LAPD Surveys Officers’ Views on Use of Force : Police: Information will be used in training program. Meanwhile, a judge refuses to block Gates’ firing of the rookie officer involved in the King beating.
The Los Angeles Police Department has launched a survey of officer attitudes toward excessive force within the department, part of a review of police training and its shortcomings in the aftermath of the Rodney G. King beating.
Police officials said Monday they have begun surveying 900 officers selected randomly--more than 10% of the force--as part of an effort to assess the department’s training program. Questionnaires were mailed Friday, and respondents will remain anonymous.
Cmdr. Michael Bostic, who is in charge of analyzing training and use-of-force procedures, said a cross-section of the department--including officers of both sexes and of varying ages, time on the job, rank and ethnicity--has been asked to fill out the 88-question survey.
“We want to get the personal opinion of officers as to what they perceive as the reason for the use of excessive force when it happens, and the breakdown of human relations,†Bostic said. “We want to know why it occurs and how often.â€
The survey asks officers whether they strongly agree or disagree with such statements as: “In my opinion, ineffective supervision contributes to the use of excessive force,†“It is my belief that existing equipment is inadequate to reduce the use of excessive force,†and “In my opinion, it’s the attitudes and perceptions of citizens that contribute to negative interaction between the police and the community.â€
Bostic said results should be compiled by September.
Meanwhile, a judge Monday refused to block the firing of Timothy E. Wind, a rookie police officer who was dismissed by Chief Daryl F. Gates for his role in the beating.
Superior Court Judge William Huss did not indicate why he denied the police union’s motion for a temporary restraining order. Instead, the judge set a June 10 date to hear arguments on whether the police officer should be allowed to have a police board of rights hearing. Only veterans with more than 18 months’ service are given a full hearing before three senior officers. Wind had been on the force one year.
Gates fired Wind last week, and three other officers--Sgt. Stacey C. Koon and Officers Laurence M. Powell and Theodore Briseno--were suspended without pay as a result of the King beating. The four were indicted by the Los Angeles County Grand Jury on felony charges of assault and excessive force and face trial in Superior Court.
Wind and another officer were recorded on an amateur cameraman’s videotape striking King with their batons. Wind’s notice of termination alleged that he “unnecessarily struck and kicked King numerous times and submitted an arrest report which failed to accurately depict the details of the arrest.â€
In another courtroom Monday, a judge hearing the criminal case against Wind and the three other indicted officers said he will rule today on defense motions for separate trials, for moving the trial to another county because of excessive publicity, and for delaying the trial for weeks or months.
The indicted officers and their attorneys each met privately with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Bernard Kamins to argue why they should be tried separately. Kamins spent nearly four hours in unusual secret hearings.
Defense attorneys have said they want to use statements made by the officers in the Police Department’s own investigation at trial. Kamins said he is not sure the forced statements are admissible.
Kamins excluded the press and public from the hearing and, for now, the statements remain under seal.
The judge also ordered contempt hearings for two people who allegedly violated his secrecy order.
He confiscated a tape made by Los Angeles Daily News reporter John Polich. The judge said Polich’s tape recorder was left running in the courtroom after it had been cleared for the closed-door hearing. He also suggested that Assistant City Atty. David Hotchkiss had released confidential information to the press. He ordered both to appear “with counsel†for contempt hearings Monday.
The trial is on hold while Kamins completes rulings on about 35 motions and Koon recovers from pneumonia. The judge questioned how sick Koon really is because the sergeant reportedly appeared on television over the weekend and wrote a column for The Times demanding Gates’ resignation. Kamins said he would call Koon’s doctor for a progress report.
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