Notes from the December 4, 2024 Police Commission Weekly Meeting

•    The Police Commission welcomed its newest member, Robert Saltzman, at this week’s meeting.  Commissioner Saltzman is Associate Dean of USC Law School and was previously Vice President of the City Ethics Commission.  He fills the seat left vacant by outgoing Commissioner Shelley Freeman.  Commissioner Saltzman thanked the members of the Commission and discussed some of his recent activities leading up to this week’s meeting.  He also introduced one of his guests, USC Gould School of Law student Shervin Lalezary, who was present.

•    Police Commission Vice President John Mack spoke of the late Commander Homer Broome, whose funeral took place on Saturday, December 1, 2007.  Broome was named the Department's first black Captain in 1969 and Commander in 1975, earning a well-deserved spot in Department and Los Angeles history books. 

•    The LAPD Command Staff participated in a 1½ -day direct reports retreat, in which they discussed strategies for 2008 and the vision for the future.

•    There are currently 353 recruits in the Academy.

•    In 2006, five sworn former employees who had gone to other agencies returned to the Department.  So far in 2007, 13 sworn former employees have returned to the Department.

•    The Inspector General attended last week’s 21st Century Mobile Field Force training session at Los Alamitos and characterized the training as valuable.

•    The Police Commission awarded the Police Commission Distinguished Service Medal to Officer Richard Nagatoshi for his work in creating the LAPD Bomb Squad’s new state-of-the-art command vehicle.

•    The Police Commission awarded Police Meritorious Unit Citations to members of the Bomb Squad and the Criminal Conspiracy Section for their work on a particulary dangerous mission involving dynamite in a refrigerator.  Recipients included Captain Justin Eisenberg, Lieutenant Gary Lynch, Sergeant Michael Salinaz, Detectives Jim Joy, Ron Capra, Doug Stice, Brandon Martin, Jack Blanchard, Kevin Korne, Ray Morales, Al Silvas, and Mike Kozak, and Police Officers Jackie Hickey, Don Thompson, Anthony Huerstel, Rick Nagatoshi, and Steven Kuranishi.

•    The Department’s report, dated November 12, 2007, relative to the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program grant application for Fiscal Year 2007-2008 submitted to the United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance in to the total amount of $787,548.79, was approved.

•    The Department’s report, dated November 27, 2007, relative to the proposed additions to Council-approved records retention schedules for original/official records for Detective Support and Vice Division, Office of the Chief of Police, Personnel Division, Scientific Investigation Division, and Use of Force Review Division, was approved.

•    The Department’s report, dated November 27, 2007, relative to the proposed revisions to Council-approved records retention schedules for original/official records for Internal Affairs Group, Office of Operations, Pacific Area, Personnel Division, Risk Management Group, and Scientific Investigation Division, was approved.

•    The Department’s report, dated November 27, 2007, relative to the proposed new records retention schedules for original/official records for Office of the Inspector General and Duplicate/Official Records for Office of Inspector General, was approved.

•    The amended Department’s report, dated November 12, 2007, relative to the Fact Sheet addressing the City Council’s motion to extend the Deputy Probation Officer Pilot Program in Operations-Valley Bureau, was approved.

•    The Department’s report, dated November 19, 2007, relative to the amended Southeast Area Gang Enforcement Detail Command Accountability Performance Audit report and amended Executive Summary, was approved.

•    The Department’s report, dated November 12, 2007, relative to the adjudication of Categorical Use of Force incidents - completion of training status report, was approved.

•    The Inspector General’s report, dated November 30, 2007, relative to the Activity Report for September 2006 through October 2007, was approved.

•    The Inspector General’s Report, dated November 29, 2007, relative to the Annual Categorical Use of Force incidents for the Calendar Year 2006, was approved.

Comments

[El Tecolote]

Item #5 says,"In 2006, five sworn former employees who had gone to other agencies returned to the Dept. So far in 2007, 13 former sworn employees have returned to the Dept."

That's interesting but how many have left and not returned? Is that number 50, 100 or more?

How many of those that left are happily performing police duties in communities where management is more in tune to the wants and needs of the rank and file?

[jake smith]

Still no funding or a solution to replace the astro radios yet? What is taking so long? Does someone need to die to get priority funding for new handheld radios for the department. Council give the dept what they need to do their job: New Radios!