LAPD FLASHLIGHT BAN REJECTED USAGE AS WEAPONS TO BE 'DISCOURAGED'.

Byline: James Nash Staff Writer

After months of debate over an officer caught on videotape hitting a suspect with a flashlight, Los Angeles police commissioners voted Tuesday to discourage officers from using flashlights as weapons.

The police stems from the June 23, 2004, beating of car-theft suspect Stanley Miller by a flashlight-wielding LAPD officer in Compton.

The commission rejected a call from John Mack, the president of the Los Angeles Urban League, to prohibit the use of flashlights as weapons in all circumstances. Mack, who was appointed by Mayor James Hahn to head a committee investigating the Miller beating, argued that a full ban would lead to fewer possible abuses.

``The flashlight is for illumination, not for the purpose of beating someone over the body,'' Mack said.

But LAPD leaders and police commissioners said officers still should be able to use flashlights for self-defense when no other tools were available.

``In the practical world of an officer on the street, I would like not to use the word 'prohibited,''' said Police Commissioner Alan Skobin.

LAPD Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell said a message could be sent to officers without prohibiting flashlight use.

``In the LAPD culture, prohibiting is saying, 'You shall not,''' McDonnell said.

In the last six months of 2004, LAPD officers used flashlights against suspects in four incidents deemed serious enough for a comprehensive investigation. In the first six months of the year - the period roughly ending with the Miller beating - LAPD officers used flashlights against suspects in only two serious incidents, according to LAPD statistics.

During the entire year, flashlights were used in fewer than 5 percent of incidents in which officers used serious force against suspects, according to LAPD data.

Mack said the LAPD's lack of a policy governing the use of flashlights before this week was a major oversight.

``The flashlight policy represents one of the silver linings coming out of that very dark incident,'' Mack said of the Miller beating.

Miller is serving a six-year sentence in state prison after pleading guilty last month to auto theft and evading police. The officers involved in the beating have not been charged. Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office, said the criminal investigation into the officers' conduct is continuing.

Although the flashlight policy is the largest change to come out of the June beating, Police Chief William Bratton has tweaked other policies as well. Bratton announced last fall that the LAPD will treat more cases in which officers use force as serious incidents with more detailed investigations. LAPD officials also added training for officers.

Last year, Bratton moved to discontinue use of the large metal flashlights and said the LAPD would create a custom design, but he has since backed off the plan so officers can test existing models.

James Nash, [phone]

james.nash(at)dailynews.com