Notes from the December 13, 2024 Police Commission Meeting

• Police Commissioner Richard Drooyan stated he attended an Emergency Management Department functional exercise on Wednesday.  He spent four hours learning about the Emergency Management Department and the coordination that goes on. On Saturday he spent time in Olympic Division at a SWAT call out.  He stated it was a great opportunity to witness the professionalism from the officers and the strong support from the community.  What stood out was the coordination between the Department’s unit, Metropolitan Division, Behavior Science Service Department and Olympic Division along with the Fire Department.  He had the opportunity due to the nature of the event to see some of the technical decision that was being made and to see what was going on tactically behind the scenes.  It was a good use of his time. He learned quite a bit and he appreciated the support and help he got for getting there.

• Chief Charlie Beck thanked the Commission for allowing Mr. Tefank with helping with selecting the newly selected Risk Manager, Beth Correa. Ms. Correa is formerly with the City Attorney’s Office that has represented the Department on many occasions.  He looks forward to her interaction with the Commission and from his office with making the Department with being better prepared to manage internal risk in the future.  Chief Beck invited the general public along with Department employees to the Midnight Mission Tuesday, December 13, 2024 at 4:00 pm to 601 S. Spring Street for LAPD’s annual Basketball game against the Mission All Star team.  His staff procured through donations six pallets of non-perishable food to donate to the Mission. This time of year the LAPD has multiple venues which try to ease the pain of the holidays for those that are less fortunate. He thanked the people that attended the Chief’s Christmas party.  He said it was well attended and well received. Part I crimes are down. Assaults against police officers are up 26.7% compared to 2010 and Officers Involved Shooting are up 58%.

• The Executive Director Richard Tefank reported there will be no Police Commission meetings December 27, 2024 and January 3, 2025 for the holiday break.  Regular agenda items 8E will be pulled and the Department will re-submit a report on that item after the first of the year.

• The Inspector General Alex Bustamante stated there is no longer a back log of redacted reports. Members with the Inspector General’s office have been responding to Officer Involved Shootings and they are currently working on Use of Force reports for the Commission.

• The Department’s verbal update, on the status of the recommendations continued in the Department’s Vice Check-in Procedures Inspection (IAID No. 11-067), dated October 6, 2024 was given by Captain Kevin McCarty from Detective Bureau and Captain Khoury Aborn from Planning and Research Division. Captain Aborn discussed that now there will be a check-in at the end of watch and a supervisor will need to document those activities in the supervisor’s log.  The Watch Commander would keep a tracking system of the resources that are deployed during the watch, either by a chart or a white board.  The requirement for documentation has been placed on the supervisors. A draft is currently in review with the different entities that are impacted.  The order should be published sometime in January 2012.

• The Departments verbal update, on the status of the recommendations continued in the Department’s Preventable and Non-preventable Traffic Collision Inspection-First Quarter FY 2011-12, dated October 5, 2024 was given by Captain Khoury Aborn. Captain Aborn stated there had been a couple of issues besides the ones identified in the audit and they wanted to revise it to strengthen the procedures. The recommendations that came out of the audit with having to do with the timeline for adjudication, criteria for classify and information for risk management, have all been addressed in a draft.  The draft is currently being updated to address additional items.  One of the items Captain Aborn wanted to add is a notification system to Emergency Operations Division when an employee involved collision occurrs.  The tracking of it would begin almost on day one. They have very strict timelines for the movement of the documents and the adjudication laid out in the drafts special order. The criteria’s are being revised to be consistent with the language that is used by the Department in traffic collision reporting. Risk Management, Planning and Research Division and Emergency Operations Division are collaborating to identify what information Risk Management wants for their purposes and including that in the order.  She stated it’s a whole sale review of the procedures and it is 75% complete.  They are working with Information Technology Division to create the order.

• The Department’s verbal update, on the status of the recommendations continued in the Department’s Gang Enforcement Detail/Community Law Enforcement and Recovery Program-Selection Criteria Audit (IAID No. 11-021), dated June 27, 2025 was given by Commander Blake Chow from Counter Terrorism and Special Operations Bureau and Captain William Hart from Gang and Narcotics Division.  Captain Hart discussed he and other staff members had gone to several meetings in each bureau to discuss the findings including the deficiencies that are the most significant when it comes to documentation of the suitability interview.  They have created a supplemental document that will go with the GED selection check list that specifically will list the questions that will be asked during the suitability interview.  Planning and Research Division is working on a project to revise the check list and incorporate additional information.

• The Department’s verbal presentation, discussion and possible Board action, relative to any proposed changes to the current procedures regarding the impounding of cars for 30 days was given by Assistant Chief Michel Moore from Office of Special Operations. The Department is proposing allowing drivers who are stopped and found to be unlicensed with no prior offenses, the opportunity to contact a licensed driver to remove the vehicle, as opposed to having the vehicle towed and impounded for 30 days. For this to occur, all of these requirements must be met: registered owner or person designated by the registered owner has a valid California Driver’s License, registered owner and licensed driver are at the scene or readily available, registered owner authorizes the licensed driver to drive the vehicle, and vehicle registration is valid. In cases where the driver has a suspended or revoked license, or is unlicensed with prior offenses, the vehicle will still be subject to a 30 day impound.  Assistant Chief Moore noted the Department is placing the focus on the individual, not the vehicle. The Department is preparing a special order which will embody this change, and additional input from the Police Commission, the community, and other stakeholders. The Commissioners were generally supportive of the change yet expressed concern over the time allowed for an individual to contact the licensed driver. Commissioner Alan Skobin shared some suggestions including obtaining more mobile fingerprinting devices to identify individuals in the field, creating better language regarding the amount of time an officer should wait for a licensed driver, obtaining more community input, and obtaining more detailed statistics from the Official Police Garage Association to see if there are other options. Commissioner Skobin also noted the current procedure used by the LAPD is not illegal. Chief Charlie Beck said the Department is in the process of formulating the special order and will include the Commissioners’ input as well as the community’s. The special order will be brought back to the Commission for informational purposes.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Comments

[Private Investigator]

Excellent post.I want to thank you for this informative read, I really appreciate sharing this great post. Keep up your work.