Huffman FTO interview 012, 1991-06-06 |
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• • • [HUFFMAN - 012] la. NAME OF INTERVIEWER: Julie Huffman lb. DATE OF INTERVIEW: June 6, 1991 le. LENGTH OF INTERVIEW: 1 Hr. ld. NOTES: 2. I.D. CODE: 012 3. SEX: Male 4. RACE: Latino 5. AGE:. 6. DIVISION: Hollenbeck 7 • CURRENT RANKlASSIGNMENT: 8. MISC. PERSONAL BACKGROUND: 9. MISC. L.A.P.D. BACKGROUND: 10. FIELD TRAINING -- SELECTION OF F.T.O.s: CONFIDENTIAL This officer indicated that he had taken the PIII test on several occasions, and had always passed it, but waited to take a PIII position until one opened up in Hollenbeck Division, because he wanted to stay in that division. Even before he became a PIII, he frequently worked with probationers. He spent about a year being a training officer before he took his last promotion, and when he finishes his tour as a detective trainee, he will probably return to being a training officer. He thinks that maturity, age, and time on the job have a lot to do with whether 1 • [HUFFMAN - 012] CONFIDENTIAL a person will make a good training officer. He agrees that people who have one year on the force are probably not competent to train others, but doesn't think that experience is necessarily the sole factor in determining who will be a good training officer. This officer expressed the opinion that he doesn't really like being a training officer because he thinks that there are a lot of "officer safety problems" that go along with the position. It's scary to be working with a probationer, especially when you meet up with a group of suspects. You're not always sure that the probationer will back you up. This officer believes that the position of training officer ought to be reserved for people who really enjoy reaching others. There ought to be a separate promotion track for training officers and people who want PIII positions for other reasons, like getting a job as a detective trainee or a vice officer. 11. FIELD TRAINING -- TRAINING OF F.T.O.s: This officer has not taken the Academy's field training course. 12. FIELD TRAINING MISCONDUCT BY I DISCIPLINE OF F.T.O.s: 13. FIELD TRAINING EVALUATION OF F.T.O.s' PERFORMANCE: This officer believes that all the paperwork that goes along with being a training officer is really a burden. It's especially difficult if you're trying to terminate someone because the Department requires a lot of documentation, and most training officers don't want to put in the extra time to create that documentation. 14. FIELD TRAINING -- ASSIGNMENT(S) TO PROBATIONERS: Although Hollenbeck Division tries to keep probationers working with the same training officer for at least three months, it often doesn't work out that way. On a lot of occasions, training officers will work with a different probationer everyday. This makes it difficult to evaluate probationers, or to give them extra training in areas where they are weak. A lot of times, one training officer will see problems with a probationer that the probationer's regular officer has not seen. This officer believes that there ought to be a better method for training officers to share their opinions about probationers. 2 • [HUFFMAN - 012] CONFIDENTIAL 15. FIELD TRAINING -- RELATIONSHIP WITH I TRAINING OF PROBATIONERS: This officer's priorities in training new probationers are: (1) officer safety; (2) communication skills; (3) administrative details, like report writing. The officer thinks that probationers generally come out of the Academy pretty well versed in the basics. "It's as if they can walk, but they can't run.'' He acknowledges, however, that a new probationer's proficiency will depend on the individual probationer, some people are more streetwise than others and they tend to make better probationers. In teaching communications skills, this officer tries to teach his probationers to be patient. It's important for probationers to learn to read people's eyes, so they can gauge how they ought to respond to the person. He also thinks that it is important to teach probationers to explain to people why they have been stopped or detained. Explaining tends to put people at ease, and will make them feel more comfortable if they ever have to deal with the police in the future. He thinks that taking five minutes to explain a situation to someone will save a lot of time in the long run, because that person is less likely to file a complaint. 16. FIELD TRAINING --EVALUATION OF PROBATIONERS: This officer expressed a view that it is too difficult for the Department to terminate unsatisfactory employees because the training officer is required to fill out too much documentation, and many training officers are unwilling to take the time to do that. The officer also indicated that he thinks there should be a better system for exchanging information between training officers who have worked with the same probationer. This is because some training officers will see problems or weaknesses in a probationer that another training officer won't. 17. ROLL CALL TRAINING: 18. USE OF FORCE: This officer does not believe that the use of excessive force is a serious problem in the Department. He thinks that the public should not be a worried about it as they are. He also thinks that whether a situation involved in excessive use of force is a difficult question to judge. This officer thinks that, when excessive use of force occurs, it's generally a situation where the police officer has simply made a mistake or a misjudgment. He expressed the opinion that if a suspect or a person that a police officer is dealing 3 • [HUFFMAN - 012] CONFIDENTIAL with levels a "sustained personal attack," on the officer, the officer is going to be less able to judge how much force is really necessary to subdue the person. This officer expressed his opinion that beatings are rare. He acknowledged that high speed pursuits are hard on police officers because police officers get a real adrenaline rush. An officer starts to believe that his life is in danger while he's involved in a pursuit, and that it is all the suspect's fault. After a while, you don't care so much about catching the suspect as you do about catching up with him and "kicking his ass." He thinks that beatings following high speed pursuits happen, but not very frequently. 19. RODNEY KING INCIDENT: The first couple of times this police officer saw the Rodney King tape, he reserved judgment on whether the conduct was excessive. Now he thinks that the police officers violated policy and that the force used was excessive. He believes that someone should have said, "This isn't working. Let's try something else." He thinks this should have happened not because the police officers have some love of humanity, but because they were doing bad police work, the tactics they were using were not working. 20. CITIZEN COMPLAINTS: This officer believes that citizen complaints can be avoided if police officers _take the time to talk with citizens and · explain their cond~ct. 21. INTERNAL DISCIPLINE: This officer makes it a point to tell probationers that he is honest, that he does not violate Department policy, and that he expects the same kind of conduct from them. He tells probationers that, if they witness misconduct, they ought to tell him about it or they ought to tell someone else who is in charge. This officer believes that while there are problems with the disciplinary system, the IAD does a good job of finding and punishing misconduct. He believes that the public should not be as concerned about misconduct on the police force as it appears to be. This officer thinks that the Department punishes police officers equally for misconduct, it doesn't matter whether the police officer is a training officer, a probationer, or in some other position. He thinks that the Department views some kinds 4 • [HUFFMAN - 012] CONFIDENTIAL of misconduct as being more serious more than others. Hitting a handcuffed suspect, for example, is really bad, while using discourteous language is probably not as serious. He also believes that the priorities in disciplining depend upon what's in the news. This officer expressed the view that the best way to avoid becoming involved in this conduct is to make clear to your partner that you do not tolerate that kind of behavior. He always makes it a practice, when he is working with a new partners, to explain to the partner the kinds of things he will tolerate and the kinds of things he will not. He thinks that police officers generally respect other police officers' limits in this regard. 22. PROMOTION: This officer thinks that the promotion system is generally fair. For example, he thinks that oral boards are generally fair because the people who are conducting the interview don't know the people they are interviewing, and don't have a lot of bias against them. He thinks the system becomes less fair at the divisional level. Captains and Lieutenants like to promote people they know and people they like. 23. ASSIGNMENTS/TRANSFERS: 24. COMMUNITY POLICING I COMMUNITY RELATIONS: This officer indicated that he thinks the Department ought to emphasize foot beats more strongly. He thinks foot beats are good because it allows the community to get to know the police officers and it breaks down barriers between the community and the Police Department. He thinks maybe he has this attitude because he grew up in New York City where most police officers walk a beat. He also thinks that the Department needs to emphasize community relations more strongly. He says, however, that the days of the "basic car meeting," are gone. The Departments needs to emphasize education over simple public relations tactics. Police officers need to make more of an effort to make people comfortable about coming into the station for meetings. There aren't enough neighborhood watch meetings or neighborhood relations meetings being held for people to feel comfortable coming to the Police Department with their problems. He thinks that the Department needs to change its focus. It is useless for the Department to look only at the number of 5 • [HUFFMAN - 012] CONFIDENTIAL arrests in determining whether police officers are doing a good job. "We need to focus on making people feel safe." 25. GAYS/LESBIANS: 26. WOMEN: This officer believes that a lot of male officers would prefer working with men over women. For him, it's a question of upper body strength. He thinks that the Department needs to have a more stringent height requirement. 27. RACIAL MINORITIES: This officer does not believe that racial tension is a particularly big problem in the Department. There is a lot of name calling, and a lot of joke making, but it's all in fun. Every once in a while, however, someone means what they say. Although he believes that there is a lot of segregation in the Department, he doesn't think that there is a lot of tensions between the races. People of the same race tend to stick together. 28. ATTITUDES/OPINIONS RE: L.A.P.D.: 29. REFORM SUGGESTIONS: (1) The Department should relax its focus on arrest statistics and focus more strongly on making people feel safe. He thinks that this is a problem with management. Management right now is pressuring officers for quantity and therefore "quality goes out the window." He thinks that the emphasis statistics is bad management because the policy isn't working. In his opinion, things on the street are getting worse. (2) He thinks that the Department needs to be involved in educating the community into how policing works. People need to know why officers are doing what they do when they arrest a person or when they stop and search a person. (3) The Department needs more officers on the street, and needs to provide more support to officers in patrol jobs. This officer believes that some of the special units ought to be disbanded, and the Department should make an effort to make patrol jobs better. (4) This officer thinks that the Department should consider requiring officers to have a certain amount of time on the force before they can apply for promotions. (5) This officer believes that the promotion track for training officer positions ought to be separate from the promotion track for PIII positions. Not everyone who wants to get a promotion is going to be a good teacher, and the training officer positions ought to be reserved for people who really want to teach. 6 ' . • [HUFFMAN - 012] CONFIDENTIAL 30. CODE OF SILENCE: This officer thinks that, on "little things," there's a lot of covering up in the Depa.rtment. For example, officers will generally cover for each other when a "mouth beef," is involved. Even if an officer has said something inappropriate, if it worked, no one is particularly going to care. For example, if a police officer tells an unruly, disruptive suspect to "shut the fuck up," and it works, no one is going to "roll" on the officer if a complaint is filed. More serious things, however, will get reported. He thinks that officers tend to be careful in choosing the supervisor to whom they report misconduct. You decide who to talk to depending on what you think that person's going to do about it. Sergeants who have a reputation for handling problems without filing personnel complaints are more likely to hear about misconduct than are sergeants who are perceived to be really "by the book." 50. MISCELLANEOUS: [HUFFMAN - 001] 7
Object Description
Title | LAPD interviews #3(c) (1 of 2), 1991 May-June |
Description | Los Angeles Police Department interviews #3(c) (1 of 2), 1991 May 30 - June 24. 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 | 1991-05-31/1991-06-19 |
Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California |
Date created | 1991-05-31/1991-06-19 |
Type | texts |
Format | 201 p. |
Format (aat) |
labels (identifying artifacts) transcriptions (documents) |
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 | Los Angeles Police Department Interviews |
Box and folder | box 24, folder 15 |
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-box24-15 |
Description
Title | Huffman FTO interview 012, 1991-06-06 |
Description | Huffman FTO interviews - 012 Latino male Hollenbeck division |
Coverage date | 1991-06-06 |
Date created | 1991-06-06 |
Type | texts |
Format | 7 p. |
Format (aat) | transcriptions (documents) |
Format (imt) | application/pdf |
Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
Series | Independent Commission File List |
File | Los Angeles Police Department Interviews |
Box and folder | box 24, folder 15, item 14 |
Physical access | Contact: Special Collections, Doheny Memorial Library, Libraries, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189; specol@dots.usc.edu |
Full text | • • • [HUFFMAN - 012] la. NAME OF INTERVIEWER: Julie Huffman lb. DATE OF INTERVIEW: June 6, 1991 le. LENGTH OF INTERVIEW: 1 Hr. ld. NOTES: 2. I.D. CODE: 012 3. SEX: Male 4. RACE: Latino 5. AGE:. 6. DIVISION: Hollenbeck 7 • CURRENT RANKlASSIGNMENT: 8. MISC. PERSONAL BACKGROUND: 9. MISC. L.A.P.D. BACKGROUND: 10. FIELD TRAINING -- SELECTION OF F.T.O.s: CONFIDENTIAL This officer indicated that he had taken the PIII test on several occasions, and had always passed it, but waited to take a PIII position until one opened up in Hollenbeck Division, because he wanted to stay in that division. Even before he became a PIII, he frequently worked with probationers. He spent about a year being a training officer before he took his last promotion, and when he finishes his tour as a detective trainee, he will probably return to being a training officer. He thinks that maturity, age, and time on the job have a lot to do with whether 1 • [HUFFMAN - 012] CONFIDENTIAL a person will make a good training officer. He agrees that people who have one year on the force are probably not competent to train others, but doesn't think that experience is necessarily the sole factor in determining who will be a good training officer. This officer expressed the opinion that he doesn't really like being a training officer because he thinks that there are a lot of "officer safety problems" that go along with the position. It's scary to be working with a probationer, especially when you meet up with a group of suspects. You're not always sure that the probationer will back you up. This officer believes that the position of training officer ought to be reserved for people who really enjoy reaching others. There ought to be a separate promotion track for training officers and people who want PIII positions for other reasons, like getting a job as a detective trainee or a vice officer. 11. FIELD TRAINING -- TRAINING OF F.T.O.s: This officer has not taken the Academy's field training course. 12. FIELD TRAINING MISCONDUCT BY I DISCIPLINE OF F.T.O.s: 13. FIELD TRAINING EVALUATION OF F.T.O.s' PERFORMANCE: This officer believes that all the paperwork that goes along with being a training officer is really a burden. It's especially difficult if you're trying to terminate someone because the Department requires a lot of documentation, and most training officers don't want to put in the extra time to create that documentation. 14. FIELD TRAINING -- ASSIGNMENT(S) TO PROBATIONERS: Although Hollenbeck Division tries to keep probationers working with the same training officer for at least three months, it often doesn't work out that way. On a lot of occasions, training officers will work with a different probationer everyday. This makes it difficult to evaluate probationers, or to give them extra training in areas where they are weak. A lot of times, one training officer will see problems with a probationer that the probationer's regular officer has not seen. This officer believes that there ought to be a better method for training officers to share their opinions about probationers. 2 • [HUFFMAN - 012] CONFIDENTIAL 15. FIELD TRAINING -- RELATIONSHIP WITH I TRAINING OF PROBATIONERS: This officer's priorities in training new probationers are: (1) officer safety; (2) communication skills; (3) administrative details, like report writing. The officer thinks that probationers generally come out of the Academy pretty well versed in the basics. "It's as if they can walk, but they can't run.'' He acknowledges, however, that a new probationer's proficiency will depend on the individual probationer, some people are more streetwise than others and they tend to make better probationers. In teaching communications skills, this officer tries to teach his probationers to be patient. It's important for probationers to learn to read people's eyes, so they can gauge how they ought to respond to the person. He also thinks that it is important to teach probationers to explain to people why they have been stopped or detained. Explaining tends to put people at ease, and will make them feel more comfortable if they ever have to deal with the police in the future. He thinks that taking five minutes to explain a situation to someone will save a lot of time in the long run, because that person is less likely to file a complaint. 16. FIELD TRAINING --EVALUATION OF PROBATIONERS: This officer expressed a view that it is too difficult for the Department to terminate unsatisfactory employees because the training officer is required to fill out too much documentation, and many training officers are unwilling to take the time to do that. The officer also indicated that he thinks there should be a better system for exchanging information between training officers who have worked with the same probationer. This is because some training officers will see problems or weaknesses in a probationer that another training officer won't. 17. ROLL CALL TRAINING: 18. USE OF FORCE: This officer does not believe that the use of excessive force is a serious problem in the Department. He thinks that the public should not be a worried about it as they are. He also thinks that whether a situation involved in excessive use of force is a difficult question to judge. This officer thinks that, when excessive use of force occurs, it's generally a situation where the police officer has simply made a mistake or a misjudgment. He expressed the opinion that if a suspect or a person that a police officer is dealing 3 • [HUFFMAN - 012] CONFIDENTIAL with levels a "sustained personal attack," on the officer, the officer is going to be less able to judge how much force is really necessary to subdue the person. This officer expressed his opinion that beatings are rare. He acknowledged that high speed pursuits are hard on police officers because police officers get a real adrenaline rush. An officer starts to believe that his life is in danger while he's involved in a pursuit, and that it is all the suspect's fault. After a while, you don't care so much about catching the suspect as you do about catching up with him and "kicking his ass." He thinks that beatings following high speed pursuits happen, but not very frequently. 19. RODNEY KING INCIDENT: The first couple of times this police officer saw the Rodney King tape, he reserved judgment on whether the conduct was excessive. Now he thinks that the police officers violated policy and that the force used was excessive. He believes that someone should have said, "This isn't working. Let's try something else." He thinks this should have happened not because the police officers have some love of humanity, but because they were doing bad police work, the tactics they were using were not working. 20. CITIZEN COMPLAINTS: This officer believes that citizen complaints can be avoided if police officers _take the time to talk with citizens and · explain their cond~ct. 21. INTERNAL DISCIPLINE: This officer makes it a point to tell probationers that he is honest, that he does not violate Department policy, and that he expects the same kind of conduct from them. He tells probationers that, if they witness misconduct, they ought to tell him about it or they ought to tell someone else who is in charge. This officer believes that while there are problems with the disciplinary system, the IAD does a good job of finding and punishing misconduct. He believes that the public should not be as concerned about misconduct on the police force as it appears to be. This officer thinks that the Department punishes police officers equally for misconduct, it doesn't matter whether the police officer is a training officer, a probationer, or in some other position. He thinks that the Department views some kinds 4 • [HUFFMAN - 012] CONFIDENTIAL of misconduct as being more serious more than others. Hitting a handcuffed suspect, for example, is really bad, while using discourteous language is probably not as serious. He also believes that the priorities in disciplining depend upon what's in the news. This officer expressed the view that the best way to avoid becoming involved in this conduct is to make clear to your partner that you do not tolerate that kind of behavior. He always makes it a practice, when he is working with a new partners, to explain to the partner the kinds of things he will tolerate and the kinds of things he will not. He thinks that police officers generally respect other police officers' limits in this regard. 22. PROMOTION: This officer thinks that the promotion system is generally fair. For example, he thinks that oral boards are generally fair because the people who are conducting the interview don't know the people they are interviewing, and don't have a lot of bias against them. He thinks the system becomes less fair at the divisional level. Captains and Lieutenants like to promote people they know and people they like. 23. ASSIGNMENTS/TRANSFERS: 24. COMMUNITY POLICING I COMMUNITY RELATIONS: This officer indicated that he thinks the Department ought to emphasize foot beats more strongly. He thinks foot beats are good because it allows the community to get to know the police officers and it breaks down barriers between the community and the Police Department. He thinks maybe he has this attitude because he grew up in New York City where most police officers walk a beat. He also thinks that the Department needs to emphasize community relations more strongly. He says, however, that the days of the "basic car meeting," are gone. The Departments needs to emphasize education over simple public relations tactics. Police officers need to make more of an effort to make people comfortable about coming into the station for meetings. There aren't enough neighborhood watch meetings or neighborhood relations meetings being held for people to feel comfortable coming to the Police Department with their problems. He thinks that the Department needs to change its focus. It is useless for the Department to look only at the number of 5 • [HUFFMAN - 012] CONFIDENTIAL arrests in determining whether police officers are doing a good job. "We need to focus on making people feel safe." 25. GAYS/LESBIANS: 26. WOMEN: This officer believes that a lot of male officers would prefer working with men over women. For him, it's a question of upper body strength. He thinks that the Department needs to have a more stringent height requirement. 27. RACIAL MINORITIES: This officer does not believe that racial tension is a particularly big problem in the Department. There is a lot of name calling, and a lot of joke making, but it's all in fun. Every once in a while, however, someone means what they say. Although he believes that there is a lot of segregation in the Department, he doesn't think that there is a lot of tensions between the races. People of the same race tend to stick together. 28. ATTITUDES/OPINIONS RE: L.A.P.D.: 29. REFORM SUGGESTIONS: (1) The Department should relax its focus on arrest statistics and focus more strongly on making people feel safe. He thinks that this is a problem with management. Management right now is pressuring officers for quantity and therefore "quality goes out the window." He thinks that the emphasis statistics is bad management because the policy isn't working. In his opinion, things on the street are getting worse. (2) He thinks that the Department needs to be involved in educating the community into how policing works. People need to know why officers are doing what they do when they arrest a person or when they stop and search a person. (3) The Department needs more officers on the street, and needs to provide more support to officers in patrol jobs. This officer believes that some of the special units ought to be disbanded, and the Department should make an effort to make patrol jobs better. (4) This officer thinks that the Department should consider requiring officers to have a certain amount of time on the force before they can apply for promotions. (5) This officer believes that the promotion track for training officer positions ought to be separate from the promotion track for PIII positions. Not everyone who wants to get a promotion is going to be a good teacher, and the training officer positions ought to be reserved for people who really want to teach. 6 ' . • [HUFFMAN - 012] CONFIDENTIAL 30. CODE OF SILENCE: This officer thinks that, on "little things," there's a lot of covering up in the Depa.rtment. For example, officers will generally cover for each other when a "mouth beef," is involved. Even if an officer has said something inappropriate, if it worked, no one is particularly going to care. For example, if a police officer tells an unruly, disruptive suspect to "shut the fuck up," and it works, no one is going to "roll" on the officer if a complaint is filed. More serious things, however, will get reported. He thinks that officers tend to be careful in choosing the supervisor to whom they report misconduct. You decide who to talk to depending on what you think that person's going to do about it. Sergeants who have a reputation for handling problems without filing personnel complaints are more likely to hear about misconduct than are sergeants who are perceived to be really "by the book." 50. MISCELLANEOUS: [HUFFMAN - 001] 7 |
Filename | indep-box24-15-14.pdf |
Archival file | Volume81/indep-box24-15-14.pdf |