List Serve Message - April 2003 www.LAPDOnline.org Spring greetings from the Los Angeles Police Department. The following is the monthly update for April 2003. I hope you find the information useful. I encourage you to continue to visit our Web site at www.LAPDOnline.org as it has grown to over 10,000 pages since its inception in 1998. CHIEF’S MESSAGE We expect officers to enforce the law and we have to be able to control and correct the cops who step over the line – in matters large and small. But LAPD’s disciplinary system – which treated every small matter as a federal case – has been self-defeating. The Department has tied itself in knots trying to enforce the letter of its own laws. Cases have taken forever to investigate and adjudicate, and officers have spent months with their cases pending. The system has been seen as an elaborate game of “Gotcha!” that holds police careers hostage to pending and unsubstantiated complaints, some of which are completely without merit. On February 25, 2003, the Police Commission approved reforms to the disciplinary system, an important step toward bringing the game of “Gotcha!” to an end. Thanks go to Commissioner Rose Ochi, her fellow commissioners, and Mayor James Hahn for initiating this critically needed reform. There’s an old adage that “justice delayed is justice denied.” I think it applies doubly to police officers, most of whom would rather be disciplined swiftly when they are in the wrong, than be left hanging while the process grinds on and on. The new system makes the essential distinction between disciplinary and non- disciplinary complaints, and calls on the Area Captain to channel complaints accordingly. Of the approximately 6,000 complaints the Department receives each year, at least 2,000 – even if valid – would result in no disciplinary action at all. Under the new system these complaints are adjudicated by the Captain and closed out at the Bureau level without additional review by Internal Affairs. The Bureaus can only overrule the Captains for clear and articulated reasons. This policy will do a lot to cut down on the endless paper chase that has typified the disciplinary system in the past. Internal Affairs is already handling the true disciplinary cases three times faster than they were a few years ago, dispensing with the frivolous cases more rapidly and focusing in on the few real offenders. The new policy also introduces the option of Alternative Conflict Resolution. Minor discipline cases can now be resolved in mediation sessions with the officer and complainant, with the emphasis being problem-solving, not fault finding. The mediation process often results in a more reasonable and measured outcome than an adversarial proceeding. Lastly, the new policy and the Training, Evaluation And Management System or TEAMS, will not reflect any unfounded and non-sustained dispositions. Only sustained and guilty findings will appear on TEAMS reports for promotions, pay grade increases, transfers, and performance reviews. The Consent Decree requires the Department to maintain records of all non-sustained complaints, but it does not require that these records be used against officers. I have made it clear that corruption, brutality, or serious misconduct will not be tolerated. Officers guilty of those offenses will be punished. We cannot let the corrupt actions of a few ruin the reputation of more than 9,000 honest, hard-working cops. But the game of “Gotcha!” in this Department is coming to an end. The past history of a flawed disciplinary system will not keep officers from doing the job they signed up to do. The next step is a full examination of the review boards to make certain the Department is supporting and standing behind good cops trying their best to do their jobs, while still upholding the constitution and laws of our state and nation. It’s a new ball game in the LAPD. The rules and reviews are getting straightened out. It’s a game we can all win – the police officers, the Department, and the people of Los Angeles. WILLIAM J. BRATTON Chief of Police To unsubscribe from this newsletter please click on this link http://listserv.lacity.org/cgi-bin/wa.exe?SUBED1=lapd_monthly&A=1