LAPD probes of alleged profiling to be reviewed
The Police Commission ordered a review Tuesday of concerns over the Los Angeles Police Department’s handling of racial profiling complaints.
The department received 850 complaints of racial profiling in the last four years but did not sustain a single allegation, prompting commission President John Mack to direct the panel’s inspector general to look into the matter.
“I’m not suggesting that every allegation is a valid one. But I find it strange that we consistently never have a finding of one sustained complaint,” he said.
“We need to have to have a full explanation,” said Commissioner Andrea Ordin, who asked the department and Inspector General Andre Birotte Jr. to expand the review to include a look at the dearth of sustained complaints of gender bias.
Police Cmdr. Jim Vogue said investigating racial profiling is difficult, because it is hard to know what the officer is thinking when a motorist is pulled over for legitimate reasons.
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