Notes from the February 17, 2025 Weekly Police Commission Meeting

• Police Chief William Bratton reported as a result of the economic downturn, the Department has been able to recruit a lot more candidates as one of the few law enforcement agencies in the nation still hiring.  Chief Bratton added he, along with several other major city chiefs of police, would be meeting with the new Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, in Washington D.C. at the end of the month.

• The Office of the Mayor’s verbal presentation relative to Gang Strategy Initiatives for prevention, intervention, suppression, and re-entry as presented by Deputy Mayor of Homeland Security and Public Safety Arif Alikhan and the Director of Gang Reduction and Youth Development, Reverend Jeff Carr, was received.  Deputy Mayor Khan stated the City’s collaborative efforts have had tremendous success.  Suppression efforts have targeted areas of the City with the highest need and most at-risk youth.  He added that the Community Law Enforcement and Recovery program has been expanded to Southeast, Southwest and Ramona Gardens.  Reverend Carr spoke on the prevention and intervention aspects of the gang strategy initiatives.  He stated the ages at which youth are most likely to be introduced to gang affiliation are between the ages of 10-15 years old.  With that in mind, the Mayor’s office is working to develop an intervention and training academy to prevent the flow of children into gangs.  Other programs include the expansion of the Summer Night Lights program and a gun buy-back campaign set for Mothers Day 2009.

• The Office of the City Attorney’s verbal presentation relative to gang prosecution as presented by Deputy City Attorney Bruce Riordan was received.  Mr. Riordan informed the Commission the City has a gang removal petition in place and has received 20 applications thus far from individuals who wish to denounce their gang affiliation for this year.

• The Department’s verbal presentation and update, in response to Board query, relative to the status of DNA processing backlog as presented by Deputy Chief Charlie Beck was received.  Deputy Chief Beck reported he assigned 50 detectives to sort through 55,000 items of evidence in order to develop a database with an accurate accounting of backlogged sexual assault kits.  There are a total of 4,423 untested CODIS eligible cases remaining, all of which will be tested.  Chief Beck added the public will be able to track the Department’s progress on processing of the backlog on the Department’s website in the near future.

• The Department’s verbal presentation and update, in response to Board query, relative to the status of the Latent Print Task Force as presented by Deputy Chief Charlie Beck and Police Administrator Yvette Sanchez-Owen was received.  Deputy Chief Beck informed the Commission as a result of the Task Force, six print examiners have been relieved of their fingerprint duties and all cases which they originally examined are now being re-examined.  The number of cases being re-examined is 1,139 and the Department is currently a third of the way through.  No other discrepancies have been found.  Deputy Chief Beck added the Unit is seeking a new facility and the section manual will be completed in the next few months.

• The Department’s report, dated January 30, 2009, relative to Ethics Enforcement Section Quarterly Report, Fourth Quarter, 2008, was received and the Office of the Inspector General was directed to submit an analysis of this report along with any appropriate recommendations to the Board.

• The Department’s report, dated February 4, 2009, relative to Hunter-La Ley 1st Quarter Report – Covering Deployment Periods 7-9, Fiscal Year 2008-09, was approved.

• The Department’s report, dated February 4, 2009, relative to Hunter-La Ley 2nd Quarter Report – Covering Deployment Periods 10-13, Fiscal Year 2008-09, was approved.

• The Department’s report, dated February 3, 2009, relative to Supervisory Performance evaluations Audit, Fourth Quarter, Fiscal Year 2007-08 (AD No. 07-023), was received and filed.

• The Department’s report, dated February 9, 2009, relative to the City Council Motion relative to Photo Red Light, Council file No. 07-1202-S4, was approved and transmitted to the Public Safety and Transportation Committees.

• The Inspector General’s report, dated February 5, 2009, relative to the Office of the Inspector General’s Complaint Investigations Audit – Fiscal Year 2008/2009, as presented by Inspector General André Birotte was approved.   Inspector General Birotte stated he was pleased with the audit’s outcome and complimented the Department on a job well done in the investigation of complaints of misconduct.

• The Department’s report, dated November 3, 2008, and Inspector General’s report, dated February 5, 2009, relative to the Review of the Ethics Enforcement Section’s Quarterly Report, Third Quarter, 2008, was approved.

• The Department’s report, dated February 12, 2009, relative to Commission Request for Follow-up information regarding TDD Devices and Video Phones for Hearing Impaired, as presented by Captain Gregory Allen was approved.  Captain Allen informed the Commission the Department is moving forward with its requisition and has ordered ten TDD devices.  Four devices will be distributed to the four area traffic divisions, one to LAX, one to the new Olympic Station, one to the new Topanga Station, and the last three will serve as back-up if one of the existing devices were to malfunction.  He added the Department has also ordered 25 video phone devices.

• The Department’s report, dated February 12, 2009, relative to the Cause and Correction Action Report: Release of Confidential Information, was approved and transmitted to the Public Safety Committee.

• The Executive Director’s report, dated February 12, 2009, relative to Review and Transmittal of the Proposed Request for Proposal for the West Bureau and South Bureau Heavy Duty Towing & Storage Services Official Police Garage Contract RFP 07-980-003, was approved and transmitted to the Mayor and City Council.

Comments

[Hijinx]

Again, re the TDD audits, it's a waste to have a captain like Greg Allen in there doing that. He's a leader and superior command employee, as was his predecessor, Bill Scott. Can't someone else perform this oversight?

[Ed O'Shea]

As for the Purple Heart Award: I think it is about time and don’t understand why this is even a debate if it even is? I applaud the Police Commissioners for getting out front on this issue. It’s nice to see everyone from the Police Commission, the LAPD Chief of Police Bratton and the LAPPL on the same page. It’s refreshing to see such team work instead of the status quo anti-police rhetoric we were used too. As a Military man, I have ZERO, problem with the LAPD calling the Award the “LAPD Purple Heart”. Anyone who has been in combat and is not a pretender, but someone who has truly danced with the elephant, knows what it’s like to loose a fellow Warrior. True Warriors will not have a problem with the name of the Award being, “The LAPD Purple Heart.” As long as this doesn’t turn into a “feel good Award”, and is only given when an Officer is seriously injured as a result of a violent suspects actions. As Lt. Col Dave Grossman, says “Combat and inner human aggression is a toxic and corrosive environment.” Serious injury caused by the violent, direct and overt action of a suspect, whether it be by a gun shot, knife wound, beaten with a blunt object or being center punched by a car that you were unable to get out of the way of is certainly worthy of the highest thanks. Not only do the Officers deserve it, but the Officers family deserves to see and feel that gratitude from the city for them making the ultimate sacrifice to the city, in either loosing or almost loosing their loved one in the line of duty. For that matter the citizens of this city deserves to see and hear about these types of sacrifices being made on their behalf.

I hope the City does the only correct thing here and makes the creation of this award come to fruition. Thank you to Chief Bratton and The Los Angeles Police Commission for getting this done. It’s been a long time coming, but better late than never. Good Job Ladies and Gentlemen.

[A P SULLIVAN]

Why dont we post a blog article on the PUrple Heart Article from the LA Times? I think it would be relevant. Here it is:

LAPD officers lobby for police 'purple heart' awards
7:25 AM | February 18, 2025
It's been rejected several times over the last two decades, but the Los Angeles Police Protective League again is vigorously lobbying city officials to honor fallen officers with police "purple heart" medals.

Purple hearts have been a military tradition for more than 200 years, and the police union argues that awarding them sends an important message to the rank and file.

“It will speak volumes about the city’s concern for the welfare and safety of police officers, in addition to the city’s appreciation for the extraordinary sacrifices made by officers and their families,” union President Paul Weber said.

Names under consideration for the LAPD award include "purple heart," "purple shield" and "blue heart."

The proposal has been rejected in the past because opponents said the awards were too costly and that by highlighting injuries and deaths, the purple hearts could negatively affect police recruiting. One internal LAPD report deemed "an award for injuries sustained in the line of duty serves little or no useful purpose."

But Police Commissioner Alan Skobin, who floated the revised proposal, said those arguments don't hold water because the department already has a commendations board that issues hundreds of citations every year.

Skobin's proposal would also include giving the purple hearts to the families of officers killed in the line of duty. He said he favors giving the medals to families of officers killed before creation of the award.

"This is the least we could do for someone who literally takes a bullet or suffers other injuries for the people of Los Angeles," Skobin said. "Grieving families of the deceased officers are told that the sacrifices made by them and their deceased loved one will never be forgotten. This puts meaning to the words and demonstrates appreciation for their sacrifice won't diminish with time."

Other law enforcement agencies with similar awards include Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento. In 1995, then-New York City Police Commissioner William J. Bratton created the "purple shield" program in New York.