officers - The Black Vault

FD-350 1 (Rev. 5·8·81)
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PERSPECTIVE ON POLICE
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
LAPD Furor Calls for
Broad, Special Probe
Date: LOS ANGELES TIMES
Edition: ~"lED • lfJ.A:R 2 0 , 1991
METRO SECTION, PAGE 7
Title: LAPD FUROR CALLS FOR
BROAD, SPECIAL PROBE
Character: CIVIL RIGHTS
or
Classification:
8 O _ 3 3 B
Submitting Office:
LOS ANGELES
An independent panel could
restore public confidence and
recommend ways to make the
chief accountable.
By WILLIAM R. ROBERTSON
and RONALD A. DiNICOLA
I
n 1970, a police officer named Frank
· Serpico .came forward With reports
of widespread graft and corruption
in the New York Police Department.
Frustrated by the failure of his superiors
to act on his reports over a period of
years, he finally took his story to the
New York Times. The story stunned the
nation as the charges of police corruption
and subsequent deparnmental
shake-ups became front-page news
·across the country.
New York Mayor John Lindsay soon
announced the formation of an independent
commission, a "citizens' group,"
to be chaired. by federal Judge Whitman
Knapp, at the time a Wall Street lawyer,
and including Cyrus Varice and other
prominent New Yorkers. Its task was to
review the city's procedures for investigating
corruption.
The Knapp Commission had a great
and positive psychological impact on the
public. Various attempts to deny it
funding, to limit its subpoena power or
to otherwise frustrate its mandate failed.
When city funds eventually ran out,
'federal funds allowed it to complete its
work. It conducted its own investigation ·
.that extended to the systemic causes.and
nature of police corruption and therefore
went beyond the scope of grand
jury proceedings. Its public hearings
were an important and tangible symbol
to the community. Over time, the commission
came to be viewed on a local and
national level as a forum with integrity.
,. In determining the . appropriate re-:
sponse to the crisis facing the Los
Angeles Police Department, it is necessary
to see beyond the day Chief Daryl
Gates holds office. With or without
Gates, important questions need to be.
answered if we are to make meaningful
progress in finding a long-term solution
to the problem of police brutality. The
deep emotional fissures in the community
dictate that these questions be presented
and resolved in· a 'formal .and
·public manner. The formation of something
similar to the Knapp Commission
would be one way of dealing with this in
a comprehensive· fashion.
We s_tronr!l:V recmpmend that ~ayor
Tom Bradley form such an investigative·
body, granting it a mandate that in-
• eludes investigating specific instances of
police harassment and brutality, the
· institutional causes of any pattern of
harassment and brutality that may be
found to eXist, and the jssues.-of public
accountability and tenure of the chief of
• police. An inves~igative commission
· would represent to the nation an~ the
community a bold response by local
·government to the need for accountabil.­
~ty within our police department. Amer.:.
ica is watching as Los Angeles decides
whether and to what exteqt a democrat-·
ic society can place so important a state'
function as chief of police beyond the;
reach of elected civilian government.
Neither the grand jury process nor the.
Plice Commission is the appropriate'
forum in which to address these issues.;
The · grand jury's scope is generally;
restricted to investigations of specific.·
criminal actions and it conducts its.
business in secret. An investigative··
commission would not be so restricted:
lnd . CHED·--~ INDEXEQ,__ __ 1
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MAR 2 :7 1991
t e resources nor the tiiri
Hie ype o :w required.
In addition, it might present a
confliCt .of interest to have such an
investigation carried out by the very
body responsible for helping to manage
. the department. .
The mere formation of an investiga-
'The Police Commission .
has neither the resources nor
, ..: ·· the time ~o engage in the
. type of detailed investigation
required.'
tive · commission would have several
positive effects. It would focus attention
on identifyJng and implementing long-.
term structural change within the de­
'J)artment. It would permit the develop-
- rrient of a comprehensive factual record
regarding allegations of police misconduct
and mismanagement. And it would
provide insight into the .manner in
which the City Charter should be
changed .to ,ensure that the chief of
police is made more accountable to the
·public.
The highest law-enforcement priority
in a democratic society is protecting the
public from civil-rights violations carried
our under color of law. Forming an
investigative commission is a necessary
first step in satisfying this priority. It
would be important for LOs Angeles, for
the country and for civil rights.
William R. Robertson is the executive
" and, more important, it would provide a• secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles
public forum and a measure of commu-: County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO;
nity participation. With all respect to . Ronald A. DiNicola is a lawyer and
the Police co~ission, it has neithi/