BRATTON, PANEL SPLIT ON CASE POLICE COMMISSION FINDS DETECTIVE ERRED IN SHOOTING.

Byline: Dan Laidman Staff Writer

The new Police Commission disagreed this week with LAPD Chief William Bratton over discipline in a Van Nuys shooting case, but both commissioners and Bratton said Thursday that the disagreement does not signal a wider split.

The civilian panel, recently appointed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to oversee the Los Angeles Police Department, rejected a finding by Bratton that a detective's shooting of an unarmed suspect last September complied with department policy.

``It was a difference of opinion on a relatively narrow aspect of that case,'' Bratton said at a news conference. ``We will have differences of opinion. We will agree to disagree.''

Police Commissioners Andrea Ordin and Alan Skobin, in separate interviews Thursday, both said ``there is no rift.''

The Police Commission makes discipline decisions based on numerous reviews and recommendations. It is common for the commission to disagree with LAPD findings along the way, although this case stands out because it involves the controversial Special Investigations Squad and the commission is new.

``I think that both the chief of police and the commission recognize that there will be these occasional differences after review of all the facts,'' said Ordin, a former U.S. attorney.

Skobin, an executive at Galpin Motors and the one holdover from Mayor James Hahn's commission, said that both the board and LAPD officials handled the decision professionally and without any rancor.

``There's no message here as to the commission's going one direction or another,'' he said. ``This is one case judged on its own specific facts.''

The shooting took place the morning of Sept. 9, 2004, after Special Investigations Squad detectives stopped Roger Mills and two companions at Woodman Avenue and Oxnard Street.

Mills had been under surveillance as part of a robbery investigation and officers observed his group committing an apparent residential burglary that day.

Mills disobeyed several police orders at the intersection before dropping his hands to his waist, according to a report from the chief, prompting Detective James Harris to shoot him in the abdomen with a shotgun.

Bratton concluded that Harris acted according to policy because he had a reasonable belief that Mills, who turned out to be unarmed, was a threat.

In reaching a different conclusion, the commission did not act lightly, Skobin said.

``There's never happiness about finding an officer out of policy, particularly in a case when there was no mistake of heart,'' he said. ``Every one of the commissioners had fully read everything, was fully engaged, understood the issues and was guided by the facts.''

Los Angeles Police Protective League President Bob Baker said in a statement that the decision might make officers hesitate in dangerous situations.

``An officer who is risking his life in the pursuit of a dangerous suspect and is forced to make a split-second decision should not be second-guessed with 20-20 hindsight,'' Baker said.

Following the incident, Mills and his two accomplices were convicted of charges including residential burglary and sentenced to prison, according to the chief's report.

An LAPD supervisor will now make a recommendation to Bratton on how to discipline Harris, who is currently on unrelated medical leave, the chief said.

However, Bratton said Harris will return to the Special Investigations Squad.

Dan Laidman, [phone]

dan.laidman(at)dailynews.com