Groups request LAPD records involving rally

A coalition of 85 civic leaders and groups formally requested Wednesday that the Los Angeles Police Department make public all internal records involving the May Day immigrants’ rally in MacArthur Park -- including communications between Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief William J. Bratton.

The rally ended when police officers in riot gear moved to clear the park after a small group of people began throwing bottles and rocks at them. The scuffle resulted in 24 civilians, including 10 media workers, being struck by police-fired foam projectiles and hand-wielded batons.

The written demand, which cites the California Public Records Act, was sent by groups, newspapers and individuals including the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, La Opinion newspaper, the Mexican American Bar Assn. and Maria Elena Durazo, secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor AFL-CIO.

The letter to Bratton and top leaders of the city’s civilian Police Commission requests copies of all videotapes of the incident, policy documents, the names of all officers involved, communications on the use of force at the event, and memos between elected city officials including the mayor and the LAPD brass.

“This will definitely help prevent any coverup,” said Peter A. Schey, president of the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. “What is quite likely is the LAPD will not be eager to share with the public records that did not reflect well on the department.”

LAPD officials said Wednesday that they had not reviewed the letter but were committed to being as open as possible about the MacArthur Park incident.

“It will be transparent,” Sgt. Lee Sands said of the departmental review. “As the chief has said, transparency is something we believe in.”

Bratton has already removed the two top command officers who oversaw the police response that day in the park.

However, the request is likely to force a legal confrontation because it seeks records evaluating the actions of individual officers involved. The department has refused to make such documents public in the last year, citing a court decision that it believes designates such documents as confidential personnel records.

Recognizing the conflict, the letter makes an appeal for special handling of the records.

“This request does not seek purely confidential information the disclosure of which would significantly impair any ongoing criminal investigation,” the letter says. “On the other hand, in order to promote full transparency and the public’s understanding regarding the events of May 1, 2007, we respectfully request that you waive any legal exemptions that may otherwise be available to block full disclosure of your records. We believe that such full disclosure is critically important to the safety and protection of the rights to free speech and freedom of assembly of Los Angeles residents.”

Bob Baker, president of the police officers union, said the notion that the department would hide information, when the independent Police Commission and its inspector general are on the case, was “preposterous.”

“They are getting into personnel records, which state law prohibits,” he said.

Karin Wang, vice president of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California, said her group joined in sending the letter as a precautionary measure. She said she had faith in the Police Commission providing oversight, but thought it would help for community groups to get involved.

“We think it’s important to hold the process accountable,” she said.

Also Wednesday, a coalition of immigrant rights groups filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the LAPD alleging that officers violated the constitutional rights of demonstrators in MacArthur Park.

The lawsuit, brought by the Multi-Ethnic Immigrant Workers Organizing Committee, other organizations and individuals, seeks damages and a court order barring the police department from “disrupting the exercise of 1st Amendment rights in public assemblies and marches” and unreasonably using baton strikes and less-lethal munitions to disperse demonstrators.

It also alleges that an announcement made from a police helicopter that the immigrant rights demonstration had been declared an unlawful assembly was inaudible to most people in the park. The order was given in English, according to the lawsuit, “despite the fact that both the neighborhood where the rally was held and most of the rally participants are primarily Spanish-speaking.”

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patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com