The record against LAPD, 1991-06-09 |
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... - DAILY /VEA.<£ ~ 1~ it"':'\.~'i':t.~. ,. . • . .... . 1 • • - --------L...:..·!· ·, . . ~. : ·" · .~ ••. 0 t.·· 1 . 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. \ )'
Object Description
Title | Commission meetings, 1991-05-23 - 1991-06-15 |
Description | Commission meetings, 1991 May23 - June 15. PART OF A SERIES: Materials in the series fall into one of several categories related to the Independent Commission's work product: (1) Commission meeting materials, which include meeting agendas, work plans, memoranda, and articles about police misconduct that were circulated and reviewed during the Commission's internal meetings; (2) public correspondence, which includes citizen complaints against the LAPD in the form of written testimony, articles, and an audio cassette tape, as well as letters drafted by citizens in support of the LAPD; (3) summaries of interviews held with LAPD officers regarding Departmental procedures and relations; (4) public meeting materials, which include transcripts, supplementary documents, and witness statements that were reviewed at the Commission's public meetings; (5) press releases related to the formation and work product of the Commission; and (6) miscellaneous materials reviewed by the Commission during its study, including LAPD personnel and training manuals, a memorandum of understanding, and messages from the LAPD's Mobile Digital Terminal (MDT) system. |
Coverage date | 1930/1991; 1991-05-22; 1991-05-23; 1991-05-25; 1991-06-05; 1991-06-07; 1991-06-11/1991-06-14 |
Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California |
Date created | 1991-05; 1991-05-23; 1991-05-29; 1991-06-05; 1991-06-07; 1991-06-11/1991-06-13 |
Date issued | 1991; 1991-05; 1991-05-29; 1991-06; 1991-06-09; 1991-06-13; 1991-06-15 |
Type |
texts images |
Format | 167 p. |
Format (aat) |
agendas (administrative records) articles clippings (information artifacts) correspondence interviews memorandums plans (reports) |
Format (imt) | application/pdf |
Language | English |
Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
Part of collection | Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, 1991 |
Series | Independent Commission file list |
File | Commission meetings |
Box and folder | box 22, folder 14 |
Provenance | The collection was given to the University of Southern California on July 31, 1991. |
Rights | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained. |
Physical access | Contact: Special Collections, Doheny Memorial Library, Libraries, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189; specol@dots.usc.edu |
Repository name | USC Libraries Special Collections |
Repository address | Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 |
Repository email | specol@dots.usc.edu |
Filename | indep-box22-14 |
Description
Title | The record against LAPD, 1991-06-09 |
Description | Beth Barrett and David Parrish "The record against LAPD" Los Angeles Daily News (1991 June 9). |
Creator |
Barrett, Beth Parrish, David |
Publisher (of the original version) | Los Angeles Daily News |
Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California, USA |
Date issued | 1991-06-09 |
Type | texts |
Format | 3 p. |
Format (aat) | clippings (information artifacts) |
Format (imt) | application/pdf |
Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
Series | Independent Commission file list |
File | Commission meetings |
Box and folder | box 22, folder 14, item 4 |
Physical access | Contact: Special Collections, Doheny Memorial Library, Libraries, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189; specol@dots.usc.edu |
Full text | ... - DAILY /VEA.<£ ~ 1~ it"':'\.~'i':t.~. ,. . • . .... . 1 • • - --------L...:..·!· ·, . . ~. : ·" · .~ ••. 0 t.·· 1 . 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. \ )' |
Filename | indep-box22-14-04.pdf |
Archival file | Volume70/indep-box22-14-04.pdf |