officers - The Black Vault

FD 350 (Rev 5·8·81)
•
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LOS ANGELES TIMES
Date: WED APRIL 3 1991
Edition: • 1 p 1
Transfers of·
Foothill Staff
~UnderWay
• Police: None were -
involved in the Rodney
King beating. The move is
designed to help restore
' public confid~nce in the
division, officials say.
By LESLIE BERGER
TIMES STAFF WRITER
More than a dozen Los Angeles
police officers, none of them involved
in the Rodney King beating,
.will be transferred from the
division where the incident (!Ccurred
Assistant Chief Robert
Verno~ said Tuesday. He said the
move is part of an effort to restore
public confidence. . .
Vernon said the off1Cers-mcluding
two lieutenants, at least
two sergeants, and about 10 patrol
officers-were being transferred
from the Foothill Division not as
. punishment but to ma~e room ~or
incoming officers wtth spectal
skills in community relations.
Most of the transfers, a few of
. which have already occurred, will
be effective a week from Sunday,
he said.
Vernon said Assistant Chief
Mark A. Kroeker, the San Fer.,.
nando Valley's top police official,
has been conducting a department-wide
search for officers
· noted for their compassion and
communications skills. They will·
be traded for members of Kroek­
., er's st.a!_f:
· The reassignments stem from an
order "to re-earn the trust of all
the people in the Valley, but, in
particular, in the Foothill area,"
Vernon said.
"I want to emphasize that the
people we are now moving out
have no connection with the Rodney
King case. Those folks have
-already been moved," said Vernon,
who declined to disclose the Foothill
officers' names. "The folks
being mov.ed out are not being
moved for any disciplinary reasons."
Despite Vernon's characterization
of the transfers, two other
pqlice sources said the ;e~ssign-
· ments were viewed wtthm the
embattled Foothill Division-the
Northeast Valley p~trol area
where King was arrested MB.!ch
3-as a form of housecleaning that
often follows scandals and unfairly .
involves officers with QO direct
connection to the problem. .-
The officers being transferred
tend to have seniority and 9av~
spent a good portion of their ·.·c..::
. reers .in that division, the sopl'ces
' · said. One said department .Qrass
'·-:o.wants "to bring in some new blood, .
that maybe there's a stagnation of
supervision." .
Another source, who also spoke
on the condition of anonymity, said
Foothill officers are bracing for
more changes. and believe that
these transfers are just the start.
However, Vernon said no further,
transfers are planned because of
the King case, but added that
Foothill may undergo some other
personnel changes as part of a
·department-wide effort to have
Trtle:
Metro Sect1on,
age
TRANSFERS OF FOOTHILL
STAFF UNDER WAY
Character: CIVIL RIGHTS
C~tion: 80-33B
Submitting Office:
LOS ANGELES
lndexino: L.
SEARCHED·--hi-,.....1' INDEXED_./_
SERIALIZED ll.S-JI~t~~---1
APR 1 2 1991
FBI LOS ANGELES I A 1/
lF
v
· officers' race and ethnicity reflect
that of the community. .
Foothill's officers now are 21%
Latino, a close match to the com-
• · munity's population, which is between
25% and 30% Latino, Ver­
' --nonsaid.
· But only 4% ·of the divi~on's
officers are black, while 20% of the
area's residents are black, Vernon
said, "so we have some distance to
- gothere."
Another 21 LAPD officers, including
four' who have been indicted
in King's beating and others
who were at the scene, have been
removed from field duty pending
the .outcome of investigations.
Some have been temporarily
transferred to other divisions ber
cause one police station cannot
accommodate . so many officers on
·deskduty. ·
FBI/DOJ