Los Angeles police officers take to the airwaves

By LAPPL Board of Directors on 01/11/2011 @ 06:53 PM

The Los Angeles Police Protective League has started airing a “Public Safety First” radio campaign on ESPN radio in Los Angeles. The messages, covering a broad range of law enforcement related topics, will air throughout the day and during Lakers games.

The radio spots will highlight a variety of public safety issues but will regularly focus on the importance to public safety of having a fairly compensated and adequately staffed Los Angeles Police Department. With such valid concerns about the City’s challenging budget situation, the League is acting constructively and proactively to ensure that vital public safety jobs are preserved.

Over the course of the next year, the campaign will also spotlight the anniversary date of LAPD officers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the city. LAPD Officers face enormous risks every day. While the City is safer than it has been in nearly four decades, in today's urban environment, policing has become more complex and dangerous, and yet these exceptional men and women continue to take on the responsibility of policing above and beyond the call of duty.

The broadcast schedule of the League’s messages, along with the January radio spots can be found at LAPD.com, behind the ESPN logo.

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Law enforcement fatalities: a cause for concern and a call to action

By LAPPL Board of Directors on 01/03/2011 @ 02:05 PM

The New Year begins with a disturbing report from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. The nonprofit organization that tracks police deaths reported preliminary information last week showing a 37 percent increase in line-of-duty deaths over the number of officers killed in 2009. Within 48 hours of the report’s release, two more officers were killed, raising the total line-of-duty deaths for 2010 to 162. The news is particularly perplexing and troubling because the data runs counter to local and national trends that have violent crime falling to levels not seen in a generation.

Traffic fatalities were the leading cause, with 73 officer deaths, while firearm fatalities jumped 20 percent from 49 deaths last year to 59 in 2010. Most alarming were the incidents in which multiple officers were gunned down. These so-called ‘cluster killings’ accounted for nearly 20 percent of all fatal shootings.

A variety of explanations have been offered for the rise in deaths, from budget cuts that have fewer police working longer hours to more distracted and dangerous drivers. Memorial Fund Chairman Craig Floyd points to the existence of criminals who don't think twice – or are even eager – to kill an officer of the law. Weak penalties may also be a factor: an Atlanta man accused of gunning down a Georgia state trooper December 27 had just been released from jail two weeks earlier, and jail records show it was not the first time he had tried to flee from police.

Dale Mann, director of the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the law enforcement community is frustrated with weak punishments for serious crimes and the fact that cop killers rarely get the death penalty. "But by the grace of God, it could've been me and a hundred others," Mann said. "People are shooting police officers like it's nothing. One of the reasons is because they're not getting the death penalty for doing it. If they do, it'll be 30 years [before execution] and you'll have to remind the public what it's about."

Mann has a very valid point. If you share his frustration, consider speaking out at the victim impact hearing for cop killer Michael Alston (NYSID#0:3 521538N, DIN#: 93A0704) to be held on Friday, January 7, 2011, in New York. NYPD Sergeant Keith Richard Levine was off duty, driving through Manhattan on his way home, when he saw an armed robbery happening at an ATM machine. Three individuals were robbing one man when Sgt. Levine sprung into action, stopping his car and giving chase on foot.

In a recent letter to PoliceOne.com, Sgt. Levine’s father, Mike Levine – a retired 30-year veteran of law enforcement – wrote, “During [the] chase and gunfight, Keith was killed by a man named Michael Alston. Alston, at the time he killed Keith, was on the street again after having been twice convicted of homicide in New York City. Killing my son I think now officially qualifies him as a serial killer, and we can't even estimate how many homicides he's gotten away with.”

Incredibly, the New York Parole Board has decided that Alston should be set free – free to kill again. With his possible release looming, the law enforcement community across our nation needs to come together and let our feelings be known. You can send a letter of opposition to the release of Alston via the New York State Board of Parole’s website.

We’ve blocked the release of cop killers before, and we can do it again. Through our individual actions, we can achieve a collective result that clearly serves the best interests of the family and fellow officers of Sgt. Levine, as well as the law enforcement profession and our society.

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DUI checkpoints amount to safer roads for everyone

By LAPPL Board of Directors on 12/29/2010 @ 03:15 PM

As millions of Californians hit the roads during the holiday travel season, some of them will be driving while drunk. So it’s only logical that seasonal spikes in drunk driving be met with stepped up DUI enforcement. But now, some community groups are suggesting that local law enforcement is putting up sobriety checkpoints for the sole purpose of confiscating the cars of unlicensed drivers.

This is not the case; the purpose of these checkpoints is to keep our roads safe. Claims that the State of California made $40 million in profit in 2009 are absurd and not supported by a single fact. The truth is, DUI checkpoints cost money to carry out. Local law enforcement is fortunate to receive funding for the checkpoints from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), which designated 2010 as the “Year of the Checkpoint.”

Sobriety checkpoints are an important safety tool. As Chief Beck aptly explained to LAist.com, checkpoints are intended to change the behavior of those who drink and drive. And indeed, these checkpoints, by increasing enforcement and raising public awareness, bring down the number of traffic collisions caused by drunk drivers. In all cases, checkpoints operate in accordance with guidelines mandated by California Supreme Court decision Ingersoll vs. Palmer.

Research by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, detailed in a report titled Unlicensed to Kill, found that nearly two-thirds of drunk drivers in fatal crashes are seriously intoxicated, with a blood alcohol content higher than .15. In addition, 20 percent of fatal crashes involve at least one unlicensed driver.

A second AAA report found that unlicensed drivers accounted for five to ten percent of the driving population, but nearly 20 percent of all fatal driving accidents – a disproportionately high percentage compared to their numbers in the general driving population. The same study showed that accidents involving unlicensed drivers were more than twice as likely to have a fatal outcome.

The prevalence of impaired and unlicensed drivers on California roads puts all drivers at greater risk of injury and death, and creates an undue financial burden for the state.

There is good news, however. Since 2006, when OTS and law enforcement began directing increased funding toward sobriety checkpoints, alcohol-impaired fatalities have declined substantially – down 26 percent. Between 2008 and 2009 alone, DUI deaths declined by 7.6 percent in California.

The holiday season should be about good times with family and friends, and responsible celebrations that don’t endanger lives. The proven results of DUI checkpoints make them an invaluable tool for making the roads safer for everyone.

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Sending you good tidings at this special time of year

By LAPPL Board of Directors on 12/23/2010 @ 12:15 PM

The League’s Board of Directors wishes you and your families the very best during this holiday season and throughout the coming New Year. We hope that you can find time to set aside the demands of your busy lives and share in the joy of the season with your loved ones.

The holiday season is a time to reflect on the many blessings in our lives and to remember those who most enrich us. It is also a time of year to give a helping hand to those in need as they struggle with unemployment, financial hardship or illness.

This is also a time to remember the brave men and women in uniform who defend our country in distant lands. Those of us fortunate enough to celebrate the holidays at home should keep in our thoughts and prayers our brothers and sisters serving in the Armed Forces in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere – especially our fellow LAPD officers whose military reserve units are deployed. We are reminded by the loss of our own, Officers Robert "RJ" Cottle and Joshua J. Cullins, and so many others who have given their lives, that the bravery and dedication of our troops keep our nation free and our country safe.

As you and your loved ones enjoy the traditions of the holiday season, we send you good tidings and wish you a safe and happy New Year.

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Pension holidays aren’t just “ancient history”

By LAPPL Board of Directors on 12/22/2010 @ 04:37 PM

A “pension holiday” is when a public employer does not make payments into a pension fund because it believes there are enough earnings in the pension system to pay the employer’s annual required contribution.

CBS’ 60 Minutes is one of the highest rated and most respected news programs on television today. Millions of people tuned in to last Sunday’s program, which featured a segment called “State Budgets: The Day of Reckoning.”

Reporter Steve Kroft surveyed the shaky financial footing of many U.S. states and zeroed in on public pensions. Buried in the story was an often-ignored key fact: in good times, public employers in Los Angeles and across the nation took long pension holidays.

• Kroft interviewed New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Incredibly, to Christie the fact that New Jersey failed to make pension contributions for 13 of the last 17 years, leading in large part to his state’s pension deficit, is just “ancient history.” In New Jersey, apparently, history repeats itself. Even though he was fully aware that the state’s failure to make its required annual payments is what caused the problem, Christie refused to make the required payment for 2010 as well! So much for solving the problem, Governor.
• Likewise, in California, the University of California pension plan serves as the prime example of why pension plans get into trouble. For 20 years – that’s right, 20 years – the University didn’t make the required annual contribution. Instead, it cannibalized fund earnings to make its payment – despite warnings at the time that it needed to make these payments. The once well-overfunded plan now faces a large deficit – and instead of accepting responsibility for the University’s failure to make payments, the UC Regents, who govern the University system, are cutting pension benefits for new, and perhaps current, employees.

It may be all too common and convenient for politicians to ignore the “ancient history” of bad decisions that led to today’s funding problems – but doing so means letting the old opponents of defined benefit plans mislead the public. Had those annual contributions to the pension systems been made and then allowed to multiply during the great market run-ups of the last 20 years, pension plans would today have substantially more money than they actually do.

Fitch Ratings, an independent agency that grades government debt, noted in a press release last week that the variance in funded ratios for public pension plans is directly tied to the willingness of the underlying employers to make their annual payments. The release states that “Specific examples of the wide variations in pension situations include North Carolina's Teachers' and State Employees' Retirement System, which was funded at 95.9% as of Dec. 31, 2009, down from 104.9% two years earlier due to market losses, but nonetheless very well-funded. The state and other member governments have a demonstrated commitment to fully funding their ARC (annual required contribution). In stark contrast, the State of Illinois' five retirement systems combined had a funded ratio of 50.6% as of June 30, 2009, down from 63.6% two years earlier. The state had consistently underfunded its ARCs even prior to the market downturn and the state's fiscal crisis. This poor funding history is one among a number of reasons that Illinois' credit rating, at 'A', is among the lowest of the states.'”

The good news for Los Angeles is that the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions system – even after the economic downturn – is currently 91.6% funded. Police officers and firefighters contribute up to 9% of their pay biweekly, but even with this sizable contribution, the majority of the money funding the pension system comes from returns on investments, not the City’s or employees’ contributions.

The sad part for the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions system is that over the past 20 years, the City of Los Angeles took contribution holidays. For several of those years, it added little or nothing to the system. Had the City simply made all its required annual payments, the system would’ve currently been funded at over 100%. During those years, the pension reformers of today remained silent as the government shirked its pension obligations, helping to create the current situation. But that part, of course, is often overlooked in news stories on pension systems – the 60 Minutes piece being no exception. To quote Chris Christie, it’s just “ancient history.”

The fact is that defined benefit systems, properly funded by their employers, provide a secure retirement in an affordable manner for their members. No amount of bluster by politicians like Chris Christie can obscure this fact.

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The City Attorney’s defense of LAPD officers deserves recognition and thanks

By LAPPL Board of Directors on 12/20/2010 @ 09:25 AM

In the course of conducting our business and advocating for our members on many fronts, we can sometimes be remiss in not taking the opportunity to thank the dedicated attorneys who work day in and day out to defend the men and women of the LAPD. We’d like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the Office of the City Attorney, specifically its Police Litigation Unit (PLU), which has been defending the Department and the City for over 19 years.

We would also like to extend a special thanks to Supervising City Attorney Cory Brente, who’s been with the City Attorney’s Office for nearly 20 years now. Cory and the Police Litigation Unit have dedicated themselves to the representation and defense of Los Angeles police officers in civil lawsuits. Brente’s team has successfully defended hundreds of officers in state and federal courts, and we are extremely grateful to have them in our officers’ corner.

Among the PLU’s successes this year is its victorious defense of LAPD officers and detectives in two civil cases with recent verdicts.

In the first case, Brente led the defense against a civil lawsuit brought by a woman alleging excessive force by officers in the 2008 Crenshaw-area shooting death of her husband. Even though the shooting had been thoroughly investigated by the District Attorney's Office, which found no grounds for prosecution of the officers, she was not dissuaded from filing the suit. Ultimately, the facts, evidence and deft legal work by Brente’s team persuaded a Los Angeles Superior Court jury to find in favor of the officers, clearing them of the charges and shielding the City’s general fund from an unjustified payout.

In the second case, a lawsuit brought by Timothy Gantt and Michael Smith, both convicted for the 1992 murder of 23-year-old Kalpesh Vardhan, claimed that Gantt and Smith were maliciously prosecuted and that detectives had conspired to frame them for the murder. Deputy City Attorneys Geoff Plowden and Surekha Pessis, through their skillful defense, made quick work of the claims and led the way for the jury’s unanimous November 2010 verdict in favor of the City and the LAPD detectives.

Los Angeles is indeed very fortunate to have such an effective and diligent legal team working to protect its officers and the City’s resources.

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Colton city leaders’ unbalanced spending will come at a cost to public safety

By LAPPL Board of Directors on 12/17/2010 @ 04:25 PM

While at times the League and City leaders may not see eye to eye on issues of staffing and budget balancing, the residents of Los Angeles can always rest assured that public safety, entrusted to our world-class police force, never takes a back seat to political disagreements. But other cities aren’t as fortunate.

Colton, California, a 21-square-mile city with a population of nearly 52,000, may very well lose 16 of its 60 police officers to close the city’s budget gap. There’s nothing novel about city layoffs in our current economic environment, but when a city government keeps hiring high priced department directors, while pushing the firing of police officers and rejecting good-faith solutions, things don’t add up.

The City of Colton is facing some serious financial shortfalls. And Colton city leaders are looking to make up for them by giving at least 16 Colton police officers their walking papers. A tough measure for an indisputably tough situation, but is it really that cut and dry?

One has to wonder how a cash-strapped city like Colton can afford the personnel spending spree cited by the Colton Police Officers Association on their website. The questionable hiring began in September 2009, when Colton picked up a new finance director at $143,141 per year. Since then, enough money was found to hire new directors of Development Services and Public Works, at annual salaries of $140,000 and $145,000, respectively; and a new HR manager at $105,000. Curiously enough, city leaders have been making public declarations that the city is broke, but they still doled out over $300,000 for consultants and studies in the last year alone. The city manager himself is collecting an annual salary of $220,000 (plus a monthly $600 car allowance) to run this small working-class city.

The Colton Police Officers Association, meanwhile, has been doing its best to offer solutions that don’t include having fewer officers looking out for residents of a city with the dubious distinction of highest per capita rate of violent crime in San Bernardino County. The Association offered a package of financial concessions totaling over $1 million, but it wasn’t good enough for city leaders, who instead decided to drop some more Colton taxpayer money on a PR firm to take on the Association and put a positive spin on the city’s unbalanced spending.

Colton’s city leadership is not being honest with the media or the public. Instead of mounting a media campaign to discredit the concessions its officers are making, they should reexamine their spending and work harder and more honestly to find budget solutions that don’t leave Colton city residents – and their safety – on the losing side of negotiations.

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L.A.’s red light cameras will be a money-losing safety tool as long as county courts remain slack on collections

By LAPPL Board of Directors on 12/15/2010 @ 04:45 PM

The Los Angeles Police Commission yesterday received and approved a report from Police Chief Charlie Beck detailing the reasons why the LAPD will continue to back the Photo Red Light Program (PRLP) as a traffic safety tool, despite the program’s operating loss of $2.5 million and perceived lack of results.

The purpose behind red light cameras has always been to reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths caused by red light violations. Anyone who’s ever been “t-boned” or broadsided at an intersection by a red-light runner can truly appreciate the value of enhanced enforcement. But City Controller Wendy Greuel's audit of the red light program noted camera installations were not automatically assigned to the most dangerous intersections (those with the highest rates of red-light related collisions). Nevertheless, the Chief’s report found that since the program’s inception, intersections with cameras showed a 63 percent decrease in red-light accidents and a 10 percent reduction in all types of collisions. But most importantly, there have been no red-light related fatalities since the cameras went up. Bottom line: these cameras have been doing what they’re supposed to.

The real problem with this program, as currently implemented, is that it is operating at a loss. The Controller’s audit determined that over the last two years, the PRLP has not generated sufficient revenue to cover its operation and maintenance expenses, and in fact, has cost the City $2.5 million. Why is this program losing millions? Too many drivers are simply disregarding the citations because doing so carries no consequence.

L.A. County Superior Court doesn’t actively pursue collections on outstanding red-light camera citations. Instead, it outsources this task to a collection agency and forgoes its own administrative collection tools. For other violations, the courts can use procedures like a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) hold for failures to appear. Courts can also enlist the help of the Franchise Tax Board (FTB). The Chief’s report makes a strong case for the effectiveness of these tools. Chief Beck notes that “The DMV hold is an important element to the successful operation of a PRLP. The State legislature recognized this in 1999 when Section 40509 of the California Vehicle Code was amended to specifically allow for notification to the DMV for failure to appear on PRL cases. Without a DMV hold, there is effectively no legal leverage to compel violators to respond to the court order.” The report goes on to detail how the FTB is also an effective tool and why other counties like San Diego are employing it with success.

But for red-light camera citations, the L.A. County Superior Court isn’t bothering. The apparent reason is that these citations require more work to prove that the person being cited was actually driving the car. The result of these slack collection efforts? Approximately 56,000 unsettled camera citations languishing in the court system, costing the City over $7 million in potential revenue. Indeed, the report found that the PRLP generated a jump in the annual number of red-light citations from 14,000 to 59,000, but the collection rate on these was a paltry 23 percent.

The LAPD, Los Angeles Department of Transportation, and the City Attorney's Office have had discussions with court officials to address the low collection rate on PRL citations, but the court’s leadership has refused to modify its current policy. The L.A. County Superior Court must lend a better effort to the success of a program designed to reduce collisions and save lives. Other counties have shown impressive successes in holding red-light violators accountable for their dangerous driving. Our county courts must follow suit.

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