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May 22 , 1991
Mr. Warren Christopher
RECEIVE"O
MAY 2 4 1991
W.c: s OFFICE
Law Offices of O'Melveny and Meyers
400 South Hope Street
Los Angeles , CA 90071
Dear Mr. Christopher:
Councilman Michael Woo
City of Los Angeles
13th District
One of my constituents recently contacted my office regarding
police harrassrnent.
As this problem lies within your area of jurisdiction, I am referring
this matter to you for any action you feel appropriate . The constituent
who contacted my office is:
Mr. Aaron L. Birt
2356 Lucerne Avenue
Los Angeles, cA 90016
A copy of this letter has been sent to the constituent to infonn than
that you will be handling this matter.
Sincerely,
~U6
Council.man
MKW:la
cc: Mr. Aaron L. Birt
Chair
Governmental Efficiency Committee
Vice Chair
Transportation Committee
Member
Planning and Land Use Management Committee
Mailing Address:
City Hall, Room 218
200 North Spring Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(21 J) 485-3353
District Offices:
4640 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles. CA 90027
(213) 485-6471
12229 Ventura Boulevard
Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 989-8099
Apri I 1 0, 1 99 I
Michael Woo, Councilman
4640 Hollywood Bl
Los Angeles , CA 90027
Re: Police Harassment
RECE~VED
APR l G 1~rn
OFFl 1- •• - OF
COUNCI L1~AN L .. cr-.. :·.l:.L woo
Enclosed you wi II find correspondence trial I r1ave had witr1 tile Lo::. .Angeles Pol ice Department,
regarding police r1arassment.1 am forwarding this information to you with hopes that you will
investigate th1s matter further.
At this time, it is imperative that we (citizens and public officials) look at the people we
emp Jcrv "to protect. serve and uphold the law." We must make sure tr1at they have the general
public ( all people), in mind, to treat fairly without any pr'ejudices.
We have witnessed the lengths that some officers will go , if not watched. It is of utmost
1mportance tflat all cases be 1nvestigated ( not by tlle accused), so all accusations can be proved
or disproved and the actions of the accuse.d monitored.
I feel, the case you are going to read (referred to by L.A.P .D Internal Affairs Division, as I A#
91-0211), meets trie criteria for further investiqation and discp llnarv action for the officers
involve.1 ( Sevdalian and Demore). ·
T1"1ank you ror' your time and expediar1ce investlgating th ls matter . I await your response.
~ · l 0rncere1y,
Aarnn L. Birt
2356 Lucerne Avenue
Los An9eles, C.A. 900 16
213-734-2665
,..
March 25, 1991
Maurice R. Moore, Captian
Commanding Officer
Internal Affairs Division
P.O. Box 30158
Los Angeles, CA 90030
Capt i an Moore.
I arn sornewt1at surprised w!th your response to my allegation regarding
two of your officers. You stated, "the matter you reported has been
thoroughly investigated and carefully reviewed. The investigation
revealed conflict between you, the witness, and the officer concerning
what occurred. We regret that the complaint cannot be clearly resolved
due to the absence of an independent w i tness or support evidence,"
<support evidence, such as a video recorder ).
Contrary to your statement, (in the absence of an independent witness ) no
one has talked with the other party/"witness" involved. All the necessar v
information for the "witness" <to be contacted) had been qiven to the . ..
investigating officer (Sgt Ashfall) . I have talked with the other
party/"witness" (long after his name and number was given to the
investigating officer), to date he has not been contacted regarding this
night in question. Why was the "witness" never contacted ? WiUi this in
mind, how can you justify thi s letter as a completion of a "thoroughl y
investigated and carefully reviewed" matter?
You al so st ated that "The investigat10n re vea l ed conf lict be tween you, the
witness, and the off 1ce r concernin g i11hat occurred." I no1;e U1 at °''OU arc
not alluding t o the fac t tha: there 1,,vas a conf l 1ct w 1tn the w1t nes s and the
pol Ke off1cers at tr1e time of tr11s unjustifi ed harrassrnent If so, what
ev1 denc e are you bas inq t riat on 5 ince t he other panv /vv ltnes ~. has 5poker.
to t ht2 inves t igating of ficer, are we t o beli ev e t ha t Hie off icers (tr1ot I
r1avE- lodged th1s compl a int at,ouu r1 a vt- rn acJe th1s sug9es t 10n Tr11s ca ~. t­does
rnerit further 1r,ve stigat i 0n, now
. . .
This is not a satisfactory response at all. I expressed my total
dissatisafaction with the activities of the evening of 11 /23/90. I still
expect a verbal apology from the officers C~evadlian and Demore), involved
with disciplinary act ion administered by the commanding officer.
At tl1is time, I know of no disciplinary action taken, which ·le.ads~me to
be live that these officers continue to operate within the Los Angeles area
doing the same thing with no guidance. (No guidance which indicates non
verbal approval.) I want to know what has been done to these officers to
curtail there undiscipllned behavior and where they are presently located,
so that I am aware of those disguised in blue.
I await your response.
Aaron Birt
2356 Lucerne Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90016
Mayor Tom Bradley
Courie ilman ~1i chae 1 Woo
Attorney Alan Be 11
Di st. Atty. Ira Reiner
Los Angeles FBI
Urban League Jol·m Mack
KJLH RADIO
American Civil Liberties Union
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DARYL F. GATES
Chief of Pol ice
March 6, 1991
Mr. Aaron Birt
2356 South Illcen1e Avenue
Los .An:;Jeles, CA 90016
Dear Mr. Birt:
TOM BRADLEY
Mayor
P. 0. Box 30158
Los Angeles, Co lif. 90030
Telephone : 485-4151
f 1.4.3
Re #:IA No. 91-0211
In November 1990, ym oatplained of mi.scorrluct on the part of ~ merohP..r of
this Deparbrent.
We are makirq every effort to provide the best possible police sei:vice arrl
are cxnti.nually strivinJ to ensure that all enployees corrluct them.selves in
a professional manner.
In order to maintain the trust arrl support of the p.lblic, it is otlr policy
to investigate all oatplaints abait the corrluct of arr enployees.
'Ihe matter you :reported has been thoraighly investigated arrl carefully
reviewed. 'lhe investigation revealed oonfl.ict between you, the witness,
arrl the officer conoernin:J what ocx:m-red. We regret that the oatplaint
camxJt be clearly resolved due to the absence of an irrleperrlent witness or
suwcrt evidence.
As is al5tana1:y, h<Mever, the incident has been personally disaissed with
the errployee by his Ccmnan:lin:J Officer.
Any further questions regarding this matter may be referred to
Officer Gre:Jory M:>ntganery , Administrative Section, Internal Affairs
Division, tel€fhone (213) 485-4151. We awreciate yarr taki.rq the tine to
di So.lSS this matter with us.
Very truly yours,
~ F. GATES
arief of Police
~~ .. · .. ~ ~ A....~­MAURICE
R. M'.X)RE, captain
a::mnarrling Officer
Internal Affairs Division
AN EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY - AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER ~..., _,,,_ ,ecy<JeO_..
r !
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LOS ANGELES POLICE oi!,..A.U:-MENT
INTERNAL AFFAIRS DIVISION
PHONE - 485-4151
I A #
91-0211
The Internal Affairs Division of the Los Angeles Police Department has
received your complaint. You will be informed of the disposition of the
investigation.
Please use the I A number shown above in all future contacts regarding
this complaint.
La Divisi6n de Asuntos lnternos (Internal Affairs Division) del Depurtmento
de Policra de Los Angeles ha recibido su queja y debido a ello se hara una
investigaci6n. El Departmento de Policfa le informara de los resultados
finales de dicha inve:>tigaci6n.
Favor de usar el numero de referencia (numero en la cajita a mano derecha
de esta pagl t:la) para cualquier referencia futura de esta queja.
DARYL F. GATES
Chief of Police
01 .81.2 (8-81)
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LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT
DARYL F. GATES
Chief of Pol ice
Aaron L . Birt
23S6 s ·. Lucerne Ave
Los Angeles , Cal if
90016
. "
,.
TOM BRADLEY
M•yor
.
·Citation No.
Date issued
P. 0. Box 30158
Los ·~geles, Calif. 90030
Telephone :
(213) · .
Ref I :
M4 6 · 50465
Nov 2 3rd 1990
An error was made on the original copy of the above noted citation
which was issued to you . The citation h~s been amended to reflect
the correction indicated below. -
You were erroneously cited as a juvenile.
You were ,_ erroneously cited as an adult.
Appearance date incorrect
Court designation incorrect
-
.-
~x~ Other ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
·Amended to : On t he above da te you were incorrectly ci ted f o r ]4 601 . lVC
( s us pended Ori ver ' s I,j ce nse)
TN s section with be removed on you r next cour t appeara~c e .
Very truly yours.
DARYL F. GATES
Chief of Police
Officer
..... / ____ ___ __,1,_Jfa=.......~-'-~- Divis 1 on
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December 1 o, 1990
Capltaf n Denise -
Ho 1 lywood D1v1sfon
1358 N. WI lcox Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90028
Re: Ctvl ltan Comp latnt
Po 1 f ce Harassement
November 23, approximately 9PM, police car 89157 travelfng east on
Sunset made a turn, before the llght changed at LaBrea and Sunset. Upon
passing the police car from the curb lane, I signalled and drove ln front of
It. I slgnar~ed again so that I could make a left hand turn on Sunset 1 block
west of LaBrea. As I drove down the street I noticed that the same pol ice
car was tall 1ng me . They then turned on their I ights, in wl1ict1 case I
proceeded to stop. Tl1ey told me to pull over on the side which I was
dofnq, when an officer sl1out.ed tl1at I should pull over on Fount tan Bl or
"get rny t1ead blown off." I did as I was fnstructed. I got out of tile car
with my Jfcense In hand, wt1en officer Sevdalian (t1adge .tJ0459) ordered
rne on the sldevva1k vvit.1~, my 11ands above my head and legs s~wead. He also
ordered a friend CC.ra1g Fort) out of the car . 1 asked wrw r1e was stopping
rne, which he resp or,ded witr1 ''I'll tell you later." He t!1en t1andcuUed my
frie1·1d <1nd I , tJ1i::n t:)il1 rne tt1at "you'il t·iave then1 on for a wTiile ..... more
than a rn! nute-, but iess r1-1an an hour .. Tr1e fnd1gnaty eir the frisking anc1
the unnecessary lingering around my genitalia was ernbarasslng and
unwarranted. He said, 1 didn't nave a i lcense on tl1e cc.:w, wriict1 I pointe(l
out to t11rn tnat 1t was in t.l':e f r ont window. Cas l r1ai:J t>eer, ~7:dvis e d LW otrier
·-1.,,. :·,<:1 ~ ! .~ s~=J 10 .. .'\ r..: .. =, ~ ~:: ~ :-.!:; d.-.~1 1 -!~ r ~ .:,r,~~):·1ctd -,~ ~ ~ (, · "' ~."f !J .::-: . u:·. ;_ ~.1 ~; .~;: ~ . .:;-, :;
eno1..!9l1 f c,r rn E- ...
Tt1e c..i"flcer pr-ocef.c:r::-d 1n n1<:. attemp t s of 1nt1rn11..iat:or. ,~. prov0c~:;;::1on. l;jE:
toJ1j rr1t- tt1at rny i1u-r.s.:: v,,as su5per.1jfli, w111ct·i 1 told 111rn ~riat it was n\ 1t
so He askc....i if I v.;as call1 r19 n i rn a liar, wriict·. I res1:1c1rl'JE:-cJ to t t'1f:
, - .
aff trmattve. He showed me some data on h1s pc 1n the squad car and I
showed h1m rece1pts of the payment to re1nstate my l lcense.1n the
beginning of 1990. That not be1ng enough he' qufzzed me on 1nsurance,
\Vh1ch was also 1n the car.
... .. -:>
What ts most upsetting 1s the fact that these are officers that are
supposed to protect and serve the public, not harrass them for their
personal en .t oyment, 6r for the sake of the other officer (Demore, badge ~
# 12944). Why ts 1t necessary to handcuff ct tlzens that are cooperating
with the officers? Why does another offtcer stand by and Jet unJust1f1ed
harassment continue? Because of race? Though Demore d1d little more
than stand and try to give a mean exterior, t111s 1nc1dent paints him with
the same brush that Sevadlian has probably used numerous times with
other cit izens. It must be stopped immediately.
When I asked for the badge number of officer Sevdalian, he told me that
tt1ey only go by serf al numbers. Is this true . ff so, tr1en wt·w tt1e tiadge
number. Bott'! officers Sevdaltan and Demore did not give their badge
numbers, they f'1ad to be obtained from qutck looking on tt1e part of myself
and my f rl end.
I expect an apology from both officers for their unwarranted activities, a
dlsrnlssal of tt1e ticket that was written (11 46 50465 a copy is enclosed)
and discipline i'rorn tt1eir cornrnanding officer. · Tt1ese are not people that
anyone would want represent 1 nq tt·,e law enf orcernent. community.
I await your respon~.e
Aaron 81rt
2356 Lucerne Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90016
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