Council Won’t Intervene in LAPD Job Dispute

The City Council refused Wednesday to step between Police Chief Bernard Parks and Civil Service officials who overturned his firing of two employees for theft.

Council members voted 7 to 4 against intervening in the issue. The majority said they did not want to second-guess the Civil Service Commission and jump into a quagmire of conflicting claims involving what they saw as relatively benign misconduct.

In both cases, the employees appealed the firings. A city hearing examiner and the Civil Service Commission sustained lower charges, but not theft, and recommended suspensions instead of firings.

Parks sought to fire Senior Detention Officer Jorge Swayne of the Foothill Division and mechanic David Betancourt.

Betancourt was charged with taking discarded automobile parts, including transmissions and starters, from LAPD scrap metal bins and selling them to a salvage yard for $67. A hearing examiner concluded that Betancourt believed he could take the items from salvage bins because he was unaware of any prohibition in city policy, and that he used the money to buy tools for his city work. The examiner recommended a 20-day suspension.

Swayne was accused of taking some bed sheet covers from the jail dispensary. The hearing examiner concluded that Swayne did not intend to permanently take the items, but only was borrowing them to pad furniture during a move. The examiner recommended a 20-day suspension.

The Civil Service Commission agreed with the hearing examiners and urged Parks to reduce the penalties for both men. Parks refused, saying he would not tolerate theft. Under Civil Service rules, the commission cannot reduce the penalty, but only approve or set aside a penalty imposed by the chief.