Guess How Many Bias Claims Were Upheld By the LAPD From 2012-2014?
Hint: It's a round number. Like, really round.
The LAPD's civilian watchdog Police Commission has just released a report finding
that none of the 1,356 bias claims filed against its officers from 2012-2014 were upheld.
That means either the LAPD has come a remarkably long way from the early 1990s, when Rodney King was savagely beaten by a group of white officers, or that the department simply can't be trusted to police its own allegations of abuse.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the commission's president Matt Johnson has called for a "deep-dive briefing" on how the department investigates itself, adding, "I don't think anybody believes that there are actually no incidents of biased policing."
Also from the Times article:
Commissioner Robert Saltzman echoed Johnson's remarks, calling the lack of substantiated allegations "quite troubling and disappointing."
"While no doubt the vast majority of LAPD officers do not engage in biased policing, it strains credibility to suggest that … there were zero instances of biased policing," he told The Times. "It should not be surprising that there is diminished trust in the LAPD given these results."
Apparently, one officer was deemed by the LAPD to have "engaged in biased policing a few years ago" and his termination was recommended, according to the department's Internal Affairs chief Cmdr. Stuart Maislin. However, "the board of rights panel found the officer not guilty of the biased policing allegations and fired him on a different charge."
Last year, the AP reported that a survey of 500 LAPD officers revealed "widespread concerns" about the department's discipline system and that "many of those interviewed said they believed internal investigations were unfair and that punishments were subjective."
