LAPD union reimburses officers who are suspended without pay

The pool of money -- thought to be the only one of its kind in the country and unknown to many outside the department's rank and file -- has come under sudden scrutiny from police watchdogs concerned about its effect on how officers are punished.

Anthony Pacheco, president of the civilian board that oversees the Los Angeles Police Department, raised the issue at a public meeting Tuesday, questioning whether the paybacks undercut the LAPD's disciplinary policies.

He called on department officials to examine the union's practice and to present their findings to the commission in coming weeks.

"This can be problematic," he said in an interview, acknowledging that he only recently learned of the union's reimbursements. "Where the suspension without pay is intended to have a punitive effect, it would undermine this level of discipline."

Officials for the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents the department's roughly 9,300 rank-and-file officers, sternly defended the 7-year-old practice, saying it was needed to protect officers and their families from a department that historically has been quick to hand down harsh punishments.

"We are concerned that the commission is meddling and making inquiries into things that are union business," said Hank Hernandez, general counsel for the union.

More than 7,000 officers -- about 78% of union members -- pay $20 a month on top of their regular dues to be eligible for the reimbursements, Hernandez said.

Officers who opt not to appeal their suspensions to an independent review panel are repaid in full for up to 25 suspension days each year. The union provides officers who do challenge their suspensions with attorneys to represent them at the appeal hearings.

The union approves an average of five claims for reimbursement each week, said Hernandez, who declined to provide figures on how much money the union has paid out under the policy.

The union's decision in 2001 to provide the reimbursements and attorneys came at a time of fractured relations between the league and then-Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, who was widely criticized for what officers thought were too harsh and too frequent suspensions.