LAPD takes blame for park melee
Chief apologizes for breakdown in leadership during May 1 rally. At least 26 officers are under investigation. By Richard Winton and Duke Helfand Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
October 10, 2007
In a scathing self-critique, the LAPD on Tuesday blamed the May 1 MacArthur Park melee involving officers, immigration protesters and journalists on a series of fateful decisions by police commanders that escalated hostilities and resulted in a widespread breakdown in discipline and behavior by officers.
The findings, contained in a long-awaited report by top police officials, come as Police Chief William J. Bratton announced that at least 26 officers participating in the incident are under internal investigation and could face discipline for using excessive force.
The report is the latest effort by Bratton and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to quell widespread outcry over the incident, in which TV news footage showed officers swinging batons and firing less-than-lethal rounds at journalists as well as immigration rights protesters gathered at the park for an afternoon rally.
The melee left 246 journalists and protesters as well as 18 officers with injuries, and more than 250 legal claims have been filed against the city. Los Angeles County prosecutors and the FBI are continuing to investigate the case.
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In the days after the melee, Bratton and other top officials criticized the general tactics of police at the park, but the report offered a level of unvarnished detail and a critical tone that even some LAPD critics described as highly unusual, if not unprecedented.
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The president of the police officers union said the report properly acknowledged poor planning and communication problems but said it is still far too early to judge the actions of individual officers.
"As we have consistently said, training is the backbone of good police work," said Tim Sands, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. "Constant, updated training ensures that officers know not only what to do, but can implement the department's policies, procedures and expectations for any given incident."
The report received a far more mixed reception among community leaders.
Gladys Limon of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said voiced dissatisfaction.
"It raises more questions than it answers," she said. "There is obviously excessive force here. We won't be satisfied until the issues involving these 26 officers and ways they treated peaceful women, men and children are fully revealed."
Veteran civil rights attorney Luis Carrillo said he was pleased with some aspects of the report but that it was still too early to close the books on the incident.
"Part of it was refreshing, the breakdown in command and control, tactics and planning," said Carrillo, who represents demonstrators injured in the melee. "But it is still incomplete because we don't know if any of the police officers will be disciplined or whether the D.A. will charge any officers."
The report is available online at <http://www.lapd.org>www.lapd.org.