It’s Official Again: LAPD Is Not Racist
After an internal investigation of over 300 complaints of racial profiling, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Tuesday that not even one accusation of profiling it received last year had merit. Even more ridiculous is the fact that 2007 marks the sixth consecutive year that the LAPD has failed to find any example of race-based misconduct within its ranks.
After an internal investigation of over 300 complaints of racial profiling, the Los Angeles Police Department announced Tuesday that not even one accusation of profiling it received last year had merit. Even more ridiculous is the fact that 2007 marks the sixth consecutive year that the LAPD has failed to find any example of race-based misconduct within its ranks. LAPD Chief William J. Bratton defends the department’s purity, saying: “This is not a racist department. It is not a homophobic department. It is not a brutal department.”
Dig, Root, GrowThe Los Angeles Times:
Los Angeles Police Department officials announced Tuesday that they investigated more than 300 complaints of racial profiling against officers last year and found that none had merit — a conclusion that left members of the department’s oversight commission incredulous.
It is at least the sixth consecutive year that all allegations of racial profiling against LAPD officers have been dismissed, according to department documents reviewed by The Times.
In 2007, the LAPD’s Internal Affairs Group closed 320 investigations into allegations that officers stopped, questioned or otherwise confronted someone solely because of the person’s race. Nearly 80% of the time — 252 of the cases — the claims were dismissed outright as “unfounded,” according to an annual complaint report presented Tuesday to the civilian Police Commission. In the remaining cases, there was either insufficient evidence to reach a conclusion or no misconduct was uncovered.
“A big, fat zero,” said a visibly flummoxed Commissioner John Mack, who is African American and the former president of the Los Angeles Urban League. “In my mind, there is no such thing as a perfect institution . . . I find it baffling that we have these zeros.”
This year, we’re all on shaky ground, and the need for independent journalism has never been greater. A new administration is openly attacking free press — and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
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