"If [the City Charter] is so clear and predictable, why is there a standing committee in the council, newly created, to review the charter?"
Council members, city attorneys and Chaleff agreed that Inspector General Jeffrey Eglash has the authority to conduct his own investigations into police misconduct, shootings by officers and other disciplinary matters.
But LAPD officials remained steadfast in their belief that areas of contention still exist, although they acknowledged that the department would work to resolve conflicts as they arise.
"These are issues that defy simplicity," Cmdr. Ronald Bergmann said after the council meeting.
Some confidential internal documents, for example, are protected under state law and the department still needs to determine the so-called protocols that would allow Eglash to review them.
The department still has concerns over parallel investigations in which the inspector general and the department are reviewing the same matter. LAPD officials said they are worried that Eglash could conduct key interviews before the department does, thus fouling its investigation. They wonder whether two reports would be submitted to prosecutors.
"We don't think these are insurmountable, but these are things we have to work out so we don't step on each other's toes," Bergmann said.
Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, a Parks supporter, said he is concerned that the entire issue is "a clash of cultures: sworn versus civilian."
"Is this matter the chief's call? I happen to think it is not. I don't know that it is the role of the chief--whoever the chief may be--to determine the role of the inspector general whose responsibility it is to be the external entity that presumably keeps the department honest."
Further, he said: "Have we not learned our lesson about deferring to any single individual with respect to the business of public safety in the city of Los Angeles?"
But council members, who control the department's budget, are far from pleased by the "public arm wrestling" as Feuer called it, over the inspector general.
"The spectacle of debate over this issue has to conclude," Feuer said.
