DEATHS MAY CHANGE LITTLE BRATTON SEES NO POLICY IMPLICATIONS AHEAD.

Byline: Dan Laidman Staff Writer

Last week's police shooting in Watts that left a gunman and his daughter dead will probably not result in the kind of policy changes that emerged after previous high-profile incidents, LAPD Chief William Bratton said Tuesday.

Bratton spoke after receiving new briefings on the July 10 incident, in which a SWAT team exchanged more than 100 gunshots with auto shop owner Jose Raul Pena, who authorities say used his 19-month-old daughter as a shield. Officers removed Pena's teenage stepdaughter from the scene but Pena and the toddler, Suzie, both died.

``I don't see policy implications in this,'' Bratton told the Board of Police Commissioners. ``There may be tactical considerations.''

The shooting has sparked anger in the Penas' South Los Angeles neighborhood, with evening protests marked by comparisons to past incidents that led to civil unrest.

Najee Ali of Project Islamic Hope told the commission he is working to halt the often-tense nightly demonstrations, but that residents of the community will be closely monitoring the investigations.

While Ali and fellow activists have called for more information on the 11 officers involved in the shooting, authorities have declined to release their names. Bratton said authorities will probably never be able to identify which officer fired the bullet that killed Suzie because several officers fired the same type of weapon.

Commissioner Rick Caruso said he is glad because pinning down who fired the fatal shot would further traumatize the officers, whom he spoke with over the weekend.

``Every one of those officers, their words to me were, 'Commissioner, I would give my life to get that child back,''' Caruso said.

The LAPD is reviewing the incident, as are the commission, the District Attorney's Office, and federal officials through the consent decree process. Bratton said the reviews will examine the tactics used, though he does not expect policies to be called into question.

That stands in contrast to the beating of car theft suspect Stanley Miller and the fatal shooting of 13-year-old Devin Brown, which led to new policies on the use of flashlights and end-of-pursuit tactics.

The commission heard an update on the latter, viewing a new training video instructing officers in how to handle the end of vehicle chases. The new policy directs officers not to shoot at vehicles that may be backing into their police cruisers, but rather to move away from the cars.

Noting that the members of the Police Commission will likely change after Tuesday's meeting, Bratton commended the outgoing panelists for their work on use-of-force reforms.

``You have left a system in place we believe will be without equal anywhere in the country,'' the chief said.

Dan Laidman, [phone]

dan.laidman(at)dailynews.com