Prometheus 6

Under current law, Bratton is prohibited from disclosing to the public the names of the officers involved in the melee and their disciplinary history — for example, whether the officers had prior sustained force complaints. Thus, the public will have no way of knowing whether the Los Angeles Police Department is properly holding officers accountable. The public will never know whether the officers seen on videotape hitting an 11-year-old with a baton, pushing a news camerawoman to the ground, injuring a radio reporter or roughing up a television anchor will be held to account.

The public also will not have access to facts developed in the disciplinary investigation, special reports or witness testimony. The public and media will never know what happened behind those closed doors no matter how much the chief and the Police Commission would like to tell them. Inevitably, public trust in the LAPD will erode, and the chief will not be able to demonstrate how seriously he took the matter and held his staff accountable.

Lift the veil of secrecy on police misconduct
Bratton's commitment to LAPD openness is welcome, but state law ties his hands.
By Merrick Bobb
MERRICK BOBB, a special counsel who monitors the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for the Board of Supervisors, was special counsel for the Los Angeles Police Commission.
May 11, 2007

LOS ANGELES Police Chief William J. Bratton has taken decisive steps following the MacArthur Park May Day melee in which the LAPD seems [P6: seems?] to have used force indiscriminately and disregarded constitutional rights of speech and assembly.