Cleared in Trials, Briseno Seeks to Return to LAPD

Officer Theodore J. Briseno bitterly accused the Los Angeles Police Department on Friday of wasting taxpayers money--and possibly breaking the law--by refusing to reinstate him after three juries said he did not use excessive force in the beating of Rodney G. King.

Briseno, one of six officers who escaped punitive damages this week in King’s civil case, has been on unpaid leave since eight days after the March 3, 1991, beating.

Briseno said he could not understand the department’s refusal to put him back on the force, despite the outcome of King’s recent lawsuit and acquittals in two trials. He vowed to sue if he was denied a position on the force. “Everything I did I felt was the right thing to have done,” he said.

Briseno, 41, blamed the continued grudges of LAPD’s middle management, in particular ranking officers in the Internal Affairs Department, for keeping him out of uniform.

“I spoke the truth and it hurt some people,” Briseno said at a news conference outside attorney Gregory Petersen’s Orange County office. “It hurt and they didn’t like that.”

Briseno, who lives in Los Angeles, lost his countersuit against King this week, in which he alleged that King had struck him while he tried to handcuff the motorist. The jury found that Briseno had been hit but refused to award him any punitive damages.

Petersen said he sent a letter to LAPD Chief Willie L. Williams on Thursday demanding Briseno’s reinstatement. Williams could not be reached for comment Friday night. Petersen said William’s office told him that internal Board of Rights hearings on Briseno’s conduct will continue. The next hearing is set for June 13.

Petersen maintained that the Board of Rights “is not entitled to come to a decision different from the court. If they decide anything different from this they would be unlawful.”

Under the law, the decision of a federal jury takes precedent over the findings of the police board, he said.

Briseno promised to head back to court if the department does not reinstate him.

“I’m not going to stand here and tell you I’m not tired of courts,” he said. “(But) I’m a Los Angeles police officer. I’m not going away. I’m staying right here. If the department wants to continue to do this, I have no problem with (going back to court).”

Briseno said he continues to be hounded by people who recognize him in public, but he said that has not dissuaded him from rejoining the force.

“I’m still a Los Angeles police officer. You can get lost out there,” he said. “There are plenty of jobs out there.

“I just want to be with my family and to go somewhere and wake up and not have the King incident on my mind,” he said. “I’m very confident that I’m going to continue to be a Los Angeles police officer.”