Dorner report finds concerns over bias within LAPD

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A ceramic angel stands watch over the charred debris at the cabin on Seven Oaks Road in Angelus Oaks where murder suspect and former cop Christopher Dorner died in a shootout this week with law enforcement. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Journalists and neighbors make pictures of the charred debris at the cabin on Seven Oaks Road in Angelus Oaks where murder suspect and former cop Christopher Dorner died in a shootout with law enforcement officers. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Evidence tags are still posted in the charred debris at the cabin on Seven Oaks Road in Angelus Oaks. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A weapon was found on Friday, February 15, 2013, in the snow off Glass Road, near the spot where Christopher Dorner crashed a getaway car in Angelus Oaks. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A man wearing a T-shirt in memory of fallen Riverside Officer Michael Crain hugs San Bernardino County deputies at a roadblock near Angelus Oaks. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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After what LAPD Chief Charlie Beck called “a bittersweet night,” investigators Wednesday were in the process of identifying the human remains found in the charred cabin where fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner was believed to have been holed up after trading gunfire with officers, authorities said. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Investigators comb through the charred cabin where fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner was believed to have been holed up after trading gunfire with officers. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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The charred cabin where fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner was believed to have been holed up after trading gunfire with officers. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Candy Martin and her sons look over what’s left of their burned-down 90-year-old mountain home in Angelus Oaks, where fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner died in a shootout with law enforcement officials this week. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Investigators have found personal items of fugitive ex-police officer Christopher Dorner inside the rubble of the burned cabin where they found human remains, those in law enforcement with knowledge of the case said. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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With his badge draped with a black sash, LAPD Lt. Andrew J. Neiman speaks to the media Wednesday at LAPD headquarters about how the department will return to normal operations after several days of being on a tactical alert status because of the threat posed by former officer Christopher Dorner. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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During a Wednesday morning news conference at Los Angeles Police Department headquarters in Los Angeles, LAPD Lt. Andrew J. Neiman says the department will return to normal operations after several days of being on tactical alert status because of the threat posed by former officer Christopher Dorner. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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A California Highway Patrolman stops motorists from driving further down Highway 38 near Big Bear on Wednesday morning. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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In a sign of normalcy in Angelus Oaks, kids wait for the school bus Wednesday at the closure of Highway 38 about six miles from where a shootout occurred that is believed to be linked to fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Rick Heltebrake was driving on Glass Road with his Dalmatian, Suni, when a man matching Christopher Dorner’s description stepped into the road and pointed a gun at him and told him to get out of the truck. “Can I take my dog?” Heltebrake asked. “You can leave and you can take your dog,” the man reportedly said. He then sped off in the Dodge extended-cab pickup. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Crime scene tape at Mountain Vista Resort on Wednesday in the Big Bear Lake area. A unit at the condominium complex is where authorities believe Christopher Dorner hid from law enforcement until he was found by two women who came to clean the unit. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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The front door of Unit 203 at Mountain Vista Resort in Big Bear on Wednesday. The unit at the condominium complex is where Christopher Dorner allegedly hid from law enforcement for days. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Larry Nava of Phelan places flowers at the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department headquarters. “I wanted to show my gratitude for the officer who lost his life,” Nava said. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Investigators work the scene at Mountain Vista Resort where fugitive murder suspect Christopher Dorner allegedly hid before taking two cleaning women hostage. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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A California Highway Patrolman at checkpoint along Highway 38 near Big Bear. Roads are still closed in the area around the cabin. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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LAPD Commander Andrew Smith talks at police headquarters Tuesday about the fluid situation in the San Bernardino mountains, where law enforcement authorities had converged on a cabin believed to be where triple murder suspect Christopher Dorner was holed up. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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An officer directs traffic on Highway 18 as all roads to Big Bear were closed Tuesday. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Officers from several law enforcement agencies man a roadblock on Highway 38 north of Redlands. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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SWAT officers search cars along Highway 38 leading to Angeles Oaks, hoping to prevent the escape of suspected killer Christopher Dorner. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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SWAT officers check vehicles heading south on Highway 38 north of Redlands in their search for fugitive Christopher Dorner. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Vehicles line up along Bryant Road near a roadblock at Highway 38 north of Redlands. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Onlookers gather near the roadblock on Highway 38. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A police officer stops traffic on Highway 38 leading to Angeles Oaks, where murder suspect Christopher Dorner was believed to have been holed up. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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SWAT officers check cars driving south on Highway 38 north of Redlands. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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SWAT officers stand guard at a roadblock on Highway 38 north of Redlands as authorities search for former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Heavily armed officers were on guard at an afternoon news conference at which the Riverside County district attorney filed criminal charges against fugitive ex-cop Christopher Jordan Dorner in the death of Riverside Police Officer Michael Crain and the wounding of two other officers. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz answers questions from the media while a photo of slain Riverside Police Officer Michael Crain is projected on a screen behind him. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

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Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa addresses the media at the Police Administration Building in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday. Villaraigosa, along with law enforcement officials and politicians, announced a $1-million reward in the capture of Christopher Jordan Dorner. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

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A memorial for USC Public Safety Officer Keith Lawrence is set up outside the Department of Public Safety on the USC campus Sunday. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

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Messages are left as part of a memorial for USC Public Safety Officer Keith Lawrence outside the Department of Public Safety on the USC campus Sunday. Police are on high alert as Christopher Jordan Dorner is being sought in a massive manhunt after an alleged crime spree by Dorner that includes the deaths of Lawrence and his fiancee, Monica Quan. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

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A mourner signs a condolence book for slain Cal State Fullerton assistant women’s basketball coach Monica Quan, pictured at right, before a home game against UC Irvine on Saturday. Quan and her fiance are believed to be the first victims of a fatal shooting rampage by fired LAPD officer Christopher Jordan Dorner. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Members of the Cal State Fullerton women’s basketball team join hands for a moment of silence to honor slain assistant coach Monica Quan before a home game against UC Irvine. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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David Perdue shown with his wife, Lyzzette, in their Redondo Beach home. Perdue suffered a concussion and an injury to his shoulder when Torrance police officers rammed his truck before firing at him, his lawyer said. Officers mistook his vehicle for that of fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

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Coverage of the manhunt for ex-LAPD Officer Christopher Dorner received the Publisher’s Prize. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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An armored vehicle carrying law enforcement officers rolls down a snow-covered road in Big Bear as the search for Christopher Dorner continued Saturday morning. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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With the improved weather, helicopters were once again in the air assisting the manhunt. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Officers in a snow cat head out to search remote areas of the Big Bear area. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Law enforcement officers gather at the search command post before resuming the manhunt. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department vehicle rolls through the quiet streets of Big Bear at sunrise Saturday. Law enforcement officials believe it is unlikely that Christopher Dorner is still in the Big Bear area but they are still deploying officers to search for the triple murder suspect. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Irvine police detectives remove bags of evidence after serving a search warrant at the home of Christopher Dorner’s mother. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Irvine police and U.S. marshals stand outside home of Christopher Dorner’s mother in La Palma. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Police teams armed with assault rifles walk through falling snow at the San Bernadino County sheriff’s command post at the base of Bear Mountain. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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Bear Mountain ski area reopened Friday morning and snowboarders gladly walked up to get some of the fresh powder that was falling all day Friday. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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San Bernadino County Sheriff John McMahon, right, updates the media on the manhunt for Christopher Dorner on Friday morning. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy guards the entrance to the Men’s Central Jail and Twin Towers after reports that suspected gunman Christian Dorner had been seen in the area on Friday morning. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside district attorney’s office investigators patrol in heavy rain around their headquarters on Friday morning in Riverside. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Flowers are left at Riverside police headquarters in memory of the officer who was killed early Thursday morning in Riverside. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Police officers check a house in Big Bear Lake for shooting suspect Christopher Dorner. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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San Bernardino sheriff’s deputies man a checkpoint on Moonridge Road in Big Bear as the manhunt continues for Christopher Jordan Dorner. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside residents shed tears and pray during a vigil for the slain and wounded Riverside police officers. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside Police Chaplain Steve Ballinger comforts residents during a vigil at City Hall for the slain and wounded Riverside police officers. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A police officer checks the cab of a truck along Switzerland Avenue in Big Bear Lake for shooting suspect Christopher Dorner. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside residents hold candles during a vigil at City Hall for the slain and wounded Riverside police officers. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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SWAT officers move toward a home on Club View Drive in Big Bear Lake as the manhunt continues for Christopher Jordan Dorner. A truck believed to be his was found burning in a remote area near a ski resort, authorities said. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Sheriff’s officers check houses for shooting suspect Christopher Dorner in Big Bear Lake. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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A San Bernardino County sheriff’s officer searches for shooting suspect Christopher Dorner in Big Bear Lake. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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Law enforcement officials found the burned-out truck that police believe shooting suspect Christopher Jordan Dorner used to leave the scene of a killing in Riverside. The truck was found on a forestry road near the Bear Mountain ski area. (Michael Robinson Chavez / Los Angeles Times)

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An FBI agent checks cars as they leave a Big Bear ski resort on Club View Drive in the search for shooting suspect Christopher Dorner. The resort was closed after Dorner was believed to be in the area. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Authorities searching for Christopher Dorner check cars as they leave the Bear Mountain ski resort. The ski area closed earlier Thursday afternoon in response to the manhunt, but it and neighboring Snow Summit were open for business agains Friday. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Police investigators work around a blue pickup truck riddled with bullets in the 19500 block of Redbeam Avenue in Torrance after a police protection team fired on it. The officers were protecting the neighborhood in the wake of threats against an officer, allegedly by former LAPD Officer Christopher Jordan Dorner. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times)

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A distraught woman who identified herself as the mother of the driver of a vehicle fired on by police Thursday morning talks on a cellphone near the scene on Flagler Lane just south of Beryl Street in Redondo Beach. The vehicle resembled the pickup truck owned by suspect Christopher Dorner. No one was injured. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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LAPD officers investigate after two women were shot by police while delivering newspapers Thursday morning in Torrance. The pickup truck the women were riding in is similar to the vehicle that multiple-homicide suspect Christopher Jordan Dorner is believed to be driving. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

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A police officer stands guard outside the LAPD’s Hollywood Station. Police across Southern California stayed on high alert as former LAPD Officer Christopher Jordan Dorner is suspected in three slayings. In a written manifesto, Dorner threatened “unconventional and asymmetrical warfare” against police. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Passing motorists give a greeting to a police officer standing guard outside of the LAPD’s Hollywood Station. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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A U.S. marshal joins naval security officers, San Diego police and other law enforcement agencies converging on Naval Base Point Loma, where Christopher Jordan Dorner, 33, was briefly suspected to be holed up in a hotel. Dorner was not found. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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LAPD Officer Keith Provin keeps watch over the Los Angeles Police Academy, which was on heightened alert as the manhunt continued. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz looks down as he announces that the 34-year-old officer killed in the early morning shooting was an 11-year veteran of the department during a press conference at the Magnolia Facility of the Riverside Police Department. Two officers were shot at the corner of Magnolia and Arlington avenues. The officers were sitting at a red light when they were ambushed. One was killed, the other was still in surgery Thursday morning. The alleged shooter is fired LAPD officer Christopher Jordan Dorner,33. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside police ready their weapons as a grey pickup truck approaches a roadblock near where earlier two officers were shot in Riverside. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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LAPD Officer Robert Paterson stands guard outside police headquarters in downtown Los Angeles as the department, operating on high alert, searches for an ex-officer suspected shooting three police officers, one fatally. (Gary Friedman / Los Angeles Times)

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An LAPD officer stands guard on the roof of the LAPD Administration Building in downtown Los Angeles. Murder suspect and former LAPD police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, who is still on the loose threatened “unconventional and asymmetrical warfare” against police in an online manifesto. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)

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Shooting suspect Christopher Jordan Dorner is pictured in his Los Angeles Police Department uniform. The former cop is suspected three police officers killing one. He is also a suspect in the killings of Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence, who were found dead in a car inside an Irvine parking structure. (Los Angeles Police Department / Getty Images)

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An electronic sign on the southbound 101 Freeway in Studio City advises motorists to call 911 if they see a vehicle linked to former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner, wanted in the shooting Thursday of three police officers, one fatally, and a double homicide in Irvine. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside police investigators at the shooting scene at Arlington and Magnolia avenues. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside police investigate the scene where two fellow officers were shot, one fatally, early Thursday. Police suspect Christopher Jordan Dorner, a former LAPD officer, in the shootings and those of another police officer in Corona and a couple in Irvine earlier this week. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside police investigators tag and bag evidence at the scene where two fellow officers were shot early Thursday. One was killed and the other was in critical condition. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Police investigate the scene where two Riverside officers were shot, one fatally, early Thursday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Police investigators look at the LAPD car where an officer was wounded on Magnolia Avenue in Corona. Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck called the situation “extremely worrisome and scary.” (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Police investagators look at the LAPD car, left , where an officer was wounded on Magnolia Avenue in Corona (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Torrance police work the scene where a dark Honda pickup truck was shot at while driving on Flagler Lane just south of Beryl Street in Redondo Beach. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

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The command post at the Magnolia Avenue overpass of the 15 Freeway in Corona. Three officers were shot Thursday -- one in Corona and two in Riverside by a gunman believed to Christopher Jordan Dorner, the fired Los Angeles Police Department Officer wanted in the revenge slayings of a college basketball coach and her fiance in Irvine. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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Riverside County deputies stand guard at Arlington and Brockton avenues in Riverside. Three officers were shot Thursday -- one in Corona and two in Riverside by a gunman believed to Christopher Jordan Dorner, the fired Los Angeles Police Department Officer wanted in the revenge slayings of a college basketball coach and her fiance in Irvine. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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David Zavala cleans up the crime scene on the top floor of a parking structure, located in an upscale, high-security condominium complex where Monica Quan and her fiance Keith Lawrence were killed. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)

By Joel Rubin

and Jack Leonard

Nov. 13, 2014 10:25 PM PT

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A Los Angeles Police Department review of its discipline system prompted by the Christopher Dorner rampage found widespread concerns among officers and civilians that the agency discriminates based on gender, ethnicity and rank, according to a report reviewed by The Times.

Focus group sessions with more than 500 department employees found that many of those interviewed believed internal investigations were unfair and punishments were subjective, the document said. Among the complaints were that the department overlooks misconduct by high-ranking officials, that discipline is influenced by public and media pressures and that nepotism infects the disciplinary process.

The report, however, also contained data that raised doubts about some of those perceptions of bias.

Statistics compiled by the LAPD show that the ethnic, gender and rank breakdown of officers sent to disciplinary panels for suspensions or termination roughly matches the demographics of the LAPD as a whole. White officers, for example, make up 36% of the department and 35% of officers sent to Board of Rights disciplinary hearings for lengthy suspensions or termination. Black officers account for 12% of officers and 14% of those sent to such hearings.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck ordered the report more than 20 months ago after Dorner, an ex-LAPD officer, went on a shooting spree across Southern California, killing police officers as well as the daughter of an LAPD captain and her boyfriend. In a rambling online document, Dorner said that he was seeking retribution after being unfairly fired and that he was the victim of racial discrimination within the department.

The civilian police commission is expected to review the report at a meeting next week.

LAPD officials said in the report that they were planning to make a significant change: returning to using specific guidelines to determine what punishment an officer deserves. The move is intended to help ensure similar punishments are handed down for similar types of misconduct.

The president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union that represents rank-and-file officers, declined to comment, saying he had not read the report.

Officers have continued to complain that discipline in the LAPD is uneven and unfair. In an attempt to quell the unrest, Beck said he would conduct a comprehensive review of how misconduct is investigated and how discipline is decided.

joel.rubin@latimes.com

jack.leonard@latimes.com

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