Council OKs Bureau to Monitor Bad Officers

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday approved the creation of a risk-management bureau run by a new deputy police chief charged with tracking officers and identifying those with consistent disciplinary problems.

But in a move that put them at odds with the Los Angeles Police Commission, council members said final authority over the bureau should belong to a steering committee run by representatives of Mayor James K. Hahn and the council.

The Police Commission had sought to retain that authority for itself.

At issue is a new computerized officer-tracking system required by a federal consent decree that outlines reforms that the Los Angeles Police Department must undertake or face a takeover by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The ability to track officers with a few keystrokes has been an unrealized goal in the city for years. Although various automated systems for tracking officers now exist within the Police Department, they are not connected very well. The lack of integration has made it difficult for the LAPD to consistently keep tabs on its personnel.

The proposed system is one of the most costly reforms mandated by the consent decree negotiated last year.

It is supposed to make it much easier for the department to identify officers with histories of problems. Creating the system involves several contracts with private firms, and its total cost for the first two years is estimated at $25 million.

Wednesday’s political scuffle over the system unfolded after the Police Commission balked at adopting the bureau in the form proposed by Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton last week. Deaton’s office constitutes the policy arm of the City Council.

Under Deaton’s proposal, day-to-day operation of the risk management bureau would fall to the LAPD and final authority would remain with the steering committee.

But police commissioners argued that the LAPD should not have to assume responsibility for the bureau unless it is given full authority over its implementation.

Accordingly, commissioners, who are appointed by the mayor, unanimously approved the measure--but only on the condition that they be in charge, and that the steering committee be relegated to advisory status.

The council, however, showed it thought otherwise, approving Deaton’s proposal by a 10-0 vote Wednesday, and leaving the steering committee in charge.

Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, chairwoman of the council’s Public Safety Committee, sought to play down the conflict.

Commission members “just didn’t understand. They thought they were going to be marginalized, and they are not,” she said.

Mayor Hahn supported the move, said spokeswoman Julie Wong.

Increased civilian oversight of the Police Department has been the goal of reformers for years.

But Police Commission Executive Director Joe Gunn said Wednesday’s controversy raised another question: Exactly which civilians should be in charge? The Police Commission or the City Council?

Rick Caruso, president of the Police Commission, said he agrees with the mayor that final say over issues involving the consent decree--including tracking officers--should remain with the City Council and mayor.

But he said he objects to the involvement of the steering committee, an additional layer.

The new deputy chief should answer to Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, who answers to the commission, Caruso said.

If a new deputy chief instead answers to a steering committee, “how then do we hold Chief Parks accountable?” he asked. “If a problem arises, it will be ours.”

Caruso said the commission will consider the council’s action at its Jan. 8 meeting.