Los Angeles Police Commission

The Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday revised the way it evaluates police shootings, tying an officer's use of deadly force to his or her actions in the moments leading up to the incident. The unanimous decision by the civilian panel that oversees the Los Angeles Police Department was made to bring the department in line with current legal standards. It also is expected to clarify commission rules that in the past have led to confusion over how the panel evaluates some officers who fire their weapons or use other deadly force.

The Los Angeles Police Commission met for three hours Tuesday in a closed-door session with Chief William J. Bratton as part of his annual performance evaluation. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, meanwhile, voiced confidence in the chief but asked the panel to judge Bratton based on whether he continues to reduce crime, increase the police force and comply with a consent decree mandating reforms. Emerging from the meeting, Bratton smiled and told reporters, "I think we did OK."

Melanie E. Lomax, a longtime civil rights lawyer and former head of the Los Angeles Police Commission, was killed late Sunday in a single-car accident near her Hollywood Hills home, police said Monday. Lomax, 56, was declared dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was taken by paramedics after the 2005 Jaguar she was driving rolled down her driveway and tumbled 20 feet down a steep embankment. Police sources said Lomax may have had a heart attack.

The Los Angeles Police Commission voted Tuesday to approve an ambitious plan for expanding the Los Angeles Police Department and to request $14.9 million to begin implementing it. The plan, which was unveiled last month by Mayor Richard Riordan, calls for expanding the LAPD by 2,855 officers during the next five years. It also proposes beefing up the department's street presence by hiring more civilians to free up officers and by paying officers to work overtime and on their days off.