THE LOS ANGELES Police Commission's finding last week that an officer's shooting of a 13-year-old was "out of policy" puts it on a political collision course with Police Chief William J. Bratton. More important, it places the commission at odds with a large majority of the police officers it purports to lead.
After an internal LAPD investigation, Bratton concluded that the Feb. 6, 2005, shooting in South Los Angeles was a tragic but proper use of force. When Devin Brown lost control of the stolen Toyota Camry he was driving and crashed onto a sidewalk, he backed the car toward Officer Steve Garcia, who had gotten out of his police car and was standing next to its open door. In response, Garcia shot and killed Brown. Only later was it discovered that Brown was 13.
Responding to political pressure, the Los Angeles Police Department modified its use-of-force policy to prevent such incidents. The department now all but prohibits officers from firing at cars whose drivers attempt to run them over.
Instead, officers are trained to get out of the way of the oncoming vehicle. The policy is widely derided among the rank and file because it forces officers to leave what may be their only available effective cover -- the ballistic panels inside their car doors -- and run into the open. It also allows fleeing suspects what amounts to a free shot: They can try to run down police officers without fear of being shot at.
But the Police Commission evaluated Garcia's action on the basis of the previous policy, which generally discouraged firing on moving vehicles, and both a use-of-force review panel and Bratton found that Garcia acted properly. As such, it was politics, not tactics, that determined the panel's ruling, because there is nothing in the background of the members who voted in the 4-1 majority that would suggest they possess any qualifications to evaluate an officer's tactics.
The commission, established in the 1925 City Charter, functions as a board of directors for the LAPD, while the chief of police serves as its chief executive. Past commissions were sometimes accused of acting as a rubber stamp for the decisions made by politically powerful chiefs. In his campaign for mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa promised to appoint police commissioners who would provide vigorous oversight to the department.
