Council Approves Increase in Staff for Police Panel : City Hall: Lawmakers also adopt a proposal to restrict officers’ use of ‘prone out’ tactic, deemed humiliating by residents of minority communities.

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday adopted proposals to beef up the Police Commission with additional staff and to restrict the use of a controversial police tactic that minority communities say has humiliated residents for years.

In an emotional argument, Councilman Richard Alatorre sided with a Christopher Commission recommendation that the Los Angeles Police Department curtail its use of the “prone out” tactic, in which police force felony suspects to lie face down on the ground with arms and legs spread out.

“Certain groups were concerned about the use of the prone out tactic being used in black and Hispanic communities,” Alatorre said. “It is a perception and many times it is a reality--I’ve seen in it in my own community.”

Councilman Michael Woo concurred, saying, “This gets right to the heart of the Christopher Commission report that concluded that law enforcement is not equally applied in the city.

“This sends a message loud and clear,” Woo said, “that we want law enforcement to work equally in all parts of the city.”

The council, in a unanimous vote, agreed that the tactic should be used only when necessary to assure the safety of officers and should be applied equally throughout the city.

The actions Wednesday completed the first round of the council’s landmark examination of Police Department reforms proposed by the Christopher Commission. One day earlier, the council also approved a dozen ballot proposals, including one that would limit future police chiefs to a maximum of two five-year terms.

The city attorney’s office has been instructed to draft ballot measures incorporating those proposals, and the package could be placed before voters as early as June, city officials said.

Later this year, the council is expected to consider a host of other Christopher Commission recommendations dealing with racism, brutality and training procedures in the 8,300-member department, none of which will need City Charter amendments.

Warren Christopher, who chaired the independent investigating panel, said the council action “taken as a whole” was highly constructive and he anticipates supporting the proposed Charter amendments.

“While it would have been preferable to strengthen the Police Commission even more, the council’s action is a major step toward achieving accountability and balance through structural reform,” Christopher said in a statement released by his office.

Police Commissioner Jesse Brewer, a former assistant chief at the LAPD, lauded the council’s action regarding the “prone out” tactic.

“We have to have some method of ensuring that when it is used it is absolutely necessary,” Brewer said in an interview. “It is very demeaning to a lot of people.”

Police spokesman Lt. Fred Nixon said the department was not opposed to the council’s decision, and in fact “wholeheartedly agrees.” But, he said, existing police policy already calls for uniform application of the “prone out” tactic.

The council approved a proposal to create a new “executive officer” position at the Police Commission to help recruit and hire additional staff members.

The Christopher Commission had recommended that the five-member Police Commission add 15 to 20 management auditors, computer-systems analysts, investigators and attorneys to monitor complaints and discipline against officers in the field.

The council voted down a motion brought by Councilwoman Joy Picus to hold a special election on the reform proposals in March--one month before Police Chief Daryl F. Gates has said he will step down from office.

Picus, along with Councilman Joel Wachs, argued that it “defies logic” to hold an election on the proposals--many of which deal with the hiring and firing of a chief--before a new police chief is selected.

“If I was the chief of police right now,” Wachs said, “I wouldn’t leave until this issue is settled.”

But a majority of the council countered that a special election would cost $1.8 million that the city cannot afford, and would be almost certain to produce a low turnout dominated by conservative voters.

In a 6-8 vote that split the council along political lines, Zev Yaroslavsky, Alatorre, Woo, Michael Hernandez, Rita Walters, Mark Ridley-Thomas, Ernani Bernardi and Marvin Braude voted against the proposed March election.

Voting in favor of the motion were Picus, Wachs, Hal Bernson, Joan Milke-Flores, Nate Holden and City Council President John Ferraro.