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Melanie Lomax Approved for Police Commission

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Attorney Melanie Lomax easily won City Council approval Friday for a seat on the five-member police commission, the civilian board that oversees the Los Angeles Police Department.

The council approved her nomination by Mayor Tom Bradley in an 11-1 vote. Only Councilman Hal Bernson voted against Lomax, but he did not offer any reason during the brief council debate.

At a committee hearing earlier this week, Bernson said he was concerned that Lomax’s “activist background” might indicate she will advocate actions that will “tie officers’ hands.”

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“We know your background with the ACLU,” Bernson said.

Lomax corrected Bernson, explaining she had worked for the NAACP, not the American Civil Liberties Union.

Bernson was unswayed. “I can’t take a chance,” Bernson said, “on having anything that’s going to inhibit officers’ willingness . . . to support the law.”

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