Thread: Two LAPD commanders to be reassigned over MacArthur Park ral

Two LAPD commanders to be reassigned over MacArthur Park rally

By Duke Helfand, Patrick McGreevy and Andrew Blankstein, Times Staff Writers
1:43 PM PDT, May 7, 2007


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Two high-ranking command officers in the Los Angeles Police Department are expected to be reassigned for their role in overseeing the police response to last week's MacArthur Park immigration rally, sources familiar with the situation said today.

Deputy Chief Cayler "Lee" Carter Jr., commanding officer of Operations Central Bureau, and Cmdr. Louis Gray, the No. 2 official in the bureau, face the personnel action amid the continuing fallout from an incident that left 10 people injured.

Carter did not return phone calls midday today and Gray declined comment when reached at his office.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Chief William J. Bratton and Police Commission President John Mack are scheduled to announce the actions at a 3:30 p.m. news conference at City Hall. The LAPD command staff is expected to be told at 1:45.

Mack, who is receiving daily briefings from Bratton, did not confirm the moves but said some reassignments would be "a very positive sign." He said he expects a number of police officials to face action.

"This is the beginning, not the end," Mack said. "There are various investigations still ongoing."

Just as a peaceful immigrant rights May Day march was winding down in MacArthur Park, a group of agitators began throwing rocks and bottles at a perimeter of officers dressed in riot gear. Around 6:15 p.m., officers began closing in to clear the park, using batons and firing more than 140 rounds of foam and rubber projectiles. Targets included protesters and television reporters who had been covering the protest.

The violence created a furor among immigrants groups and civil rights advocates as images of the incident were beamed almost instantly around the world.

Villaraigosa and Bratton have come under heavy pressure to take decisive action, and both have promised to hold the department and themselves accountable.

Carter, a 33-year LAPD veteran and one of the department's eight deputy chiefs, was on the scene at MacArthur Park during Tuesday's protests and was ultimately the person in charge of police, one source said.

As the commanding officer of Operations Central Bureau, he is responsible for the deployment of 1,700 sworn and civilian personnel who serve more than 1 million people living in an area the size of Washington, D.C., according to his biography on the LAPD website. During his three decades in the LAPD, the Los Angeles native has been the commanding officer of the Risk Management Group, West Valley Area, Internal Affairs Group, and Newton Patrol Division, the website said. He also has worked numerous other assignments throughout the city, including the Organized Crime Intelligence Division and Operations-South Bureau Narcotics.

Carter can be bumped down to a commander-level position under city Civil Service rules, one source said. Gray, who has been with the department for 39 years, was the second in command at MacArthur Park. He would have been responsible for tactical decisions made on the scene. He will be transferred out of the Central Bureau command.

The Central Bureau encompasses 65 square miles, and includes MacArthur Park, the Rampart area, the downtown business district, Eagle Rock, the garment district, Dodger Stadium and Griffith Park. It services some of the city's most crowded and crime-plagued neighborhoods, whose residents are among the most ethnically and culturally diverse in the city.

The action, coming less than a week since the incident, encouraged Ramona Ripston, head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

"I certainly do appreciate the swift action of the chief," Ripston said.

Meanwhile, the political pressure increased today with the announcement by City Council President Eric Garcetti that he is forming a special task force to monitor the progress of the investigation and provide an extra layer of oversight.

The task force will hear reports on the investigations pursued concurrently by the Police Department and by the Office of the Investigator General. It will also provide a forum where members of the public can express their views and concerns on the confrontation and the investigations, and it will provide policy recommendations for the future encounters between the police, protesters and news media.

"The freedom of the people to assemble is a cornerstone of our democracy," Garcetti said. "The freedom of the press to operate without encumbrance is a cornerstone of our democracy. And the openness and the accountability of our institutions are cornerstones of our democracy. We have allowed those first two freedoms to come to harm. The health of our city depends even more now on our swift action, rigorous investigation, and on our conduct of the people's business in broad daylight.''

Councilmen Jack Weiss and Ed Reyes will chair the task force. It will include council members Wendy Greuel, Jan Perry and Jose Huizar.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... &cset=true

From CNN


LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A top Los Angeles police official has been demoted and his deputy reassigned after officers under their command attacked demonstrators at an immigration rally, the city's mayor and police chief said Monday.

Lee Carter, the deputy chief in charge of LAPD's central bureau, was demoted a grade to commander and put on paid leave, Police Chief William Bratton announced.

Carter's second-in-command, Cmdr. Lou Gray, was moved out of that job "pending further reassignment by the chief," Bratton said.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa ordered a "comprehensive, open review" of the incident after demonstrators and journalists raised allegations of excessive force.

"We're not going to shift the responsibility down the chain of command," Villaraigosa said Monday.

"Accountability begins at the top. What happened on May 1 was wrong, and we're taking immediate action to address it."

Villaraigosa said most police serve "with distinction and honor," but he promised that every "breakdown" in the May 1 rally would be reviewed.

Bratton said officers fired nearly 240 rounds of rubber bullets against participants in the May 1 rally, one of many held across the country in support of legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to eventually earn legal status.

Video showed police shoving and swinging clubs at participants in the rally and some have said they plan to sue the officers. (Watch an L.A. hospital worker say he was struck several times and saw women and children being targeted )

Some of the roughly 600 officers assigned to the demonstration said they had been pelted with stones and other debris, the Los Angeles Police Protective League said.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/07/lapd.d ... index.html

The freedom of the people to assemble is a cornerstone of our democracy," Garcetti said. "The freedom of the press to operate without encumbrance is a cornerstone of our democracy. And the openness and the accountability of our institutions are cornerstones of our democracy

...and without police enforcing the law there would be anarchy and mayhem! LET them do their JOB!

This is such a terrible disgrace and all fueled by political hypocrisy.

The city of Los Angeles has been having trouble recruiting sufficient men for the police force and I'm sure this will only make matters worse.

Most rational thinking individuals understand this degree of pandering to illegals cannot continue.

Maybe Lost Angeles wants to be just like Mexico afterall.
So be it!

Can you imagine what their morale is like now? Just like our border patrol agents probably.
~~~~~~~~~

Bratton moves to address LAPD morale
The police chief meets with union leaders in an effort to counter the effects of his harsh words after the May Day rally.
By Patrick McGreevy
Times Staff Writer

May 8, 2007

Police Chief William J. Bratton moved Monday to mend fences with rank-and-file officers over his condemnation of the police response to a May Day immigration rally, even as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said the controversy had not altered his support for Bratton as he seeks another five-year term.

Police Commission President John Mack said Monday that the controversy over the police response to the MacArthur Park rally would be considered but would not be a deciding factor in the panel's decision on the chief's tenure.

Bratton, who has called the actions of officers at the rally an embarrassing mistake, met Monday for an hour with members of the executive board of the police union who had warned over the weekend that comments by city leaders were damaging officers' morale.

"This is not a witch hunt. This is not a feeling of having to hang 'em high," Bratton said, adding that he would wait for the outcome of the investigation.

"Not a single Metro officer at this time has been suspended. There is no rush to judgment by me."

Union officials emerged from the meeting saying they remained concerned, according to a spokesman.

Bratton's decision to reassign the two command officers at the scene drew questions from some at City Hall about his own failure to exert control over the situation.

At 6:15 p.m. on May 1, about the time that officers began advancing on the crowd to drive them from the park, Bratton was arriving at the Sheraton hotel in Universal City to attend a political fundraising reception for Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley, officials said.

Bratton stayed at the Cooley reception only briefly, a spokeswoman said, but it meant he was not in MacArthur Park when the melee broke out.

"It raises grave concerns about our city's commitment to public safety when, during the largest and most controversial demonstration of the year, our mayor is out of the country and our police chief is schmoozing with political donors at a fundraiser," said one high-level city official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid hurting relations with the powerful chief.

Bratton said he believed at the time that there was adequate command staff in the park.

He also said Monday that he was not worried about his job.

"I'm very comfortable that I will get a second term," Bratton said. "This event reinforces what I was hired to do in this city, which was to exert strong, experienced leadership when crises occur."

With Bratton taking some heat from community activists and police union leaders, Villaraigosa began the news conference by reaffirming his support for the chief.

"True leadership shows itself in tough times, and Bill Bratton has proven to be a true leader," Villaraigosa said. "He has my support because from the very beginning, he has taken this very seriously."

The commission is scheduled to begin considering Bratton's request for a second term behind closed doors today, but a vote has been postponed because only four of the five commissioners will be present, Mack said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... -headlines

Here is a forum thread in San Diego on this subject: http://forum.signonsandiego.com/upload/ ... hp?t=73991

I hope he fights his discipline and wins.

"Not a single Metro officer at this time has been suspended. There is no rush to judgment by me."

Oh get off it Bratton. You tripped all over yourself to kiss the mayors butt and destroy the careers of two very fine police officers. This all took about one nano-second.