LA Council Members Seek To Allow Police Chief To Fire Officers

LOS ANGELES -- Two members of the City Council introduced a motion today seeking to reform the process by which Los Angeles Police Department officers are disciplined, including allowing the police chief to fire officers immediately in egregious cases.

Currently, the police chief doesn't have the power to directly fire officers. Instead, the chief's recommendation is subject to a review by a three-member Board of Rights panel that is made up of either all-civilians or one civilian and two captains. The officer facing discipline can choose either option, and the chief cannot impose a punishment that exceeds the board's recommendation.

The motion by Council members Tim McOsker and Hugo Soto-Martinez seeks to eliminate the all-civilian option through a repeal of Measure C, which voters passed in 2017 that allows for an all-civilian panel. That model has consistently resulted in decisions that favor the officer facing discipline, according to a review by the Office of the Inspector General. The report found that in cases where the police chief recommends a termination, it has ``become common for the chief's recommendation to be rejected'' by the all-civilian panel.

Between 2019 and 2021, over two-thirds of reviews by the Board of Rights either reduced the recommended punishment or waived any punishment, according the report. Less than a third of reviews concurred with the chief.

Traditional panels agreed with the chief half the time during that period, while all-civilian panels reduced the penalty or declined to assess any penalty at all 77% of time.

McOsker and Soto-Martinez co-presented the motion despite having varying backgrounds on policing. McOsker was a lobbyist for the LAPPL, while Soto-Martinez has called for reallocating funding from the police department and, since joining the council, has voted against items funding LAPD.

McOsker said the duo is ``working together to make sure we're responsive to the needs of the department, the needs of our constituents, the needs of our city -- to make sure that we have transparency, responsiveness and accountability within our police department and better public safety services.''

-- City News Service