Full-Time Pay Urged for 2 Police Commissioners

The two top posts on the Police Commission should become full-time, paid positions to overcome perceptions that it is weak and ineffective, according to a panel of Los Angeles residents examining police reforms.

Without taking a position on the idea, the Police Commission, meeting Saturday for the second day to hear recommendations from the panel, forwarded the proposal to the City Council for consideration.

Members of the Rampart Independent Review Panel said the commission’s president and vice president, who--like the other three members of the panel--are volunteers, should work full time and be paid for it.

They suggested that the president be paid as much as the police chief and the vice president as much as a deputy chief.

“Right now, it takes a lot of time to get things done because no one” works full time, said Nancy Sher Cohen, an attorney who served on the Rampart review panel. “What we’re thinking about is having somebody with the time to shine a bright light and say, ‘These are the issues.’ ”

The other three members of the commission would be part-timers and earn $25,000 a year under the proposal. The mayor would continue to appoint the commissioners, who would need to be confirmed by the City Council.

The panel, composed of about 200 people, was formed by the commission in the wake of the police scandal that started in the Rampart Division.

Its 86 recommendations to fix the city’s troubled Police Department included calls for rotating officers out of specialized units, providing better training about search and seizure laws, and changing how the department investigates police shootings.

The panel also urged that the city provide more staff for the commission and the Inspector General’s office, a position created by the Christopher Commission in 1991 to oversee discipline at the LAPD. Panel members complained that officers continue to resist oversight efforts by the inspector general.

The commission is studying several of the ideas and will consider implementing them in the coming months.

Most of the suggestions are already being addressed under a federal consent decree, which mandates sweeping reforms and calls for the appointment of an outside monitor to ensure that the changes are made. The City Council approved the decree in November under pressure from the Justice Department.

Friday’s session, including the review panel and the commission, focused on the use of force and discipline, including handling citizen complaints and identifying troubled officers.

The panelists suggested that the Police Commission try to use computers to track statements that might indicate when officers are participating in a “code of silence.” It also suggested that the department develop written guidelines on how it handles citizen complaints.

Handling those complaints is crucial to improving the reputation and effectiveness of the Police Department, said Deputy Mayor Kelly Martin, who attended the meetings.

“I think there is a strong consensus that we need to fix this problem,” Martin said. “If it is not at the top of the list, then it is in the top five.”

The commission asked the Police Department to report back in 60 days on what is being done to improve the complaint process.

Saturday’s session focused in part on whether the Police Commission needs to be restructured.

The Christopher Commission recommended against paying the commissioners or having them work full time. But the panel insisted that is the only way to increase the group’s power and effectiveness.

“What is now clear . . . is that almost 10 years after the Christopher Commission report, the Police Commission is viewed by public officials, the press and the community as ineffective in its oversight, a job most agree is too difficult to do on a part-time basis,” according to a report from the panel.