19 cops at fault in May Day melee
By Rachel Uranga, Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 07/09/2008 12:14:21 AM PDT


May Day rallies 2007

MacArthur Park immigrant rally

Immigrant Workers Rights

March for immigrants

Immigration Protest

The LAPD has targeted 17 officers and two sergeants - but no high-ranking officials - for misconduct during last year's May Day confrontation that broke out after an all-day immigration-rights march, officials said Tuesday.

The unnamed officers were the only ones singled out for punishment by the department in an incident that sparked frank mea culpas from LAPD Chief William Bratton and a scathing, self-critical report.

Disturbing images of riot-clad officers firing rubber bullets into a crowd of women and children and roughing up reporters during the May 2007 incident were broadcast across the country.

Hundreds of people were injured, and protesters filed more than 240 claims against the city.

While some questioned whether the department went far enough to find all those responsible, Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell defended the investigation and said supervisors who were not included might have performed poorly that day, but that their performances didn't amount to misconduct.

"You are looking at something that may fall short of misconduct, or would fall dramatically short of it, and it may be something that will be looked upon as performance rather than misconduct," he said.

Without releasing specifics, McDonnell said investigators found that most of the 19 officers exercised unauthorized use of force.

Reaction to the news was less than favorable. On one side, Peter Bibring, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, called the report "encouraging" but questioned why nobody higher than sergeant was punished.

"If you have got many or most of the officers in the LAPD's most highly trained unit acting in an unconstitutional way in broad daylight with cameras, they need to ask themselves how is it officers came to think this kind of action might be acceptable," he said.

Tim Sands, president of the 9,700-member Los Angeles Police Protective League, backed the officers involved.

"The fact that officers have been (recommended for discipline) by the department does not mean that the administrative process is over for the officers," he said. "As Chief Bratton once said, `Policing isn't pretty.' Skirmish lines are not pretty, and, as we all know, the events of that day were exacerbated by command and control problems that have already been brought to light."

Last month, investigators delivered the allegations to the officers, who have 30 days to respond. From there, Bratton will review individual cases and recommend a punishment.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is still investigating 29 officers for possible criminal charges and the FBI is looking at civil-rights violations.

The department's own report revealed that top brass failed to adequately plan for crowd control, including a failure to train officers, and many officers had no idea who was in charge. And when things spiraled out of control, "not a single supervisor or member of the command staff involved attempted to intervene," according to the report released last year.

The department stopped short of naming officers in the report, but did single out then-Deputy Chief Caylor "Lee" Carter, Cmdr. Louis Gray and Capt. John Egan for their failure to control the situation.

Shortly after May Day, Bratton demoted the commander in charge that day, Carter, and reassigned his second in command, Gray. Carter has since retired.

Bratton put most of the blame squarely on the department, created a new office to handle crowd control and changed qualifications to enter the elite Metro Unit, which responded that day. The unit had long been seen by outside observers as overly aggressive and isolated.

Though the LAPD pinned responsibility on poor leadership and communications, only Carter and Gray have been punished. Scott Kroeber, then-captain of the Metro Unit, has since been promoted. Egan remains captain of the Rampart Division.

"The fact that the only discipline action proposed by the department is at the police officer and sergeant level raises the question: What is the level of individual accountability and remediation at higher ranks other than the two senior officers affected immediately after May 1?" said Alan Skobin, a member of the civilian Police Commission.

Internal affairs investigators examined videos to find officers they could identify for misconduct. As for supervisors and managers who performed badly - but not to the level of official misconduct - they could undergo new training, or notes will be made on their record, McDonnell said.

Attorney Carol Sobel, a longtime police critic who is suing the LAPD on behalf of 190 protesters, said it appears that the department was going light on those involved.

"I think more than 17 officers were involved in beating and shooting people," she said. "It means they are only charging the officers that they can actually see hitting people."

rachel.uranga@dailynews.com 818-713-3741

http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_9822376