No More Mr. Nice Panel

Sincere, fair-minded and public-spirited reformers--both within and outside the LAPD--will welcome the decision of the civilian Police Commission to ratchet up pressure for true police reform.

Publicly chafing because the reforms recommended by the Independent (Christopher) Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department back in 1991 were not moving forward deliberately and rapidly enough, the panel issued a formal statement Tuesday that reflected both its growing determination and its frustration with the LAPD bureaucracy.

For starters, the commission says it will have a new oversight strategy. It will now require that reforms be prioritized--for instance, taking steps by Dec. 1 to reduce the use of excessive force and officer misconduct. It will demand improvement in the department’s internal procedures, especially in the areas of discipline and of gender and race equity. And it vows to issue “report cards” on the progress of reform twice a year.

This latter innovation is especially desirable. It is vital to keep the issue of reform in the public light.

It is also vital that the panel move forward with the new office of inspector general, approved by the voters earlier this month, if it is to add real teeth to its new posture; it needs an enforcement mechanism. The voters, in approving Charter Amendment 3, obviously wanted one, too. Now it exists. The commission is on the right road to reform. The inspector general’s office could prove to be the key.