LAPPL Blog: The official blog of the Los Angeles Policy Protective League
Leaving on a jet plane
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 10/29/2009 @ 02:05 PM
When Chief Bratton boards a New York-bound plane at LAX on Sunday morning to begin his new career as a private security consultant, he leaves behind three men who are on the short list of finalists being considered as his replacement.
By then, Mayor Villaraigosa will have interviewed Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell and Deputy Chiefs Charlie Beck and Michel Moore, and will be considering his choice for the next LAPD Chief. An announcement could come as early as Monday.
The League is pleased that the Chief selection process has gone smoothly. We are confident we can work with whoever is chosen.
Chief Bratton summed up the situation at a news conference Wednesday: “All three of them are extraordinary individuals, consummate professionals. The city is going to be in good hands under the stewardship of whichever one of them is privileged to be the next Chief.”
Most political pundits and editorial writers approve of the three finalists and the way the selection process has been conducted.
It’s a rare day in L.A. when the Police Commission, the Chief of Police and editorial writers are all on the same page at the same time. The stars seem to be aligning for the new Chief to begin his tenure with broad support across the City … and high expectations for success.
Choosing the Chief
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 10/22/2009 @ 11:25 AM
As the Police Commission continues to interview candidates for Chief of Police, speculation swirls over who will replace Chief William Bratton.
The League is confident it can work with all the candidates. The process continues until the Mayor makes his selection from three finalists. The League is not endorsing any candidate nor working behind the scenes favoring one candidate over another. Any rumor to the contrary is absolutely false.
We are ready to welcome the new Chief of Police and look forward to working with him/her during an extremely challenging time in the City and Department’s history.
Memo to the L.A. Times editorial department
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 10/19/2009 @ 05:00 PM
The Los Angeles Times newsroom has been hit hard with layoffs. That may explain why the editorial writers are apparently clueless about a 2006 court decision favoring LAPPL’s strong stand in support of police officer privacy. (Copley Press v. Superior Court (2006) 39 Cal 4th 1272; you can read the LA Times coverage of the ruling at: http://articles.latimes.com/2006/sep/01/local/me-police1.)
Sunday’s editorial, “The LAPD’s come a long way” made some good points but this one sentence left us scratching our heads and rushing to the keyboard:
Huh?
First and foremost, we have always worked hard to protect and promote the wages and benefits police officers deserve.
We invite the LA Times editorial department to make a note of our organization’s mission statement: The mission of the Los Angeles Police Protective League is to vigilantly protect, promote, and improve the working conditions, legal rights, compensation and benefits of Los Angeles Police Officers.
That has been and will continue to be one of our core missions – and, for most of 2009, precisely what we focused on in securing a tentative labor contract for our 9,900 members.
Equally important, we fight for the legal rights of LAPD officers. Like all other Americans, police officers have a right to keep their personnel records private. Employee disciplinary proceedings (and litigation matters) have never been in the public domain.
The public has a right to know the names of officers if they are indicted for a crime, and the public has the right to know that internal investigations of police officers are fair and above reproach. But allegations made in administrative disciplinary proceedings, which may or may not be true, should not be available to the media, where officers and other employees would have no legal recourse and could not defend themselves against such reports. This is why we fight so hard for officers’ rights of privacy and, thankfully, the state Supreme Court agrees.
We thought of sending this in a letter to the editor – but the Times seems to never publish our letters. Frankly, with all the cutbacks at the newspaper, our blog just might be getting greater readership these days anyway.
LA Not So Confidential – Part II
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 10/15/2009 @ 02:12 PM
We were still reeling from the discovery of highly sensitive records carelessly stored in a back hallway at the Northeast Police Station when we learned of an even more serious breach at the Southwest Division.
Incredibly, the material “stored” in Southwest’s parking structure includes a massive number of documents that should be under lock and key in a high-security facility. The documents include:
- Detailed overtime information with officers’ names, social security numbers and serial numbers
- Officers Daily field activities reports
- Detective logs
- Completed crime reports with victim and witness information
- Completed STOP data collected by the Department to comply with the Consent Decree
- Search warrants
- “Burn boxes” containing material that is supposed to be destroyed
- Arrestee booking information
- Boxes marked “Evidence” and “Analyzed Evidence”
The parking area where the boxes of records are stored is accessible to city employees and even some visitors. A “Do Not Remove” sign and crime scene tape hardly qualify as appropriate security for such sensitive information! The LAPD’s negligent management of this confidential material leaves officers, and now crime victims, exposed.
Each time the LAPPL has brought these types of security breaches to the Department’s attention, we have received unsatisfactory responses and inadequate remedial action.
We demand LAPD meet at least the same standard of protection that government requires of private companies for the storing of information – and for rectifying the situation, when security breaches do occur.
As we said in 2007 when we exposed confidential files in the hallway of Parker Center and again this week, these shocking discoveries are not isolated cases. They represent a Department that has failed to act or put real safeguards in place for the handling and storing of confidential information. This is why protecting officers’ and the public’s privacy will continue to be a top priority of the League.
L.A. Not So Confidential
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 10/13/2009 @ 10:30 PM
Most recent example of unsecured document storage. This photo is from LAPD's Northeast Station.
A very disturbing photo was recently sent to the LAPPL showing stacks of document boxes in the back hallway near the employee main entrance of Northeast Station. Upon closer examination, our surprise turned to outrage.
The boxes contained confidential personnel complaints against LAPD officers, including names, serial numbers and work locations, in an area fully accessible to all employees! Unfortunately, this shocking discovery is not an isolated case. It is just the latest example of the Department not exercising good judgment and appropriate safeguards in the handling and storing of confidential and sensitive information. This is why protecting officer privacy is a top priority of the League and will continue to be.
We have fought hard in recent years to ensure that the personnel information of officers remains private. The "Kodak moment" at Northeast is another pointed reminder of what we have been saying for several years: Confidential information about officers is not secure. It is only a matter of time before the financial information provided by officers in sensitive assignments will be compromised if we don’t take a strong stand.
Please continue to notify the League whenever you spot breaches in the handling of confidential material by the Department.
Files in hallway of Parker Center in 2007
LAPD Pride
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 10/09/2009 @ 05:29 PM
Months ago, we congratulated Bill Bratton on his six-year run as chief of police and wished him well. We hate to rain on his parade as he leaves town with four years remaining on a five-year commitment, but we were taken aback by his comments earlier this week as reported by the highly reputable blog, LA Observed.
An excerpt:
It's fine for the Chief to look back with pride at his tenure. But going way back to the days of Chief Parker and Gates with the rhetoric he used in the Los Angeles magazine interview is uncalled for and, frankly, a cheap shot. Chief Bratton has done some great things for LAPD, as did his predecessors. To completely discount the positives of the Parker and Gates eras is an uncalled-for slap at those officers who worked hard for those chiefs and respected them. Since he didn’t mention it, let us point out that the current command staff selected by Chief Bratton were, for the most part, trained and mentored by Chief Gates. Many of us were around during the “bad, old LAPD culture” and we served the people of Los Angeles with pride and honor, regardless of who the chief was.
We hope Chief Bratton sticks to the high road on the way of out of town, as we wish him the best in his new career and retirement from city policing.
Heads up: Tax change coming soon
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 10/08/2009 @ 02:01 PM
Attention all League members and, for that matter, everyone earning wages in California: A tax change passed by lawmakers in July as part of their attempt to deal with the budget crisis will impact your take-home pay starting in November. Under ABX4-17, on November 1, state tax withholdings for all wage earners will increase by another 10 percent. This means, for example, if you currently pay $100 in state taxes per pay period, you will soon see $110 withheld from your paycheck. While we didn’t find a great deal of media coverage on the topic, here are a few articles for more information:
“State to hike income tax,” The Signal (Santa Clarita Valley)
“Taxes: Paychecks to shrink beginning November 1,” North Coast Times
The state says that the money will be refunded to taxpayers who qualify for a rebate in 2010. According to tax experts, you can file a DE-4 form to change your withholdings and increase exemptions to compensate for the additional withholding amount. The form is available here.
Of course, it is always a good idea to check with a tax advisor to be sure you are withholding the proper amount from your wages.
Presumption of innocence: A reminder
By LAPPL Board of Directors on 10/07/2009 @ 01:00 PM
After being charged with conspiracy and perjury for allegedly lying under oath during a drug possession trial in 2008, three LAPD officers have agreed to appear later this week for arraignment.
It happens rarely, but is always painful when a police officer is charged in a criminal case. While we do not disregard the seriousness of these allegations, it is important to remind ourselves and the public that being considered innocent until proven otherwise is a legal right that is a basic tenet of our democracy and should be afforded every citizen.
The officers in this case deserve the benefit of the doubt while they go through the legal process. No one should jump to conclusions before all of the evidence is heard and a judicial determination can be made.
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