Police Use Flashlight to Subdue Suspect

Los Angeles: On April 19, 2008, at around 4:00 a.m., patrol officers were dispatched to a radio call to investigate a group of burglary suspects at the Whole Food for Life Market at 3070 Los Feliz Boulevard.

When police arrived, they saw four suspects on the roof of the market and established a perimeter to contain the group. After police ordered the group down, one adult and two juveniles climbed down and were immediately taken into custody without incident. The remaining juvenile, a 14-year-old male climbed down moments later.

Sergeant Richard Rakitis, 28 years, and 2 months with the Department, placed his hands on the 14-year-old juvenile to take him into custody. The teen suddenly became combative and turned towards Rakitis. Rakitis attempted to grab the juvenile and a struggle ensued. During the struggle, the teen was hit above the eyebrow with a flashlight.

The juvenile suffered a bruise to his eyebrow and was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and released.

The investigation revealed the suspects had trespassed to gain access to a rooftop to spray paint graffiti on an adjacent billboard. All four were booked for felony vandalism.

Force Investigation Division will be handling the incident. 

Comments

[Ed O'Shea]

A weapon of immediate means! Good job Sgt. Raktis, I'm glad your ok. What's next Chief, foam flashlights?

14 huh, Mom and dad are doing a splendid job with Jr. Maybe the Mayor can take this little pillar of society under his wing and mentor him.

[Dis and Dat]

I'll take it one step further. The parents of these young punks should pay for the expense of removing their kids' "artwork" on the billboard or wherever else they were spraypainting.

[Not Your Dad's LAPD]

Get yourself a good LAPPL lawyer sergeant because the rubber flash light squad staff officers on your use of force review board ain't gonna give you no love.

[Robert Davis]

The Consent Decree has been a source of fascinating unintended consequences and in so many cases has become self-defeating. Take this example. Force Investigation Division has to investigate the use of a flashlight because it struck another person in the head during a tactical incident. It may have been accidental but that makes no difference in the requirement for FID to handle.

For those of you not familiar with the level of investigation this requires, FID will have available dozens of personnel if required and usually within a few months to as much as a year to complete the investigation.

Here is where things get interesting.

An officer chases a suspect and tackles him. He has a side-handle baton held in a baton ring. The baton flips in the ring due to momentum and strikes the suspect in the head. It was unintended, there is no injury and plenty of citizen witnesses to back the story. A team of FID personnel will handle the investigation with weeks if not months to conclude it.

The same officer intentionally strikes the same suspect numerous times to subdue him and take him into custody. The suspect has cuts and bruises all over but no broken bones and no hospitalization. This time a supervisor from the officer’s division handles the investigation, and he/she has to get the investigation done that shift.

The Consent Decree is like the old "dumb terminals" for computers. It cannot distinguish between incidents that truly need to be investigated by the pros and those that do not. This lack of reasonableness robs these specialized units of their most valuable asset - TIME. They end up spending TIME on minor investigations which helps contribute to the major investigations taking a year or more to finish. It also puts in place a system that offers the greater possibility a serious incident gets missed due to a poor investigation.

This specific investigation may be worthy, but the consequences of a Consent Decree built by a majority of people not competent in police operations continues to hobble a great Department rather than help it. Why can’t our City leaders see the Emperor has no clothes?