Firms' gifts to LAPD raise doubts
Corporations and business groups donated more than $417,000 in cash and equipment in the last year to the Los Angeles Police Department to help pay for investigations and services that directly benefited them, records show.
The film industry helped fund a crackdown on pirated movies. Shopping malls paid for extra traffic control, security and a tracking system able to recover cars stolen from their parking lots.
And next week, the City Council will consider accepting $50,000 from Philip Morris USA to aid an investigation into the sale and counterfeiting of the company's cigarettes.
Supporters of the practice say it helps a cash-strapped department fight crime. But some skeptics are concerned about the appearance of pay-to-play law enforcement in which the rich can afford to buy better protection than the poor.
"This runs counter to the notion that public safety is provided equally to all and not just those rich enough to afford it," said Kathay Feng, executive director of California Common Cause. "Our police are not a private security force, and therefore police services should be funded by the public and not private interests that stand to benefit directly."
Unlike law enforcement agencies in other big cities -- for example, New York -- some of the LAPD donations were solicited by various police officials outside the framework of the department's independent police foundation.
Donors who want to give to the New York Police Department are told to go through the separate New York Police Foundation, which was established in 1971 after the Knapp Commission uncovered widespread corruption in the department.
"Our police department cannot accept donations," said Gregg Roberts, executive vice president of the New York Police Foundation. "We were created to be a hedge against corruption. By having donations go through us, we take out any implication of impropriety."
The majority of donations benefiting the LAPD -- $2.1 million last year -- went through the Los Angeles Police Foundation, where one top official said it might be good for appearance's sake that all of them go through the group.
The donations that the LAPD solicits from crime victims or companies with narrow interests also are distinct from payments the department gets for extra services. For instance, the department routinely allows major firms, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, to pay uniformed officers to work security after their normal shifts.
