Seiling FTO interview 002, 1991-06-10 |
Save page Remove page | Previous | 2 of 19 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large (1000x1000 max)
Extra Large
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
|
This page
All
|
e 2133, 24224~ IRELL a MANE~LA: # 2 COIJrIDDl'l'lAL la. NAME OF IN'I'ERVI.EWER r Brad Stiling lb. DAT! or INTERVIEW1 Jun• 10, 1991 le. LENGTH OF INTIRVIEW1 2 1/2 h.oura ld. NOTESa 2. 3. 4. Favors a form of promotional system to emph.aaize the amount of time that an of ticer spend• in the field as opposed to emphasizing ability to perform desk joba. Patrol is the backbone ot th• L.A.P.D., but those in the hierarchy have little experience with patrol. Rell call training is extremely inetfectiv•, and the L.A.P.D. should use exp1rt• from the academy to conduct th• training instead of leaving it up to individual watch oommAnder•. With raapect to use of force, th• chok• hold was the most humane mean• of dealing with a combative suapect while doing as little harm ae possible. · Inatitutionalized rotation of off icera 1• not a 9reat idea. Some officers gain extenaiva knowledge ot their diviaion, and it makes no sense to move theae officers. Furthermore, rotating off 1cera in apecial unit• merely diminishes the exp•rtise within theee ·unita. I .o I CODl:1 Seil i ng 002 !§!": Male RACE& CAucaaian Seiling 002, June 10, 1991 l ~ RC~ BY!IRELL & MANE~~A IRELL 6 IANELLA;a 3 • • • s. AG!1 ~ - '· DIVISION1 Central Bureau Narcotic• 1. CORR!H'l' RANllASSIGNMIN'l': 9. MISC. L.A.P.D. BACKGROOHD1 10. PIELD TRAINING -- SIL!CTION OP P,T,0,11 A wr .itten test waa requi;ed to become a field trainin~ .officer1 however, at tti.t tim•, if an o!fic•r had at l111t 10 year• in the field, he or she did not nee4 to take the writ.ten tast. During hi• oral •xam, th• interviewer• que1tioned him about the fact that he had coached football on the college level. Thia experience in education/coaching help•d him pa91 the oral exam. Other than d1•cu1aing h~• qualification• •• an educator, th• 1nterv1awera diacu11ed typical police work and crim• problema. The officer haa no knowledge ·of how the Seilin~ 002, June lO, 1991 2 ~ RC V av:rRELL & MANEL LA 2133 124224 .. IRELL 6 MANEL LA;# 4 11. oral interviewers grade the applicant• fer P3 pcaiticn1, but he believes the rating ayatam 11 compl•t•ly arbitrary and ean be baaed on the interviewer•s individual biases and prejudices. Purthermore, supervisors who do not like an officer can blackball the officer from receiving good promotions. FIELD TRAINING -- TRAINING OF F.T.O.a: The officer is not sure whether he attended r.T.O. School before training officers. He 1tre111ea that the L.A.P.o. has a lot of training, inoludin; one-day cla•••• for its officers, and the L.A.P.D. hammers its officers with training material• over and over. 12. FIELD TRAINING -- MISCONDUCT BY I DISCIPLINE or r.T.0.1: It is common for th• L.A.P.D. to put incompetent F.T.0.8 on a desk, but this is a bad idea because theae officers might have an attitude problem and they are in conatant contact with th• community, The result is a decline in police-community relationships. There have been oa••• where F.T.O.a have b••n di•ciplined for use of force under certain circumatancea, r.T.O.a probably •r• dealt with more severely than other officers because F.T.O.s are supposed to know better and ate held to a hi9her standard. On• problem with diaciplinin; F.T.O.a i• that prob~tionary otf icer1 are often afraid to say anything because they do not feel it is their pla~e to question their P.T.O. 13. PI!LO TRAINING -- EVALUATION OF F.T.0.a' PERFORMANCE: sergeants fill out nightly evaluations of r.T.0.1 based on followup calls made after the P.T.O. and his or her probationary officer have responded to a call. Every six montha, . F.T.O.s r•ceiv• ratin;e from the ••r;eanta (all Pla and P21 receive evaluations every six months as well), More than cne aupervi1or ahould evaluat• an F.T.O. because P.T.0.1 should be held to higher standards than other officers. 14. FIELD TRAlNIN~ -- ASSlGNMENT(S) TO PROBATI·ON!RS: 15. Other than saying that the supervi•or• made •••iinment decisions, the officer had little to add in thie area. FIELD TRAINING -- RELATIONSHIP WITH I TRAINING or PROBATIONERS; The attitude of F.T.O.a has changed aince he first received his tield trainini;. In the old day1, probationa·ry officers lived in terror of their F.T.O.s. In fact, cne of hia F.T.O.s thr•w hie notebook out of the car because the ;,T,O, did not Seiling 002, June 10, 1991 3 ·' Re v· BY: !R EL L & MANEL~~ e-ia-si ie:52 2133124224 .. IRELL & MANELLA;# 5 16. like where the officer k•pt the notebook in the car. However, the Polic' Department apparently ha• learned that probationary otf icers cannot learn in an atmoaphere where they are . terrorized. r.T.O.s now make more of an effort to educate the probationary off icera rather than terrorizing or dieci~lining the officers. The key to ~n effective relationship between a probationary offioer and the F.T.O. is to reach a point where the off icer1 can operate in the car as co-equals. However, the r.T,O. must atr••• that he or she i• in charge of th• ear and ultimately ia responsible fer its success and aatety. This ia ••••ntial because the F.~.o presumably has more experienc• and ia able to make command decisions. FIELD TRAINING -- EVALUATION or PROBA~IONERS: Each probationer's training varies on a caaa-by-caae basis, F.T.O.s are required to fill out a ni;htly diary, and the F.T.O. must cover certain ta1k1/topics in the ~robationary officer•s manual. The F.T.O. can cover some tasks with scenario• or verbal 9uizze•. The r.T.o. must check off ·the taak that the probationer has · completed and write comments regarding each taak. The probationary officer must read and initial all comment• that the F.T.O. mak••· ~he evaluation forms that the r.T.O.s must fill out contain reference• to how the probationarr, officer deala with peers, member• of the community, and 'ethnic groups not there own.• Moat · F.T.O.s talk to their probationary officers nightly regarding how to deal with the public. While requiring daily evaluation• or•ates a lot of paperwork, theaa evaluations are eaaential to the tield trainin; program. If the Department did not require r.~.O.• to write daily entries in a diary, otticers would not routinely note a probationary ctfioer's pro9re11. Th••• daily entriea are the moat effective way to let th• probationary officer know . where h• or she stands in th• program. The job of F.T.o. can be v•ry atr••aeul, ~eo1u1e the P.T.O. often is doing the work of two of~icers. Thi r.T.O. must do his or her own work and make sure that the prob1tionary officer is not making any error•. rcr this reaaon, F.T.0.1 should 91t a breather from tr1ining, Every fiv• montha, F,T,O.s should spend a month with a P2 or Pl to reduce the stress and pressures of the job. Furthermore, this form of rotation preventa · F.T.O.a from stagnating by gettin; locked int~ a routine. However, the Department ahould not limit the amount of time that an of~icer can be an r.~.o., beoauee it is best for more experi•ne•d otticera to train probationary officers. Seiling 002, June 10, 1991 4 RCV ev:IR ELL. MAN ELLA IR ELL 6 MANELLA;# e ~ 17. ROLL CALL TRAINING1 18. The effectivene11 of roll call training i1 directly related to the speak~r and what is covered as well as who i• listening. Certain topics . are a wa•t• of time becauee .· offi cers have ·heard them repeatedly. (Por example, training regarding pain compliance holda.) Veteran officers typically do not pay caretul attention when roll call trainin; covers a topic which they have heard many times. However, otficera are extremely receptive to roll call training which relates to actual experience in the streets and ia helpful in identifying trends in the division, auch as new drugs or identifying new gan; members. With respect to use of force training during roll call training, watch commanders typically have one or two otficer • demonstrate proper technique1. Bowever, on occasion, the otf ioers actually practice the uae of torce technique1. USE OP FQRCEs The Department frequently covers ite use of force policy during roll call training. In fact, at lea1t once or twice a month, roll call training relates specifically to the uae ot force policy. The officer believes that the current uae of tcrce policy neade modification. The L.A.P.D. took a giant atep backwards whe·n the Police Commission pl~ced its moratorium on the choke hold. After pain compliance hold1, the next ettective weapon in the Department's current uae of force pol·icy is the baton. However, the choke hold WIS an effeetive and human• intermediate means of dealing with • oomb1tive suspect while causin; as little harm •• posaible. Th• problem• with the chok• hold resulted from use of th• choke hold on auapects who u•• PCP. Without the choke hold, officer• muat rely on th• baton, which 11 much more brutal and do•• much more harm to the su•p•ct than the choke hold. Th• intermediat• meant in the Department•• current ua• 'of force fr•quently a:e ineffective. Officers do not like to u•• tear gas because more otten than not the tear gaa ends up on the officer rather than the suspect. Leg aweeps and kick• can be effective in getting a 1u1pect to the ground, but if the suspect resists toe much, it will b• difficult for the officer to aubdue the suapect ~ U•• ot force ahould be the very laat option that a ·police o~ticer utilizes. In 99\ of the contact• with the community, a police off icar can talk to th• people and avoid u•• ot force. How•ver, to a certain extent, use of !oroe ie inevitable in police work. Any officer who actively pursues dangerous l•lon• will end up in uee of fore• aitu•tions. Therefore, individual off icera muat educate th• public by explaining exactly why they had u••d a certain type of fore• Seiling 002, June 10, 1991 5 Rcv·ev:IRELL a MANELLA IRELL a MANELLA;# 7 19. on them, eapecially if the offic•r'a deci1ion appear•d qu@stionable. While the suspect may not be aatiafied with the officar•a explanation, the ofticer would reveal hia or her thought process to the suspect and ••tablish some level of understanding. ROONEY KING INCIDENT: · The off ic•r knew Sergeant Koona ~ery well and b•lievea that Koons is a line man. Koons' principal miatake in connection with the King incident was to become involved directly in subduin9 King. Becau•• Koone was so wrapped up in attempting to subdue Ring, he could not &UP9rviae the situation effectively and control the off icera. ~he officer haa no idea what was going through officer Powell'• mind because he · repeatedly beat Kin;. The hesitancy of" the other officers on the seen• to ;et involved probably stemmed from their fear of wreatlin; with Kin; because Koons had . tazad him once and waa ;oin9 to do it again. If an officer ties up with a suspect when the suspect i• ta1ed, the officer could be stunned aa w•ll a1 the suspect. Based on hie knowled9e cf th• Foothill division, he would have been concerned that King W&I armed. Furthermore, the officer objects to th• r•ference to King as a "motorist" b•eauae King had run a red light making him a susp•et•d felon. The officer believes that if there was an altercaticn. before the beating began (which h• •••umes there wa•) then a certain portion of the uae of force wae j~etified. However, th• officer concedea that th• •ituation got out of hand, probably because Koons fail•d ad•quately to supervise the arreat. Despite the fact that the cfticer admits that Koons tailed to 1upervia• th• acene adequately, h• does not believe that Koon• •hould receive jail time. The proper tactics in that situation would have been to get King in a prone position. If an . ottioer cannot ;et a potentially violent suspect in a pr~ne pcaition, the off leer is in danger. Finally, the offio•r• on the scene probably knew that Kl~g was a ccnvict at one time. People who hav• spent time in prison praaent special problems fer police officers because convicts practice how · tc chall•n;e authority, including gun takeaways. 20. CITIZ!N COMPLAINTSs Bia only experience with citizen complaints was working at a desk when ~ citizen came in to tile a complaint, The standard . procedure for cith:en complaints i1 tor the de.sk officer to get a •uP9rvisor and have the 1up•rviaor interview the citizen. If 1 desk officer attempte to "kiss off" a complain•nt and the Oepartm•nt learns of this, the d••k officer will be aisciplined. Seiling 002, June 10, 1991 6 RC~ BY:IRELL & MANELLA IR EL L l MANEL~A:# 6 ~ 21 . IN~ERNAL DISCIPLINE: There i s a double standard in diaciplin• within th• L.A.P.D. Tha disciplinary system ia awift and harsh for those of the rank of ser;eant or below. However, the discipline appears to b• fair, and it does not pay for a patrol officer to screw up. The · Department can be very unforgiving · if an officer violates policy or creates problems in th• field. However, officers above the rank ot captain do not get the sAme treatment •• the rank and file. It seems that the Oepartrnant attempts to make example• ot th• lower ranking off icer1, and these off icar1 re1ent the fact that there appear to be two ••t• of rulee. Furthermore, the penalties 9iven to higher ranking officers do not appear tc be aa harsh•• those given to . officer• cf the rank ol sergeant or below. With the respect to the use of force, thia officer contends that the Department gives out harsh penalties · for what may be mistakes. There does not ap~ear to be ·a distinction between mistakes in use of tact1c1 and will~ul beatings by officers. 22, PROMOTION: · sub~ectiv• oral interviews can be manipulated to prevent . off 1cer1 trom being promoted to higher joba. ror example, this officer applied for 28 d1tf1r1nt 1pecial units before he was accepted to be a n•rcotica detective. A captain told him that he had been skipped over because the captain was not comfortable with testimony that he had given at a trial board where the Department waa trying to g•t an off icar tired. Be truthfully testified th•t he had not seen the incident in question, but the captain beli•v•d that he wae . merely attemptin; to protect one of his colleagues. In effect, the captain blackballed him from promotion, and other capdidates who were net a1 well quali~i•d received promotiona before this officer. Experience in patrol plays little role in the Department•a promotion decisions. The hierarchy look1 down upon ottio•r• who have epent too much time in patrol, apparantly believin; that these officers are either too lazy or too dumb to be · promoted. However, time and patrol should be a prerequiaite to promotion into ~011tion1 which 1upervi•• patrol officer•. Many officers with little experience in the ?ield receive promotions to mana~•m•nt positions, and thia create1 confusion becauae, although the officers are good managera, they have little knowledge and credibility in the area of patrol. Inexperience in the field also manifest& ~tself in the new breed of P.T.o.a. In recent years, many officers have become F.T.O.s with lese than six months of experience after Seiling 002, June lO, l99l 7 RCV BY: IRELL & MANELLA IRELL & MANEL~A:# 9 • 23 . probation. Officer Powell, one of the particip1nt1 in the King beating, was promoted to F.T.o. relatively quickly after completinq hls own probation. The fact that officers c~n b•coma F.T.O.s with 1uch little experience on the job diminish•• the . prestige of the F.T.o.s. Experience in the field ot at least five years •hould be a prerequisite to any position which involves supervising patrol officera. ASSIGNMENTS L TRANSFERS: The posltlve effect of rotation of ofticers is that it prevents' the officers from stagnating in on1 position. However, rotation ahould be optional or discretionary, rather than mandatory. It makes no 1ense to rotate a person out of a division if that person likes the area, ia performing ett•ctively, and has developed ties with th• coJIUl\unity. Certain off icars can develop a deep level of truat and report with member• ot the community that new officer• aimply cannot have, Furthermore, rotating offic•r• out of •pecial units diminiehe1 th• expertise within tho•• unit• .• Por example, in speci&l gang units, it take• at lea•t a year to ;et to know all of the gang members in the area and to underatand th• relationships between the members in th• various gangs. However, for training purposes, th• Department should create apot1 within the special units to rotate patrcl officers through the apecial units. Thia form of rotation wculd help by spreading expertise throughout the O.partment. Furthermore, officers routinely should •pend a portion of their time in the tiald ao that they do not loae touch with th• field and the rola ot a patrol officer. Thia form ot rotation may ngt bt po••ibl• for officers in 1pecial unite because it· might dama~e on9oin9 inveati;ation1 in auch areas as narcotics. 24. £OHM.UNITY POLICING / COMMUNITY RELATIONS: The L,A.P.o, ha• gone a long way in trying to improve relations with th• community. However, the pre11 incite• the community against the police. In th• aftermath of the King beating, all L.A.P.D, officer• were indicted as racists and abuser$ of· th• public. The Department•a prime community relation1 strategy should be to demonst~•t• to the community that abuse is not cominon within the L.A.P.D, Th• Department does not necessarily do a good job of explaining the role of polioe cf f icers and what is required to be an effective poric• otficer. Frequently the public do•• not understand · the motivation of polio• otficera. 25. GAYS I LESBIANSa ~he Oepartment•s official policy ia that all citiaen• ahould get equal and fair treatment. Thia o!!icer believe1 that homo1exuali ty is a perversion and a men·tal handicap aa Seiling 002, Jun• 10, 1991 8 RCV "BY : IRELL & MANELLA IRE LL & MANEL LA; #10 26. opposed to an alternative life atrl•. However, he tries to treat everyone fairly, and he bel eves that h• do•• ao re;ardleae of their sexual orientation. This attitude is the prevalent Attitude in the Department, but he does not know how well all officers carry out tht Attitude. WOMEN: The Department has gotten aome excellent women officers, but he is not prepared to generali••· Th• quality of officers depends on the individual officer. · However, he haa noted a problem of "reverse diacrimination~ within the D•partm•nt in terms ot hiring and promotion. For example, a black male raceive1 an automatic bonus on his oral score. Thi• officer perceives thi• aa a problem ot management and wi•h•• that the management would focua principally on the ability ot the officer rather than characteristics unrelated to ability to perform the job. 27. RACIAL MINORITIESt Certain groups will feel picked on regardleaa of what the police do. Be also stressed the importance ot developing understanding regarding the rel• of . the police. The L.A,P.D. hammers its officers with aenaitivity to community needs. He believes that cultural training i• ett•ctive, but the effectiveness of cultural training depend• on individual officers. It ia not always possible to chan9e an otfic•r'1 attitude• with cultural training (although he haa only met two individual1 in hi• 15+ year1 on the department who he would classify as racist). There haa been a major enlightenm•nt in the Department since tnie officer · originally joined the Department over 15 year•. 28. ATTITUDES I OPINIONS RE L,A.P.D.1 The L,A,P.D. ia still one of the finest departments in the country, but it will become less ag9resaive in dealing with hardcore criminals as a result of the aftermath of the King beatin; incident. This officer notes that certain officers, including himaell, have been ha•itant in using force after the King incident because they tear p•r•onn•l ccmplainta. 29. R!PORM SUGGESTIONS: The L.A.P,O. should become more troop oriented. It should adopt a four-day, 10-hour work week to provide officers with more time to relax and reduce stresa. Patrol should become the moat important determinant in an officer•e ~areer. The Department ha• become too top heavy with an overabundance .of officers in suparviaory and deak joba. The Dep•rtment should get back to baaica and atress patrol in promotion• and advancement within th• Department. Currently otticera can get good jobs baaed on the connection• that they have Seiling 002, June 10, l99l 9 RCV 6Y!IRELL & MANELLA 2133124224• IRELL 6 MANELLA: #11 developed while working atatt job1. Furthermore, officers who work statf jobs have more time to study and do w•ll on the various exams. While there is no fool proot way to •elect officers for higher poeition•, th• Department should de-emphasize the role of staff jobs conn•ctiona, and test scores in determining who receives promotion1. The Department definit~ly needs more street officers. This goal can be achieved either by taking oltic•r• cut of staff positions or by hiring more officers. The L.A.P.D. currently is far too thinly stretched to police effectively. Officers currently At• faced with the choice of reducing r•aponae time to 911 calls or conducting on;oin; investi;ations of crimea which could prevent future ctimee. B•cau•e of the hierarehy ' a emphaais on response time, the ongoin; i nvestigations trequ•ntly tall by the wayside. With more officers, the Department could more effectively meet both challenges. 30 . COO! OF SILENCE: [Did not diacuaa.] 50 . MISCELLANEOUS: Seil i n~ 002, June 10, l991 10
Object Description
Title | LAPD interviews #3(c) (2 of 2), 1991 Apr.-July |
Description | Los Angeles Police Department interviews #3(c) (2 of 2), 1991 April 16 - July 8. 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 | 1991-04-16/1991-07-08 |
Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California |
Date created | 1991-04-16/1991-07-08 |
Type | texts |
Format | 114 p. |
Format (aat) |
memorandums 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 16 |
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-box24-16 |
Description
Title | Seiling FTO interview 002, 1991-06-10 |
Description | Brad Seillig FTO interviews - Seiling 002 Caucasian male Central Bureau narcotics division |
Coverage date | 1991-06-10 |
Date created | 1991-06-10 |
Type | texts |
Format | 10 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 16, item 2 |
Physical access | Contact: Special Collections, Doheny Memorial Library, Libraries, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189; specol@dots.usc.edu |
Full text | e 2133, 24224~ IRELL a MANE~LA: # 2 COIJrIDDl'l'lAL la. NAME OF IN'I'ERVI.EWER r Brad Stiling lb. DAT! or INTERVIEW1 Jun• 10, 1991 le. LENGTH OF INTIRVIEW1 2 1/2 h.oura ld. NOTESa 2. 3. 4. Favors a form of promotional system to emph.aaize the amount of time that an of ticer spend• in the field as opposed to emphasizing ability to perform desk joba. Patrol is the backbone ot th• L.A.P.D., but those in the hierarchy have little experience with patrol. Rell call training is extremely inetfectiv•, and the L.A.P.D. should use exp1rt• from the academy to conduct th• training instead of leaving it up to individual watch oommAnder•. With raapect to use of force, th• chok• hold was the most humane mean• of dealing with a combative suapect while doing as little harm ae possible. · Inatitutionalized rotation of off icera 1• not a 9reat idea. Some officers gain extenaiva knowledge ot their diviaion, and it makes no sense to move theae officers. Furthermore, rotating off 1cera in apecial unit• merely diminishes the exp•rtise within theee ·unita. I .o I CODl:1 Seil i ng 002 !§!": Male RACE& CAucaaian Seiling 002, June 10, 1991 l ~ RC~ BY!IRELL & MANE~~A IRELL 6 IANELLA;a 3 • • • s. AG!1 ~ - '· DIVISION1 Central Bureau Narcotic• 1. CORR!H'l' RANllASSIGNMIN'l': 9. MISC. L.A.P.D. BACKGROOHD1 10. PIELD TRAINING -- SIL!CTION OP P,T,0,11 A wr .itten test waa requi;ed to become a field trainin~ .officer1 however, at tti.t tim•, if an o!fic•r had at l111t 10 year• in the field, he or she did not nee4 to take the writ.ten tast. During hi• oral •xam, th• interviewer• que1tioned him about the fact that he had coached football on the college level. Thia experience in education/coaching help•d him pa91 the oral exam. Other than d1•cu1aing h~• qualification• •• an educator, th• 1nterv1awera diacu11ed typical police work and crim• problema. The officer haa no knowledge ·of how the Seilin~ 002, June lO, 1991 2 ~ RC V av:rRELL & MANEL LA 2133 124224 .. IRELL 6 MANEL LA;# 4 11. oral interviewers grade the applicant• fer P3 pcaiticn1, but he believes the rating ayatam 11 compl•t•ly arbitrary and ean be baaed on the interviewer•s individual biases and prejudices. Purthermore, supervisors who do not like an officer can blackball the officer from receiving good promotions. FIELD TRAINING -- TRAINING OF F.T.O.a: The officer is not sure whether he attended r.T.O. School before training officers. He 1tre111ea that the L.A.P.o. has a lot of training, inoludin; one-day cla•••• for its officers, and the L.A.P.D. hammers its officers with training material• over and over. 12. FIELD TRAINING -- MISCONDUCT BY I DISCIPLINE or r.T.0.1: It is common for th• L.A.P.D. to put incompetent F.T.0.8 on a desk, but this is a bad idea because theae officers might have an attitude problem and they are in conatant contact with th• community, The result is a decline in police-community relationships. There have been oa••• where F.T.O.a have b••n di•ciplined for use of force under certain circumatancea, r.T.O.a probably •r• dealt with more severely than other officers because F.T.O.s are supposed to know better and ate held to a hi9her standard. On• problem with diaciplinin; F.T.O.a i• that prob~tionary otf icer1 are often afraid to say anything because they do not feel it is their pla~e to question their P.T.O. 13. PI!LO TRAINING -- EVALUATION OF F.T.0.a' PERFORMANCE: sergeants fill out nightly evaluations of r.T.0.1 based on followup calls made after the P.T.O. and his or her probationary officer have responded to a call. Every six montha, . F.T.O.s r•ceiv• ratin;e from the ••r;eanta (all Pla and P21 receive evaluations every six months as well), More than cne aupervi1or ahould evaluat• an F.T.O. because P.T.0.1 should be held to higher standards than other officers. 14. FIELD TRAlNIN~ -- ASSlGNMENT(S) TO PROBATI·ON!RS: 15. Other than saying that the supervi•or• made •••iinment decisions, the officer had little to add in thie area. FIELD TRAINING -- RELATIONSHIP WITH I TRAINING or PROBATIONERS; The attitude of F.T.O.a has changed aince he first received his tield trainini;. In the old day1, probationa·ry officers lived in terror of their F.T.O.s. In fact, cne of hia F.T.O.s thr•w hie notebook out of the car because the ;,T,O, did not Seiling 002, June 10, 1991 3 ·' Re v· BY: !R EL L & MANEL~~ e-ia-si ie:52 2133124224 .. IRELL & MANELLA;# 5 16. like where the officer k•pt the notebook in the car. However, the Polic' Department apparently ha• learned that probationary otf icers cannot learn in an atmoaphere where they are . terrorized. r.T.O.s now make more of an effort to educate the probationary off icera rather than terrorizing or dieci~lining the officers. The key to ~n effective relationship between a probationary offioer and the F.T.O. is to reach a point where the off icer1 can operate in the car as co-equals. However, the r.T,O. must atr••• that he or she i• in charge of th• ear and ultimately ia responsible fer its success and aatety. This ia ••••ntial because the F.~.o presumably has more experienc• and ia able to make command decisions. FIELD TRAINING -- EVALUATION or PROBA~IONERS: Each probationer's training varies on a caaa-by-caae basis, F.T.O.s are required to fill out a ni;htly diary, and the F.T.O. must cover certain ta1k1/topics in the ~robationary officer•s manual. The F.T.O. can cover some tasks with scenario• or verbal 9uizze•. The r.T.o. must check off ·the taak that the probationer has · completed and write comments regarding each taak. The probationary officer must read and initial all comment• that the F.T.O. mak••· ~he evaluation forms that the r.T.O.s must fill out contain reference• to how the probationarr, officer deala with peers, member• of the community, and 'ethnic groups not there own.• Moat · F.T.O.s talk to their probationary officers nightly regarding how to deal with the public. While requiring daily evaluation• or•ates a lot of paperwork, theaa evaluations are eaaential to the tield trainin; program. If the Department did not require r.~.O.• to write daily entries in a diary, otticers would not routinely note a probationary ctfioer's pro9re11. Th••• daily entriea are the moat effective way to let th• probationary officer know . where h• or she stands in th• program. The job of F.T.o. can be v•ry atr••aeul, ~eo1u1e the P.T.O. often is doing the work of two of~icers. Thi r.T.O. must do his or her own work and make sure that the prob1tionary officer is not making any error•. rcr this reaaon, F.T.0.1 should 91t a breather from tr1ining, Every fiv• montha, F,T,O.s should spend a month with a P2 or Pl to reduce the stress and pressures of the job. Furthermore, this form of rotation preventa · F.T.O.a from stagnating by gettin; locked int~ a routine. However, the Department ahould not limit the amount of time that an of~icer can be an r.~.o., beoauee it is best for more experi•ne•d otticera to train probationary officers. Seiling 002, June 10, 1991 4 RCV ev:IR ELL. MAN ELLA IR ELL 6 MANELLA;# e ~ 17. ROLL CALL TRAINING1 18. The effectivene11 of roll call training i1 directly related to the speak~r and what is covered as well as who i• listening. Certain topics . are a wa•t• of time becauee .· offi cers have ·heard them repeatedly. (Por example, training regarding pain compliance holda.) Veteran officers typically do not pay caretul attention when roll call trainin; covers a topic which they have heard many times. However, otficera are extremely receptive to roll call training which relates to actual experience in the streets and ia helpful in identifying trends in the division, auch as new drugs or identifying new gan; members. With respect to use of force training during roll call training, watch commanders typically have one or two otficer • demonstrate proper technique1. Bowever, on occasion, the otf ioers actually practice the uae of torce technique1. USE OP FQRCEs The Department frequently covers ite use of force policy during roll call training. In fact, at lea1t once or twice a month, roll call training relates specifically to the uae ot force policy. The officer believes that the current uae of tcrce policy neade modification. The L.A.P.D. took a giant atep backwards whe·n the Police Commission pl~ced its moratorium on the choke hold. After pain compliance hold1, the next ettective weapon in the Department's current uae of force pol·icy is the baton. However, the choke hold WIS an effeetive and human• intermediate means of dealing with • oomb1tive suspect while causin; as little harm •• posaible. Th• problem• with the chok• hold resulted from use of th• choke hold on auapects who u•• PCP. Without the choke hold, officer• muat rely on th• baton, which 11 much more brutal and do•• much more harm to the su•p•ct than the choke hold. Th• intermediat• meant in the Department•• current ua• 'of force fr•quently a:e ineffective. Officers do not like to u•• tear gas because more otten than not the tear gaa ends up on the officer rather than the suspect. Leg aweeps and kick• can be effective in getting a 1u1pect to the ground, but if the suspect resists toe much, it will b• difficult for the officer to aubdue the suapect ~ U•• ot force ahould be the very laat option that a ·police o~ticer utilizes. In 99\ of the contact• with the community, a police off icar can talk to th• people and avoid u•• ot force. How•ver, to a certain extent, use of !oroe ie inevitable in police work. Any officer who actively pursues dangerous l•lon• will end up in uee of fore• aitu•tions. Therefore, individual off icera muat educate th• public by explaining exactly why they had u••d a certain type of fore• Seiling 002, June 10, 1991 5 Rcv·ev:IRELL a MANELLA IRELL a MANELLA;# 7 19. on them, eapecially if the offic•r'a deci1ion appear•d qu@stionable. While the suspect may not be aatiafied with the officar•a explanation, the ofticer would reveal hia or her thought process to the suspect and ••tablish some level of understanding. ROONEY KING INCIDENT: · The off ic•r knew Sergeant Koona ~ery well and b•lievea that Koons is a line man. Koons' principal miatake in connection with the King incident was to become involved directly in subduin9 King. Becau•• Koone was so wrapped up in attempting to subdue Ring, he could not &UP9rviae the situation effectively and control the off icera. ~he officer haa no idea what was going through officer Powell'• mind because he · repeatedly beat Kin;. The hesitancy of" the other officers on the seen• to ;et involved probably stemmed from their fear of wreatlin; with Kin; because Koons had . tazad him once and waa ;oin9 to do it again. If an officer ties up with a suspect when the suspect i• ta1ed, the officer could be stunned aa w•ll a1 the suspect. Based on hie knowled9e cf th• Foothill division, he would have been concerned that King W&I armed. Furthermore, the officer objects to th• r•ference to King as a "motorist" b•eauae King had run a red light making him a susp•et•d felon. The officer believes that if there was an altercaticn. before the beating began (which h• •••umes there wa•) then a certain portion of the uae of force wae j~etified. However, th• officer concedea that th• •ituation got out of hand, probably because Koons fail•d ad•quately to supervise the arreat. Despite the fact that the cfticer admits that Koons tailed to 1upervia• th• acene adequately, h• does not believe that Koon• •hould receive jail time. The proper tactics in that situation would have been to get King in a prone position. If an . ottioer cannot ;et a potentially violent suspect in a pr~ne pcaition, the off leer is in danger. Finally, the offio•r• on the scene probably knew that Kl~g was a ccnvict at one time. People who hav• spent time in prison praaent special problems fer police officers because convicts practice how · tc chall•n;e authority, including gun takeaways. 20. CITIZ!N COMPLAINTSs Bia only experience with citizen complaints was working at a desk when ~ citizen came in to tile a complaint, The standard . procedure for cith:en complaints i1 tor the de.sk officer to get a •uP9rvisor and have the 1up•rviaor interview the citizen. If 1 desk officer attempte to "kiss off" a complain•nt and the Oepartm•nt learns of this, the d••k officer will be aisciplined. Seiling 002, June 10, 1991 6 RC~ BY:IRELL & MANELLA IR EL L l MANEL~A:# 6 ~ 21 . IN~ERNAL DISCIPLINE: There i s a double standard in diaciplin• within th• L.A.P.D. Tha disciplinary system ia awift and harsh for those of the rank of ser;eant or below. However, the discipline appears to b• fair, and it does not pay for a patrol officer to screw up. The · Department can be very unforgiving · if an officer violates policy or creates problems in th• field. However, officers above the rank ot captain do not get the sAme treatment •• the rank and file. It seems that the Oepartrnant attempts to make example• ot th• lower ranking off icer1, and these off icar1 re1ent the fact that there appear to be two ••t• of rulee. Furthermore, the penalties 9iven to higher ranking officers do not appear tc be aa harsh•• those given to . officer• cf the rank ol sergeant or below. With the respect to the use of force, thia officer contends that the Department gives out harsh penalties · for what may be mistakes. There does not ap~ear to be ·a distinction between mistakes in use of tact1c1 and will~ul beatings by officers. 22, PROMOTION: · sub~ectiv• oral interviews can be manipulated to prevent . off 1cer1 trom being promoted to higher joba. ror example, this officer applied for 28 d1tf1r1nt 1pecial units before he was accepted to be a n•rcotica detective. A captain told him that he had been skipped over because the captain was not comfortable with testimony that he had given at a trial board where the Department waa trying to g•t an off icar tired. Be truthfully testified th•t he had not seen the incident in question, but the captain beli•v•d that he wae . merely attemptin; to protect one of his colleagues. In effect, the captain blackballed him from promotion, and other capdidates who were net a1 well quali~i•d received promotiona before this officer. Experience in patrol plays little role in the Department•a promotion decisions. The hierarchy look1 down upon ottio•r• who have epent too much time in patrol, apparantly believin; that these officers are either too lazy or too dumb to be · promoted. However, time and patrol should be a prerequiaite to promotion into ~011tion1 which 1upervi•• patrol officer•. Many officers with little experience in the ?ield receive promotions to mana~•m•nt positions, and thia create1 confusion becauae, although the officers are good managera, they have little knowledge and credibility in the area of patrol. Inexperience in the field also manifest& ~tself in the new breed of P.T.o.a. In recent years, many officers have become F.T.O.s with lese than six months of experience after Seiling 002, June lO, l99l 7 RCV BY: IRELL & MANELLA IRELL & MANEL~A:# 9 • 23 . probation. Officer Powell, one of the particip1nt1 in the King beating, was promoted to F.T.o. relatively quickly after completinq hls own probation. The fact that officers c~n b•coma F.T.O.s with 1uch little experience on the job diminish•• the . prestige of the F.T.o.s. Experience in the field ot at least five years •hould be a prerequisite to any position which involves supervising patrol officera. ASSIGNMENTS L TRANSFERS: The posltlve effect of rotation of ofticers is that it prevents' the officers from stagnating in on1 position. However, rotation ahould be optional or discretionary, rather than mandatory. It makes no 1ense to rotate a person out of a division if that person likes the area, ia performing ett•ctively, and has developed ties with th• coJIUl\unity. Certain off icars can develop a deep level of truat and report with member• ot the community that new officer• aimply cannot have, Furthermore, rotating offic•r• out of •pecial units diminiehe1 th• expertise within tho•• unit• .• Por example, in speci&l gang units, it take• at lea•t a year to ;et to know all of the gang members in the area and to underatand th• relationships between the members in th• various gangs. However, for training purposes, th• Department should create apot1 within the special units to rotate patrcl officers through the apecial units. Thia form of rotation wculd help by spreading expertise throughout the O.partment. Furthermore, officers routinely should •pend a portion of their time in the tiald ao that they do not loae touch with th• field and the rola ot a patrol officer. Thia form ot rotation may ngt bt po••ibl• for officers in 1pecial unite because it· might dama~e on9oin9 inveati;ation1 in auch areas as narcotics. 24. £OHM.UNITY POLICING / COMMUNITY RELATIONS: The L,A.P.o, ha• gone a long way in trying to improve relations with th• community. However, the pre11 incite• the community against the police. In th• aftermath of the King beating, all L.A.P.D, officer• were indicted as racists and abuser$ of· th• public. The Department•a prime community relation1 strategy should be to demonst~•t• to the community that abuse is not cominon within the L.A.P.D, Th• Department does not necessarily do a good job of explaining the role of polioe cf f icers and what is required to be an effective poric• otficer. Frequently the public do•• not understand · the motivation of polio• otficera. 25. GAYS I LESBIANSa ~he Oepartment•s official policy ia that all citiaen• ahould get equal and fair treatment. Thia o!!icer believe1 that homo1exuali ty is a perversion and a men·tal handicap aa Seiling 002, Jun• 10, 1991 8 RCV "BY : IRELL & MANELLA IRE LL & MANEL LA; #10 26. opposed to an alternative life atrl•. However, he tries to treat everyone fairly, and he bel eves that h• do•• ao re;ardleae of their sexual orientation. This attitude is the prevalent Attitude in the Department, but he does not know how well all officers carry out tht Attitude. WOMEN: The Department has gotten aome excellent women officers, but he is not prepared to generali••· Th• quality of officers depends on the individual officer. · However, he haa noted a problem of "reverse diacrimination~ within the D•partm•nt in terms ot hiring and promotion. For example, a black male raceive1 an automatic bonus on his oral score. Thi• officer perceives thi• aa a problem ot management and wi•h•• that the management would focua principally on the ability ot the officer rather than characteristics unrelated to ability to perform the job. 27. RACIAL MINORITIESt Certain groups will feel picked on regardleaa of what the police do. Be also stressed the importance ot developing understanding regarding the rel• of . the police. The L.A,P.D. hammers its officers with aenaitivity to community needs. He believes that cultural training i• ett•ctive, but the effectiveness of cultural training depend• on individual officers. It ia not always possible to chan9e an otfic•r'1 attitude• with cultural training (although he haa only met two individual1 in hi• 15+ year1 on the department who he would classify as racist). There haa been a major enlightenm•nt in the Department since tnie officer · originally joined the Department over 15 year•. 28. ATTITUDES I OPINIONS RE L,A.P.D.1 The L,A,P.D. ia still one of the finest departments in the country, but it will become less ag9resaive in dealing with hardcore criminals as a result of the aftermath of the King beatin; incident. This officer notes that certain officers, including himaell, have been ha•itant in using force after the King incident because they tear p•r•onn•l ccmplainta. 29. R!PORM SUGGESTIONS: The L.A.P,O. should become more troop oriented. It should adopt a four-day, 10-hour work week to provide officers with more time to relax and reduce stresa. Patrol should become the moat important determinant in an officer•e ~areer. The Department ha• become too top heavy with an overabundance .of officers in suparviaory and deak joba. The Dep•rtment should get back to baaica and atress patrol in promotion• and advancement within th• Department. Currently otticera can get good jobs baaed on the connection• that they have Seiling 002, June 10, l99l 9 RCV 6Y!IRELL & MANELLA 2133124224• IRELL 6 MANELLA: #11 developed while working atatt job1. Furthermore, officers who work statf jobs have more time to study and do w•ll on the various exams. While there is no fool proot way to •elect officers for higher poeition•, th• Department should de-emphasize the role of staff jobs conn•ctiona, and test scores in determining who receives promotion1. The Department definit~ly needs more street officers. This goal can be achieved either by taking oltic•r• cut of staff positions or by hiring more officers. The L.A.P.D. currently is far too thinly stretched to police effectively. Officers currently At• faced with the choice of reducing r•aponae time to 911 calls or conducting on;oin; investi;ations of crimea which could prevent future ctimee. B•cau•e of the hierarehy ' a emphaais on response time, the ongoin; i nvestigations trequ•ntly tall by the wayside. With more officers, the Department could more effectively meet both challenges. 30 . COO! OF SILENCE: [Did not diacuaa.] 50 . MISCELLANEOUS: Seil i n~ 002, June 10, l991 10 |
Filename | indep-box24-16-02.pdf |
Archival file | Volume81/indep-box24-16-02.pdf |