LAPD BETTER AT MEETING REFORM PLAN CRITICS SAY GOING IS TOO SLOW.

Byline: RACHEL URANGA

Staff Writer

The LAPD still fails to respond thoroughly to use-of-force incidents but is making substantial progress in complying with a federal consent decree aimed at rooting out police abuse, a report released Thursday said.

In his 22nd report, a court-appointed monitor said the Los Angeles Police Department is making strides in implementing an "early warning" system that identifies problem officers, even though he did not look specifically at the computer software considered key to reform.

But independent monitor Michael Cherkasky also found the department failed to track whether supervisors were present in the wake of use-of- force incidents, as required by the 2001 decree.

In addition, just 72 percent of officers involved in use-of-force incidents were officially deemed fit to return to duty before they actually hit the streets.

Still, LAPD officials said the report represents a significant improvement. They hope U.S. District Judge Gary Feess will lift the decree during a hearing scheduled for June.

"The important distinction to be made here is that the monitor acknowledged that the LAPD did a thorough job investigating categorical uses of force. Indeed, the LAPD stands out nationally as the best practice," said Gerald Chaleff, head of the department's Consent Decree Bureau.

"This latest report noted a need for us to better document our analysis of how our supervisors responded to and oversaw uses of force.

"With each quarterly report, we find we have to hone our process to a point the monitor can quantify every aspect of compliance. We have already taken steps to correct these points for the next time that aspect is reviewed."

Peter Bibring, an American Civil Liberties Union attorney who monitors the LAPD, disagreed.

"The progress is extremely slow," he said. "After five years under the original consent decree and one year of the extension, they are still out of compliance with the majority of the provisions that govern the warning system."

The LAPD entered into the decree six years ago to avoid a federal lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice, which had accused the LAPD of widespread corruption and abuse after a Rampart division police officer convicted of stealing evidence implicated dozens of his co-workers.

Last year, the decree was extended until 2009 after Feess found the agency out of compliance with 30 percent of the 152 provisions in the 80-page document.

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com

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