Police Commission Critical of Proposed Evaluation System

More than five years after the Christopher Commission deplored the Los Angeles Police Department’s system for evaluating its officers, the LAPD still does not have a new performance evaluation form in place and officials cannot agree on how to proceed.

That frustrating problem erupted again Tuesday as police officials tried to persuade the city’s Board of Police Commissioners to adopt a new evaluation system, only to run into a buzz saw of questions and complaints.

Police Commissioner Herbert F. Boeckmann led the questioning of LAPD brass who were seeking approval of a new evaluation system. Boeckmann, who normally keeps a low profile in commission meetings, charged that LAPD officials had largely ignored community input in creating their new proposal, that they had failed to respond to questions about it and that they had begun a test-run of the new approach without informing commissioners.

Nels Klyver, a civilian who oversees organizational development for the LAPD, tried to fend off Boeckmann’s questions, but his answers only seemed to irritate the board. After one particularly long series of questions about a pilot program in West Los Angeles, Boeckmann finally exploded.

“Did we do it, yes or no?” he demanded.

“Yes,” Klyver replied.

Assistant Chief Frank Piersol warned commissioners that delaying action Tuesday could set back the new evaluation system by a year or more. But after it became obvious that commissioners harbored serious misgivings about the proposal, Police Chief Willie L. Williams intervened and proposed that the commission hold off on a vote for at least six weeks.

Later, Piersol said that delay probably could be managed.

“I don’t think that pushing us to December is fatal,” he said. “It will delay us, but we’ll keep working on it.”