LAPPL Blog: The official blog of the Los Angeles Policy Protective League
Steve Cooley nominated for Golden Badge Foundation honor
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 04/30/2010 @ 02:01 PM
Today, an LA Times editorial endorsed District Attorney Steve Cooley for the Republican nomination for attorney general because they “have come to admire and respect him.” This is one of those refreshing days when the Los Angeles Police Protective League and the Los Angeles Times agree – the LAPPL Board admires and respects him, too.
For this reason, the League Board of Directors has nominated Cooley for the Golden Badge Foundation’s Civic Leadership Award. This award is presented annually to city and county administrators who have consistently acted in the best interest of public safety and law enforcement.
The Board believes he is highly deserving of the award for his outstanding leadership of the nation's premiere local prosecution agency. During his first term, Cooley accomplished an extensive office reorganization, based on his years of experience as a trial attorney and as a line reserve police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. He has developed a team equally capable of fighting crime in the streets and in the corridors of justice, resulting in an unparalleled breadth and quality of prosecutorial efforts.
As the district attorney, he has been relentless in his pursuit of public corruption and lawbreakers within the justice system. He has not only jailed swaggering politicians whose malfeasance had gone unpunished for years, but also obtained prison sentences for crooked attorneys who were accustomed to a mere slap on the wrist or a referral to the state bar.
His emphasis on forensic sciences has helped assure the optimal use of DNA in solving criminal cases and the prosecution of cold cases. From prosecuting gang members to going after high-tech criminals, experts on Cooley's staff of prosecutors and investigators are working with front-line law enforcement to take on all challenges.
Cooley is one of four law enforcement professionals the Board has chosen to nominate for Golden Badge awards this year. LAPD Officers Orlando Diaz and Erick Hernandez were nominated for the Heroism Award and civic leader Arthur M. Kassel was nominated for the Humanitarian of the Year Award. An LAPPL press release about all the nominees was issued today.
Keeping an eye on LAPD contracting
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 04/28/2010 @ 03:27 PM
As the City Council carefully examines the budget for the next fiscal year, now more than ever, the LAPD needs to watch where every dollar of its budget is going. We are watching, too. Especially when the City contracts with companies and consultants at the same time it is furloughing civilian personnel. One such action by the Board of Police Commissioners that caught our eye earlier this year was a $1.1 million contract extension awarded to Kennedy Court Reporters. The agreement covers court reporter services until October to transcribe audiotapes during criminal and administrative investigations, and record administrative disciplinary proceedings for sworn personnel, meetings of the Board of Police Commissioners and its subcommittees.
A Washington politician once remarked: “A million here, a million there. Pretty soon you are talking real money.” So it goes in Los Angeles these days. That’s why we’re watching any and all requests to buy services from outside the city. In the interest of being frugal with tax dollars and avoiding city worker furloughs, we think city personnel should be given the first opportunity to perform such work, rather than turning to expensive outside contractors.
Rampart – the Movie
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 04/21/2010 @ 02:00 PM
It has been said that “a lie gets half way around the world before the truth gets its pants on.” If that’s the case, Hollywood is once again about to circle the globe with the LAPD’s reputation.
We read today that there are plans to make a television movie about the “Rampart scandal.” A Daily Variety story accompanying the announcement assuredly notes that the scandal centers on the “widespread corruption” in Rampart Division in the 1990s, and that “more than 70 officers were implicated in misconduct.”
First off, we take issue with the broader characterization of a Rampart scandal, which should have been renamed long ago as the Rafael Pérez scandal. Because after all was said, written and investigated, the Rampart “scandal” resulted in four convictions – only two of which were for corruption. Also, as a result of Pérez’s lies, a federal court upheld a $15 million jury verdict for three Los Angeles police officers who were falsely arrested and prosecuted.
Now, after years of building trust and cooperation in the communities that need our officers’ protection the most, we are concerned that dramatic license will again be taken to twist the Rampart allegations into “proof” of widespread corruption in the LAPD – and that the actual facts in the Perez scandal will be glossed over in favor of what works creatively.
We note that the movie is to be based on a story by James Ellroy. If that is the case, we hope the movie will reflect Ellroy’s view of the scandal, of which he said in 2005: “…I've always characterized [the scandal] as a stick of dynamite with a wet fuse. Rampart is another of these misperceived criminal conspiracies. It's really the story of a handful of rogue, criminal cops who ratted out a wider number of untainted cops to save their own skins. And the entire event blew out of proportion into a media event that most people took to represent large-scale endemic corruption in the LAPD. In reality it wasn't that.”
We share Mr. Ellroy’s view that the Pérez case represented isolated officers whose wrongdoing was mischaracterized in an effort to taint every officer in the LAPD. We abhor corruption by police officers even more than those who claim the moral high ground (yet are willing to bend the facts to make profitable movies), because every officer ends up paying the price for those who fail to uphold their sworn oaths.
It is not fair to the innocent officers who were accused, and especially those still on the job protecting the public, to continue to misrepresent what happened at Rampart. While the substance of what Hollywood produces is fantasy, when movies based on widely reported incidents are inaccurate, we are compelled to continue to point out what really happened.
A solemn Friday morning on both coasts
Share your remembrances of Chief Gates
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 04/19/2010 @ 02:58 PM
Photo: Los Angeles Times
Early Friday morning, as LAPD and LAPPL officials and members were gathering at Arlington National Cemetery for the burial service for Marine Sgt. Maj. and LAPD SWAT leader Robert J. Cottle, the sad news came from Dana Point that Chief Daryl F. Gates had died.
In the thousands of words written and spoken about Chief Gates in recent days, one of the consistent themes has been his innovative approach to crime fighting and prevention. Chief Gates won national attention for instituting SWAT teams to handle crises, and those of us in Arlington on Friday morning could not help but reflect on the fact that the man who developed SWAT died on the same morning as one of the finest SWAT officers in the nation was being laid to rest.
Recently, we invited all members to share their memories and personal experiences of R.J. Today, we ask the same for Chief Gates. We want to honor the man who spent his entire four-decade career at the LAPD and was our second-longest serving chief (serving nearly as long as his mentor, Chief William H. Parker), from 1978 to 1992. Please leave a comment here on our blog. Or, if you have a longer story and/or photos to share, send them to info@lappl.org.
We shall never forget Chief Daryl Francis Gates.
04/20/2010 @ 05:00 PM - Attention: Due to a technical problem on our blog that has since been fixed, many of your tributes to Chief Gates were not transmitted to us (via our website) for us to post. We are extremely disappointed to have missed your responses and hope that you will take a few moments to resubmit your comments about this true icon of the Los Angeles Police Department. Thank you.
National Crime Victims’ Rights Week to be observed April 18-24
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 04/14/2010 @ 02:59 PM
| All of us in law enforcement know too well the tremendous difficulties crime victims and their families face as they work to overcome senseless acts of violence. That is why we are particularly sensitive to the importance and significance of the annual observance of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. Every April since 1981, crime victims, survivors, and those who serve them join together to commemorate and honor the individuals and the ideals that inspired the victims' rights movement. This year’s annual observance will be April 18-24, with the theme "Crime Victims' Rights: Fairness, Dignity, Respect" – reflecting the decades-long struggle to secure victims' rights in communities across the nation. |
2009 NCVRW Candlelight Observance attendees observe a moment of silence.
Chief among them are the right to access services that can help them rebuild their lives and the right to be notified if an offender is released from jail or prison.
As a nation, we have come a long way in recognizing and respecting the enormous physical, emotional and financial suffering endured by victims of crime. Attorney General Eric Holder put this in perspective in comments leading up to this year’s observance of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week: “In the not so distant past, victims were being routinely excluded from courtrooms and blamed for their victimization, realities that unfortunately still exist for far-too-many victims. Victims and advocates demanded fairness, dignity, and respect, and the time has come to acknowledge the progress made toward realizing these ideals. While there has been tremendous progress, challenges do remain.”
National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is a time to for our nation and our community to recommit to full rights and services for all victims and survivors of crime. By observing this important week, we all have an opportunity to join the fight for fairness, dignity and respect for all crime victims, survivors, and those who serve them.
More information on National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is available on the Web at ovc.ncjrs.gov/ncvrw/.
Will the LAPD become a hollow police force?
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 04/08/2010 @ 05:04 PM
In the 1970s, the term “hollow military” was used to describe the state of the U.S. Armed Forces. It remained formidable on paper, but in actuality was underfunded and overstretched.
“Hollow police force” may soon describe the Los Angeles Police Department. Drastic reductions in the civilian workforce, which performs vital administrative functions, has forced sworn officers from patrolling L.A. streets into offices where many are performing civilian personnel functions. In addition, officers are forced to stay home rather than fill vacancies in patrols because of strict limits on overtime.
As the LAPPL spelled out in a news release today, it is a myth that the LAPD has been exempt from the city’s budget cuts. The impact of officers being taken off the streets because of overtime concerns, and filling in for furloughed civilians or vacant civilian jobs, are very real. City officials need to carefully consider the impact of budget cuts and realize the consequences to public safety of any actions that increase police response time and decrease patrols in our city. These widespread cuts, in combination with forced time off, are resulting in significantly reduced police deployments throughout the city that threaten to create a public safety crisis this summer.
The fact is that civilian personnel perform duties that are crucial to effective law enforcement, such as taking 9-1-1 calls, warrant processing, data entry for suspect booking, grant writing and crime statistics analysis. If civilians aren't available to fulfill these critical roles, the responsibilities are shifted to sworn officers.
The numbers are real and troubling. At the end of the last fiscal year (June 2009), 3,958 civilian positions were authorized for LAPD. As of today, there are less than 3,000 LAPD civilian employees. That level is expected to drop to below 2,900 by July 1, 2010. In all, over 1,000 civilian jobs will be eliminated, and their roles will have to be filled by sworn officers.
As we pointed out in our release today, for every 100 officers who are pulled from field work to backfill vacant civilian positions, it is the equivalent of removing about 30 police cars citywide – and that has a dramatic impact on our ability to respond to calls for service and keep crime down. We are getting reports on a daily basis from our officers that they are spending increasing amounts of time in the station performing administrative tasks, rather than fighting crime on the streets. This threatens to reverse the LAPD's historic crime reductions in recent years.
The city cannot tolerate any further reductions in the civilian LAPD workforce. Many of the positions already cut need to be reinstated on a priority basis.
Officer Joshua Sewell: The right stuff in the right place at the right time
By on 03/31/2010 @ 06:26 PM
LAPD Motor Officer Joshua Sewell cut his vacation short to volunteer at the recent Los Angeles Marathon. It’s a good thing he did. Just ask 21-year-old Jay Yim, who is listed in good condition at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and expected to make a full recovery. At mile 18, Yim suffered a heart attack and Officer Sewell was one of the first people to come to his aid.
LA Times reporter Jeannine Stein recounts what happened [link: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2010/03/a-happy-ending-to-a-marathon-nightmare.html]:
When he [Officer Sewell] tried to revive Yim he got no response and found no pulse. Sewell yelled for someone to call an ambulance and recruited an LAPD bicycle officer to help administer CPR. "I did CPR in the [police] academy 15 years ago but not since then," he said. The lapse didn't seem to matter -- the routine kicked in and chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation were done with precise timing.
Also on the scene was Dr. Charles Chandler, chief of surgery at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center, who was watching the marathon from near his home and saw Sewell running by. "When I got there Jay was in the middle of the street -- completely still, and his pupils were dilated and he wasn't moving any air." Chandler helped out with CPR, eventually getting a pulse, and called UCLA's emergency room to tell the staff the ambulance was on its way.
After undergoing tests, it was discovered that Yim had suffered some seizures as well, possibly caused by the cardiac arrest, said Dr. Paul Vespa, director of Neurocritical Care at UCLA, who treated Yim. An MRI showed some brain swelling, and fearing brain injuries hypothermia was induced. In that process, the body is cooled to 32 degrees Celsius (the procedure is also used for some cardiac arrest cases) and is in a coma. The process, still somewhat controversial, basically brings on hibernation, Vespa said, causing a metabolism shutdown. "When you have a brain injury," he said, "a whole number of bad pathways get activated, and that can lead to cell death and damage. Hypothermia blocks those pathways." He added that hypothermia can also put the body at higher risk for infection, since the immune system is suppressed.
Yim's body was warmed after about 48 to 72 hours and he is now awake and talking. He's undergoing physical therapy, and while Vespa said it's too soon to tell if Yim will ever do another marathon, his overall prognosis is excellent. What caused his cardiac arrest still isn't known, and although it's unusual for someone his age and good health to suffer a heart attack, dehydration or inadequate nutrition during a marathon or other physical activity can trigger such catastrophic events.
But Yim, a USC pre-med student originally from Phoenix, has some incentive to run again. Sewell, who ran the marathon in 2006, said he promised he'll finish the last 8.2 miles with Yim when he's able. "I told him that, and he got a big old smile on his face," Sewell said, adding that he’s been spending a lot of time with Yim and his family. "I got a little emotionally attached to this one."
We commend Officer Sewell for his quick actions and dedication that saved Yim's life. He is an exemplary representative of the more than 9,900 men and women of the LAPD. Thanks to the LA Times' Jeannine Stein for sharing a great story with a happy ending.
Memories of a hero
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 03/31/2010 @ 06:18 PM
R.J. Cottle and "Tank", Christmas Day
The tragic news that our LAPD brother, SWAT Officer R.J. Cottle, was killed in action in Afghanistan last week while serving in the United States Marine Corps Reserve sent shockwaves through the Department. In a testament to the huge impact R.J. made in the far-too-brief time that he was with us, we immediately started receiving phone calls, e-mails, photos and offers of support for R.J.'s family. The immense love and respect felt for R.J. by his fellow officers, Marines and those he served and protected is a direct result of the pride he took in his country, family, and service in the LAPD and Marine Corps. He touched many lives and we are forever grateful for his sacrifice.
We invite you to share your personal experiences and memories of R.J., so that we can properly honor this great man and hero, both here on our website and in the upcoming issue of the Thin Blue Line. Leave a comment here on the blog, or if you have a longer story and/or photos to share, please send them to info@lappl.org, providing information such as the date, location and additional persons in the photo.
We will never forget R.J. Thank you.
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