For Better Police, Yes on Charter

The responsibilities of the Los Angeles Police Commission’s inspector general were clearly stated back in 1991. The call for establishing the post was considered an integral part of the Christopher Commission report on badly needed reforms for the Police Department, and the post remains of crucial importance today. The inspector’s mandate: overseeing citizen complaints against police, monitoring the progress of those complaints, auditing the results and commenting on whether the internal police investigations into the complaints were thorough and complete.

But what lacked clarity was how to get the job done. The confusion came to a head last year with the resignation of the first inspector general, Katherine Mader. Mader’s departure followed philosophical and personality conflicts that pitted her against Police Chief Bernard C. Parks and Police Commission President Edith Perez and raised questions about Mader’s effectiveness. By the time she resigned, anyone who cared about maintaining the spirit of the Christopher Commission recommendation was worried that the endless fights for control had undermined the watchdog function.

Clarity has remained a precious commodity, even as the five-member Police Commission finally selected Mader’s replacement, Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeffrey C. Eglash. What’s the best way to end the confusion and ensure that the new I.G. can quickly get to the tasks at hand? The answer is a yes vote on June 8 for Measure 1, the proposed Los Angeles City Charter. One of its sections offers an unambiguous framework for the I.G.: setting into law the I.G.’s direct reporting to the commission; audit, investigatory and oversight functions for complaints against police; the power to audit or initiate investigations only within the LAPD, with the commission retaining the right to stop an inquiry by a majority vote.

In Eglash, the I.G. post gets a prosecutor who had a hand in the convictions of Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies for the theft and sale of confiscated drugs. Eglash is also said to work well under pressure, a requirement in this politically sensitive post.

Negotiating the politics of the commission, the City Council, the LAPD’s top brass and others will be difficult enough. But a vote for the proposed city charter on June 8 would allow Eglash a fresh start in a job too important to be crippled by confusion.