Racial Profiling by the LAPD?

Justice Department warns LAPD to take a stronger stance against racial profiling

Beck says the findings are out of date. The department remains under federal oversight on the bias issue.

By Joel Rubin, Los Angeles Times

The U.S. Department of Justice has warned the Los Angeles Police Department that its investigations into racial profiling by officers are inadequate and that some cops still tolerate the practice.

As evidence of the ongoing problem, Justice officials pointed to two LAPD officers who were unknowingly recorded during a conversation with a supervisor being dismissive of racial profiling complaints....link to complete article 

LAPD, Westlake and the Communists

While the LA TIMES said the Communists Did IT - (you know, that old story that some outside agitators started it all) - La Opinion is talking about the screaming during the protests. - An earlier LAT article on-line said the protests were organized by Communists.... A few hours laters the LAT focuses on the screaming....

Lanzan gritos y abucheos contra LAPD

Residentes de Westlake exigen respuestas por muerte de Jimenez - La Opinion

Los Angeles - Protests and Violence over LAPD shooting

in Spanish from LaOpinion.com

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LA Times

Protesters, LAPD clash as chief defends shooting

By Kate Linthicum, Esmeralda Bermudez and Joel Rubin, Los Angeles Times

September 8, 2010

As Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck defended the fatal shooting of a day laborer and officials called for calm, protesters and officers clashed Tuesday night in Westlake near the site of the incident.

About 300 demonstrators gathered at the LAPD's Rampart Station. Some in the crowd hurled eggs at police cars and others threw objects at the station windows, prompting officers in riot gear to push the throng along 6th Street.

Officers fired non-lethal projectiles at protesters near Union Avenue and 6th, where Manuel Jamines was fatally shot Sunday afternoon by an officer who said Jamines refused commands to drop a switchblade.

About 9:30 p.m., police declared the protest an unlawful assembly and moved in to disperse the crowd as trash cans were set on fire and rocks and bottles were thrown at officers.

As police pushed crowds on 6th, some protesters climbed atop multistory apartment buildings, where they threw objects at officers below. Officers fired non-lethal projectiles toward the rooftops as residents peeked from their windows...link

LAPD officers not charged for aggressive behavior on May 1, 2007

In keeping with the past, LAPD is not being charged for using excessive force at an immigration rally on May 1, 2007. On that day, scores of protesters were injured, including Univision reporters. The officers used batons and rubber bullets.

Some things never change

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LAPD officers won't be charged in MacArthur Park melee -- latimes.com

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LAPD and Villaraigosa - Together On Impounding Cars of Unlicensed Drivers

Its surprising to see Villaraigosa behind this. If the fees weren't so outrageous it might be a reasonable thing. But its very unfair since the rates can easily run up to $1,000 per car.

More importantly, the whole thing sounds ridiculous - denying undocumented immigrants drivers licenses is not logical, since the U.S. needs the labor so badly. How are people supposed to get to work?

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LAPD may resume impounding cars of unlicensed drivers

Chief Bratton says he will ask the Police Commission to end the department's moratorium on the practice, which is opposed by immigrant rights groups.


Duke Helfand and Richard Winton
Los Angeles Times
September 8, 2007



Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton was gearing up Friday to lift the Police Department's self-imposed moratorium on impounding cars of unlicensed drivers -- a contentious issue for advocates on both sides of the illegal immigration debate.

Bratton said he would recommend that the Police Commission reverse a 2-week-old decision limiting the ability of officers to impound vehicles for 30 days, as state law allows.

Several commissioners said they had questions about the moratorium and the towing policy itself, which is the subject of a lawsuit in federal court challenging its constitutionality.

Bratton said he agreed to the moratorium while awaiting a legal opinion from City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo's office in light of a 2005 federal court decision on vehicle impounds in Oregon.

The chief said Delgadillo's opinion, released Thursday, convinced him that the city's impound policy -- and the state law on which it is based -- are defensible.

"I anticipate that we'll be going back to what we were doing," Bratton said. "Impoundments are necessary. It's the law in the state of California."

Bratton has a strong advocate in his corner -- Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who favors a return to the original towing policy and appoints police commissioners.

"The mayor supports the Police Department's right and responsibility to enforce the law against unlicensed and uninsured drivers," spokesman Matt Szabo said. "He's comfortable with the law as it stands."

The impound policy has long been a hot-button issue because many unlicensed drivers whose cars are towed are illegal immigrants who cannot get driver's licenses, officials said.

Immigrant rights groups and some legislators for years have sought legislation granting illegal immigrants some form of driver's licenses, but the bills have been repeatedly rejected, most recently by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger...


For complete article: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-impound8sep08,1,4126552.story

Photo: BBC http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40034000/jpg/_40034997_impounded203.jpg

CLASS ACTION Suit Against LAPD for MacArthur Park Confrontation

164 more claims filed over MacArthur Park melee

Civil rights lawyers say they aim to pursue a class-action lawsuit against Los Angeles and the LAPD.
By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
3:04 PM PDT, September 6, 2007


Civil rights lawyers filed 164 more claims against the city of Los Angeles today in connection with injuries or emotional harm allegedly suffered when the Police Department broke up a May 1 immigration protest in MacArthur Park.

Lawyer Carol Sobel, speaking for dozens of people who were in or near the park on the day police fired rubber bullets into the crowd, said she and other lawyers would pursue a class-action lawsuit against the city and the LAPD.

Sobel said the move was designed by buy lawyers more time to identify all of the potential plaintiffs and to encourage people to come forward, regardless of their immigration status.

"We think that there literally are hundreds, if not thousands, of people whose rights were violated that day," said Sobel, who submitted the claims along with lawyers from the National Lawyers Guild and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

The city has 45 days to respond to the claims before a lawsuit can be filed. So far, 10 lawsuits have been filed over the incident and 258 legal claims have been submitted -- nine of them from journalists who covered the event that day.

LAPD Lt. Ruben De La Torre said the department would not discuss the May 1 incident until a report was issued on the matter next month. City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo's office said it was "concerned" but had not yet read the latest complaints.

The incident prompted investigations by the LAPD and the FBI and forced Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to return early from a trade mission to Mexico and Central America. Police Chief William J. Bratton responded by reassigning two high-level commanders.

Today's 33-page filing contains complaints from residents who said they were struck by batons, hit by rubber bullets or otherwise injured while fleeing from police -- including one woman who said she subsequently suffered a miscarriage.

The filing also includes a number of people who said they suffered emotionally, including children and senior citizens who said they were traumatized.

The plaintiffs collectively will seek monetary damages and changes at the LAPD, including the implementation of more frequent and consistent training on how to deal with crowds.

Sobel said the melee was sparked by LAPD officers who rode their motorcycles into a crowd of Aztec dancers on Alvarado Street. That version of events contradicts assertions by police that the incident was started by agitators who threw objects at officers, Sobel said.

"We've tried to tell [the story] with videos and with photos that demonstrate that the Police Department's preliminary report was false, that there was not the provocation that was claimed," she said.

david.zahniser@latimes.com

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-melee7sep07,0,6240856.story?coll=la-home-center