Panel Urges Firing of Officer in Killing

In a rare move, a Los Angeles police tribunal has recommended firing a 31-year-old black woman officer who shot and killed an unarmed man last year, police officials said Friday.

The district attorney’s office chose not to prosecute the case, finding it a justifiable homicide. But in a closed hearing this week, an LAPD board of rights found Glenda Browne guilty on two counts of misconduct--a determination that brought charges of racial bias from her police defense representative.

Browne, a rookie with less than one year in the department, fired three shots into the chest of 18-year-old Leon Panduro on the evening of March 2, 1990, as she and her partner responded to a call about a loud party in Northeast Los Angeles. Panduro was drunk and unarmed at the time of the shooting.

The department panel found that Browne’s fear prompted her to unnecessarily draw her weapon, setting in motion a sequence of events leading to the teen-ager’s death.

Officer Musa Camara, Browne’s LAPD defense representative, said the case is indicative of a double standard in cases of alleged police misconduct involving black officers because few officers are fired for shootings--especially when prosecutors find the officer has not committed a crime.

“To me and to a majority of the black officers in the department, it seems to indicate a dual standard--one for whites and one for blacks,” Camara said.

Browne declined to comment on the case. She is also a defendant in a pending wrongful death suit filed by Panduro’s family.

Lt. Fred Nixon, LAPD spokesman, said he could not comment on the Browne case. He did say, however: “Every disciplinary matter is subject to the same system regardless of the ethnicity of the officer involved.”

Browne was working in the LAPD’s Northeast Division when she and her partner, Officer Richard Ortiz, were called to Rosanna Street near Elysian Park. According to the Board of Right’s finding, Ortiz and Browne identified “suspects in front of (the home) who were known to be gang members.”

At the back door, the officers found Panduro acting in a loud and threatening manner, according to police accounts. Panduro attempted to grab Ortiz’s holstered gun, but the officer pushed him away.

Panduro then moved quickly toward Browne, who had pulled her weapon from her holster, police have said. The officer pointed her gun at Panduro, ordering him back, but he continued to advance, getting close enough to pull off her necktie, police said.

According to the tribunal’s report on the incident, one witness shouted: “Don’t shoot. He has no weapon.” Browne then fired three shots, striking Panduro in the chest, abdomen and right foot.

The tribunal, known as a board of rights and composed of three senior LAPD officers, found Browne guilty of using improper police tactics and discharging her weapon in violation of department policy.

The board acknowledged that Browne may have feared for her safety, but added that she should not have drawn her weapon in the first place, since Panduro was not armed.

“Her fear went beyond acceptable bounds,” the board wrote. “The decision to use deadly force must be based on more than mere fear. It must be grounded in sound judgment, sound tactics, and adherence to the Department’s use of force policy.”

The board recommended that Browne be fired. She has appealed the ruling and a final decision in the case will be made by Chief Daryl F. Gates.

Despite the department’s action, a report by the Special Investigations Division of the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office found that “Officer Browne’s conduct was legally justified and that a criminal prosecution should not be initiated.”

Asst. Dist. Atty. James R. Hickey wrote in the report that Browne had reason to believe she could face a “lethal” attack from Panduro.

“Officer Browne believed that Mr. Panduro would be able to overpower her in a physical altercation . . . (and) that Panduro would then gain possession of her handgun and shoot the weapon at the officers,” Hickey wrote.

Browne’s defense representative, Camara, compared her case to that of Dave Robinson, another black officer, who is facing discipline for an incident in which two white officers pointed their guns at him during a routine traffic stop. But those two officers, he noted, have not been disciplined.

Instead, Robinson has been accused of directing profane language at the officers. Robinson has filed a counter-complaint that the white officers violated department policy by unnecessarily drawing their guns on him, a complaint that has yet to be investigated.

Camara described the department’s actions toward Browne and the two white officers as “inconsistent” and “a classic case” of bias against black officers.