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Internal Affairs probed officers in few suits
By Patrick McGreevy
and Rick Orlov
Daily News Staff Writers
The Los Angeles Police De­
.partment's Internal Affairs Division
investigated officers in
36 of the 140 major lawsuits
against the department that
were settled in the last five
:years, according to a report released
Tuesday. .
As a result of the investigation
of cases that involved 50
LAPD officers, two officers
were fired and 1 7 were suspeilded,
said the report by the
·city's Chief Legislative Analyst.
The damage awards and settlements
range from lawsuits
stemming from police traffic
acci?~n.ts to accidental sho.otings·
of clVIhans and cost the city $20
million over the past five years
- $9 million last year alone, the
report said. ·
The findings drew critical reactions
Tuesday from members of
two Los Angeles City Council
panels that had asked for the review
in the wake of the videotaped
police beating of Rodney
Glen King in Lake View Terrace
on March 3.
"I'm very concerned,,. said
Co~ncHman Zev Yaroslavsky,
chairman of the council's Budget
and Finance Committee. "I
think we need some explanation
why close to 70 percent of the
cases were not investigated by the
internal affairs office." /
Councilman Richard Alatorre
said he also was "troubled" by
the low percentage of officers
who were disciplined and the level
of the discipline, which he
said did not seem harsh given the
large cost of the settlements.
"When you see the discipline,
you begin to question whether, in
fact, the discipline is commensurate
wit~ the loss that the city of
Los Angeles has been exposed
to," said Alatorre, who is chairman
of the council's Public Safety
Commission.
Yaroslavsky said workers in
the private sector would be fired
if their actions caused 'litigation
resulting in judgments on the
scale being paid by the city.
"It (the report) raises the ques­
'tion in my mind about whether
Date:
Edition:
DAILY NEWS
WED. MAR 27, 1991
Front Section, Page 1
Title:INTERNAL AFFAIRS PROBED
OFFICERS IN FEW SUITS
Character:
or 80-33B
Classification:
Submitting Office:
+-OS ANGELES
lndexina:
SEARCHED
INDEXED
SERIALIZED fiLED. '----I
APR 15 1991
FBI
LOS ANGELES j
there is a serious commitment
from the top of the department to
delve into these incidents," Yaroslavsky
said. , .
The panels headed.by Yaro-.
slavsky and Alatorre held a joint
hearing Tuesday at City Hall
where they were told by Police
Cmdr. George Morrison that all
· i_ncidents that result in lawsuits
are investigated by the department,
although not always by internal
affairs.
Morrison, who is the chief of
staff for Police Chief Daryl F.
Gates, alSo told the council committees
that sometimes lawsuits
result in judgments or settle-
1 men~ eyen t~ough no sp~cific of­
. fleer IS Identified as havmg com-
, mitted wrongdoing. In those
cases, it is hard to discipline offi­
\. cers, he said.
Council members said additional
review of police settlements
and disciplinary actions
' will be conducted. ·
! Also at City Hall on Tuesday:
: • Civil Service commissioner
Clare Bronowski resigned at the
' req~est of May.or Tom Bradley,
leadmg some City Council mem­
: bers to claim that she was forced
out in advance of a possible Civil
I
Service hearing against Gates.
· Bronowski was appointed to.·
i another city commission and replaced
on the Givil Service board
I by labor l~wyer Larry Drasin of
Tarzana. Bradley -spokesm-an Bill
I , Chandler characterized the shift
· .as routine and said the action was
not related to growing'fmtion between
Gates and the mayor, who
wants the chief to retire. ·.
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