The Los Angeles Police Department removed dozens of elite officers from immigration protest duty in the hours before a violent clash with marchers and reporters, sources said Thursday, raising new questions about how commanders handled the incident.
The disclosure came as the FBI opened an inquiry Thursday into the clash that left 10 people injured.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday May 10, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 49 words Type of Material: Correction
May Day rally: An article in Friday's Section A about the Los Angeles Police Department removing dozens of elite officers from immigration protest duty hours before a clash in MacArthur Park said the violence left 10 people injured. The known number at that point was 17, including seven officers.
Police Chief William J. Bratton escalated his criticism of the officers' tactics and said the department's three investigations would focus on the actions not only of line officers but also of the top brass who gave the orders.
"There were mistakes made here all the way up and down the line. I want to make that clear," Bratton said. "Was there lack of supervision? Was there lack of leadership? What were [the line officers] directed to do?"
Bratton and other LAPD officials declined to discuss the deployment plan or other specific details of the investigation.
But the disclosure of the shift provides more details of how commanders managed the protest and suggests that police might have been caught off guard by its scope.
Three platoons of the highly trained Metro Division, which were originally set to be at MacArthur Park for the end of the immigration march and rally, instead were sent home or to other assignments, including one in South Los Angeles, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it involves ongoing investigations. (The size of a platoon varies, but sources estimated that the total number of officers moved were 50 to 80.)
The redeployments occurred shortly before a group of agitators began throwing bottles and other debris at the remaining officers. As crowds grew and tensions rose, officers came under attack, sources said, and commanders scrambled to get some of the departed officers back.
Some arrived just as the confrontation began. The sources said it was not clear why commanders ordered the platoons to depart.
Bob Baker, president of the L.A. Police Protective League, said his organization had heard from its members about the redeployment and said some officers thought not enough officers were at the scene.
"Why would you take away assets when you know what happened at that location a year before?" Baker said, referring to similar disturbances that occurred at the end of the 2006 May Day rally at the park.
