaints
Sa.ry-force complaints in that pen- cer accused of the excessive force th ree excessive- or unnecessary against the 47 officers with five or
qd· the remaining 1,677 officers ,went unpunished, records show. ' force- complaints one of the offi- more complai nts. By contrast , we~e named i n two or fewer com- ; : In two other ~ses where officers cers was fired and seven were sus- blacks make up 13 percent of the
plaints each and ai:e not a part of , teported excess~ ve force, the, a~- pended. Four of those suspensions population of Los Angeles.
the Daily News ;e".'1ew. . . f ~.sed officers still were not disci- , were for five days or less. Three re- • One officer was named in se­.
• The LAPD s mvest1gattons
0
"phned. . . . . ceived admonishments, o r verbal ven brutality complaints and s us­i\
s ow n officers very s~ldom C?n· . Civil nghts. acttv1sts said they warnings. All three complaints pended twice before LAPDoffic!als
elu de that any officer did anything .found it alarming that so ma,ny offi- against each of the remaining 135 fired him on an eighth complaint,
wrong. cers had accumulated multiple ex- officers we r e dismi ssed by the records show.
cessive- or unnecessary-force~~- LAPD, wh ich said it could find rto ' • Another officer had been
plaints, and that the vast maJonty, evidence of wrongdoing. ,;· named in four excessive-- or unnec-ofthose
all ega~ons were not upheld · · ~ cssary-force complaints (all w.ere
by LAPD officials. dismissed) before LAPD officials
upheld the fifth complaint and
tirrrl him .
.. - • ·At least 11 olticers were dis- "All officers have complaints," Tom Beck, another police mis- "1 think that it's common that
ciphncd for excessive or unneces- Brod owy said. "If they don't h~ve conduct attorney, said complaint people arrested think they can help
sary force, then continued to co l- complaints that means they. are JUSt histories of officers should not be their ease in court if they complain
lect more brutality complaints that driving around and not doing any- ignored, and that police routinely about the officer," Mora said.
went unpunished. These included thing ... The more activity you do, rely on a suspect's criminal history Mora said he was fired from the
the case of one officer who was sus- the mo re chance you ha ve to get a in deciding whether to·make an ar- Police Department in 1990, but de-pended
four days on his second complaint." I rest. clined to discuss it in detail.
brutality complaint and then was Other officers said a police of- " Every time a suspect is booked Several other officers who re-named
in five more complaints - fi cer should be judged on wheth- on a crime, police pull his rap sheet sponded to the letter did make
all of which the department reject- er the co mplaint was upheld by de- and consider his arrest history even comments, but asked that their
ed. partment investigators, not on if that person has no convictions, names not be disclosed out of fear
• One of those 1 l officers was repeated complaints that were re- and the district attorney will file on of retribution from the LAPD.
suspended a total of 139 days on jected by the department as untrue I that rap sheet even if it is disput- One retired officer with multiple
two separate excessive-force com- or unprovable. . ed," Beck said. excessive- or unnecessa ry-force
plaints. On his next six brutality But critics of the departme nt said "Citizen complaints against an complaints - he was suspended
complaints, the LAPD investiga- they viewed multiple excessive- or officer are a rap sheet on th e offi- for kicking and slapping a suspect
tions concluded that no citizen who unnecessary-force complaints made cer, but that complaint h istory is - said he now regrets his involve- accused him could be believed. against police office rs as ~or~ ignored," he said. " It's the exact The internal affairs documents ominous - even when the maJon- opposite of what they do on the
ment in and witnessing of repeated
also show that among suspended ty of the complaints _we re !lot cases of po lice brutality.
o ffi cers, those with three or more uphe ld by an internal rnvestaga-criminal
side." " In a complaint, when you do
excessive- or unnecessary-force tion. some thing wrong, yo u lie to cover it
complaints generally did not re- Police misconduct attorney John The Daily News sent letters lo up," the former officer said. "They
ceive stiffer penalties: Burton said LAPD officials have the former and current LAP D of- slap someone, a handcuffed prison-
• De partme ntwide, 54 percent set up a disciplinary system that en- ficers who had five or more excess- er, they ge t their story together.
of all officers suspended on a sus- sures most complaints are not ive- or unnecessary-force com- They lie so much they convince
tained excessive- or unnecessary- upheld - allowing officers to col- plaints from 1983 to 1988. themsel ves."
force complaint lost more than five lect repeated brutality complaints : Only Brodowy, former Officer Mora, Crosby and other LAPD
days' pay. This ra te was higher than before they are disciplined, if at Leonard Mora (named in five com- officers said department officials
the rate for officers named in three all. plaints) and Sgt. Craig Crosby take seriously all complaints of ex-or
more excessive-force complaints. In most cases, Burton said, the (named in nine complaints) agreed cessive force.
In the latter group, 49 percent of LAPD requires what it calls "in- to on-the-record interviews. " I do know that while I was on
those su spended Jost more than five dependent ~itnesses" befo~e a I The department judged all the the job, if someone came in to
days' pay. complaint will be ruled sustained complaints against Crosby to be ei- make a complaint, it was taken,
• Officers named in three or - meaning it is uphe ld. Com- ther unprovable or untrue, or ruled and they would inves tigate these
more complaints were not fired at plaints without the required ind~- that the force used in the incident things," Mora said.
any higher rate than other offi cers pendent witness usually are cla~st- · was justifiable unde r the ci rcum- Standard of proof found guilty of excessive or unnec- tied as "not sustained" - meanmg stances. Similarly, the department
essary force. unprovable, he said. did not uphold any of the excess- LAPD officials said they use t he
• Officers with th ree or more "If the victim contradicts the po- ive- or unnecessary-for ce com- sa me standard of proof in adjudi-complaints
we re more likely to get lice they discount him as being bi- plaints lodged against Mora. eating citizens' complaints against
the most lenient penalty, a verbal ased" Burton said. ''Friends' and
Recollections vary officers as is used in civil court -
warning, when suspended fo r ex- famiiies' testimony is also consid- preponderance of evidence.
cessive or unnecessary force than ered biased testimony and thrown Jn a brief interview, Crosby said Yet in using that same standard
officers overall, 19 perce nt to 12 out." he had little recollection abou t th e of proof, the LAPD came to a far
perce nt respectively, po lice docu-
Double standard daimed details in most of the complaints. different conclusion in 10 cases
ments show.
, He said this was mainly because than the City Attorney's Office and
Significance disputed It is those standards on who is a many of the allegations were made civil court juries.
believable witness that rigs the up by the complainant an d he In each of those 10 cases LAPD
Police officers and poli ce critics LAPD's disciplinary system and al- would have no way of remembering officials ruled the excess ive or un-disagreed
on the significance of an lows officers to collect multiple ex- things that never occurred. necessary force complaints were
officer amassing multiple excessive- cessive- or unnecessary-force com- "Repeated cont act with criminal unprovable or untrue . Consequent-or
unnecessary-force complaints. plaints, Burton said. element is going to expose yourself ly, none o f the 21 officers involved
Retired LAPD Officer Robert I " If they applied the same ~tan- to more complaint~," Crosby said. in the separate in cide nts was disci-
Brodowy who was fired on his fif\h dards to the enforcement of crimes Mora offered d etailed accounts plined, LAPD internal affairs docu-complain
1
t - then rehired because as they do to thei r own cops - the of the excessive-force cases lodged ments show.
of an error in his Board of Rights prisons would be empty," Burton against him, denying the aUegations
hearing - said personnel com- said. "The double standard is just made by the citizens.
nlaints ofte n are just a reflection of preposterous."
an officer's hard-working attitude . •
.. · • . C unningham ·
Ho~ever, to settle the .lawsu it s pended a total ~~vtousJy was sus-filed
1n the cases, or to sa~isfy jury misconduct . ~ ~ days fo r other
awards , the city had to pay violations ; inc Jding two firearms
$752,~0, court records show. Twice beicor ~ sho~.
In e1&;ht of the 10 ~ses, officers had complai~~~ his firuig, citizens
named in the complaint or subse- I that Cunningha lo LAPD officials
quent l~wsuit bad at least one other ive or unnec m had used excess­excess1ve-
or unnecessary-force show essary force, records
complaint. ·
Four of the 254 officers with 1". In an April JU, I YMS, com-three
or more complaints were or- t~~~ a;.~rrla~y scspe~t told
dered fired for using excessive or hand ffio aca~ s t at . u~nangham
unnecessary force. Each of those chu ~ him and hat him on the
mout with a baton. The LAPD
four officers had a history ofbrutal- ruled tha_t co~plaint was untrue
1ty c?~Plain ts made against them and classified tt as "unfounded,"
by c1t1zens before they were or- documents s how. .
dered fired - complaints the de- • In a Feb. l 8, I 983, complaint,
partment ruled we re untrue or un- a woman told . LAPD authorities
provable, internal affairs records that after she reJe_cted unwanted ad-show.
vances by Cunningham, Cunning-
~ichael K. Farrell had seven ham fi~ed two ~ots at her car tires
pnor excessive- or unnecessary- and htt her with ~ gun, records
force complaints - two of which show. LAPD officials ruled they
were sustained - before an LAPD could not reS?lve the brutality is-
Bo~rd of Rights panel found him sues an~ class,1,fied that part of the
guilty of using excessive force complaint as not sustained," rec-against
a 17-year-old boy June 26 ords s~ow. On other parts of the
1986. FarreH was ordered fired ~ complaint a. Board of ~ight s panel
ords show. ' found Cur_mingham guilty and sus-
Fre derick Rodriguez had four pended him for 44 days, records
PreV1·o · show us excessive- or unnecessary- · . . . .
force complaints - n one of which Cunn_ingham IS serving a term Ill
was UJ?held - before he was found state . P~SOn on a c~tld molestation
guilty in April 1987 on a fifib com- con v1c t1on , accordmg to state rec-plaint
by a Board of Rights and or- ords.
dered fired . Continuing pattern
. T~e complaint that led to his fir­ing
involved chasing a narcotics
su~pe~ on foot. LAPD internal af­fa1rs
invesogators reported that a
lrytsh can th rown by Rodriguez or
has partner hit a bystander, Mace
was used unnecessarily and racial
ren;iarks ~ere made over a police
~ s pubhc address system. Also, a
ptcture ?f the late Dr. Martin
Luther l(jng Jr. was defaced.
Another officer at the scene was
suspended for I 29 days, records
show.
. In another case, Albert w. Cun­ningha
m was fired from the depart­ment
Oct. 11 , 1986 _ eight
months after he fatally shot an un­armed,
~ped mental patient ac­cused
of child molestation.
Internal affairs documents show
that. after being disciplined for ex­cess1ve
or unnecessary force some
officers continue to be named in
complaints made by citizens.
Officer Raymond Conboy wa s
suspended for a total of 139 days
in 1983 for two separate com­plaints
of excessive or unnecessary
force, then collected six additional
complaints the department ruled
we~ unprovable or untrue, internal
affairs records show.
A Feb. 4, 1983, complaint result­ed
in Conboy being suspended for
lO days after the department ruled
he unnecessarily used force to r~
move a crime victim from the
lobby of the police station after re­fusing
to take the man's crime re-port.
Eight months later, a man arres t­ed
on traffic warrants complained
to LAPD authorities that Conboy
hit him twice while b ei ng booked
into jail. Another officer cor ro­borated
the complaint, and a Board
of Rights found Conboy gui lty, sus­pending
him for 129 days, records
show.
The remaining six excessive­force
complaints - including one
by a man who was arrested after a
disturbance following his non-pay­ment
of a restaurant bill - we re
classified by the department as
"not sustained" or "unfounded,"
records reveal.
Department records show that
Conboy now is assigned to the Hol­lywood
Division.
Curtis Heaton was suspended for
th ree days following an Oct. 17,
1985, complaint in which a narcot­ics
suspect told LAPD authorities
that while he was being held in a
cell at the Hollywood station, Hea­t
on used unnecessary force on
him.
"~eato!' d~nicd the charge, but
the mveshgat1ve results sufficiently
established that H eato n's use of
force . .. ~as unnecessary," con­cluded
an internal affairs report.
Before his suspension, Heaton
had been named in four other ex­cessive-
or unnecessary-force com,
plaints, all of wh ich the department
ruled were unprovable or untrue, or
that the force use d was justifiable, .
records s how. After the suspension
Heaton also wa~ named in th rc~
ot~er complaints. Those com ­plaints
wer~ no t upheld by th e de­partme
nt, either, docume nts show.
For example, Officer Victor
Corella. has been the subject of nine
excess1 ve- or unnecessa ry-force
complaints by citizens , but his only
penalty - an 88-day suspension in
1985 - was for violations not in­vo
lving excessive or unnecessary
force.
In that April 27, 1985 case a
man said Corella and another offi­cer
used excessive force to break up
a fight. The department ruled that
allegation was " not sustained."
A Board of Rights, however, sus­pended
Corella 88 days for neg lect­ing
to obtain medica l trea tment for
the seriously injured man, not doc­um_
enting the incide nt properly and
g~vmg fa lse statements to his s uper­visor.
Anothe r officer involved in
• the in ci dent got a 129-day suspen­sion
for the same infractions .
Corella had three complaints that
the departme_nt did n ot uphold be­fore
the April. 1985 incident, and
five following tl Cordia is assigned
to th e Southwest Divisio n police
records show. '
fn ~ven citizens co mplaints for
excessive or unnecessary force, Of­fi_
ce~ Juan Torres has not been dis­CIJ?
lm ed for ~is us e of force, but
twice has received ve rba l warnings.
On ~ug. 12 , 1986, a passer- by
co~plained that Torres hit a man
being arrested on a misde meanor
~rranl. A Board of Rights judged
. him not guilty of excessive force
but fo~d Torres and another offi~
cer_gudty of violating department
pohcy when they did not properly
report the use of force, records
show. To_rres and the other officer
each ~eaved an official reprimand
as punishment. Department records show that
Heaton is assigned to the Holly­wood
Divisio n.
Unrelated 1Jiolatio11s
The internal affairs records show
that some officers who are found to
~ave do ne nothing wrong in excess-
1 ve~ or unnecessar y-force coqi­plamts
nonetheless may be found
to have violated so me other depart­me!
1 tal policy in the same com­plaint.
On Dec. 2, 1987, a witness to
the arre~t of a suspect in a battery
on a police officer complained that
Torr~s repeatedly punched the sus­pect
m the face and stomach and
then hit him with a baton. The de­partment
ruled the excessive force
complaints against Torres were un-founded
or not sustained. \ )'