POSTINGS OF LAPD INTERNAL REVIEWS OFFER HARROWING INSIGHTS.

Byline: Dan Laidman Staff Writer

Making good on an early pledge to increase accountability, the Los Angeles Police Commission on Wednesday began posting online summaries of use-of-force reviews.

It is the first time the city has released such information about the disciplinary decisions made by the civilian panel overseeing the Los Angeles Police Department, whose officers use serious force in more than 100 cases a year.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa encouraged his appointees to post the reports to help improve relations between the LAPD and communities where there has historically been tension.

``Hopefully, this will serve as another way we can establish a better rapport with the diversified public and better establish trust and mutual respect,'' said Commission President John Mack, former head of the Los Angeles Urban League.

The first reports posted were from three officer-involved shootings from early 2005 that the panel reviewed Jan. 10. The commission found each of the shootings to be within department policy, but recommended tactical training for some of the officers involved.

The detailed reports provide a harrowing look at the incidents and rare insight into how the panel makes its decisions. While offering such detail, however, the names of officers and suspects are omitted, a key priority of the police officers union, which worked to develop the system along with the commission and LAPD leaders.

In one case, officers in Southeast Los Angeles confronted a man suspected of killing his parents and taking his ex-girlfriend hostage. Officers drew the man out of his vehicle, but he then dove back into the car and shot his ex-girlfriend twice in the head, killing her, according to the report. Officers fired at the man through the car's tinted windows, aiming at his silhouette.

The commission recommended that six officers and one sergeant receive tactical training, because of concerns about a handcuffing technique, firearms handling and the use of emergency sirens.

A case out of Hollywood involved a gang member suspected in several drug-related killings who had allegedly fled to Mexico to avoid prosecution but returned to visit a girlfriend and his young son.

Officers shot and wounded the suspect as he approached them with a knife after leading them on a car chase, the report says. The board advised training for two officers.

In another case out of Southeast L.A., an officer fatally shot a domestic violence suspect when the man came toward him with a gun.

Dan Laidman, [phone]

dan.laidman(at)dailynews.com