Judge to Have Last Word on LAPD Consent Decree Monitor

A federal judge told lawyers for the city and the Justice Department on Thursday that he will not approve their consent decree to reform the Los Angeles Police Department unless he has the final say over the selection of an independent monitor.

It was the third time in as many months that U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess had made clear his demand for a voice in the selection process.

Justice Department attorney Donna Murphy and Patricia L. Glaser, a private attorney representing the city, had proposed that Feess sign the consent decree now.

“We have no intention of shoving anyone down your throat,” Glaser told the judge. “It would be foolish and stupid for the parties to pick someone with whom you did not have a 100% comfort level.”

But Feess demurred, saying, “Show me first, then I’ll sign off.”

Glaser and Murphy said they will comply with his demand.

About 19 teams of experts have applied for the job of monitoring the LAPD’s compliance with the proposed consent decree, designed to end what the Justice Department has called a “pattern or practice” of civil rights violations by police.

The candidates include groups headed by former Gov. George Deukmejian, a former New York City police commissioner, a former director of the Illinois State Police and a former Justice Department inspector general.

Murphy and Glaser told the judge that a joint screening committee is scheduling interviews with the candidates. They said they did not know how long the selection process would take but that every effort is being made to speed it along.

Glaser said the City Council will have to approve the screening committee’s choice. After that, she said, Feess will have a chance to exercise a veto, though she expressed confidence that will not be necessary.

Feess also said Thursday that he plans to solicit input on the proposed consent decree from a variety of sources, including the district attorney’s office, the city attorney’s office and the LAPD’s Command Officers Assn.

Last month, Feess said he would give advisory “friend of the court” status to the Police Protective League, which represents rank-and-file officers, plus the American Civil Liberties Union and civil rights lawyer Stephen Yagman, who represents many alleged victims in the Rampart police scandal.