Were we surprised that some were treated like garbage by the LAPD? And now with the posting I'm reading, though I may not disagree with them, I have one issue. Where are the names of the LAPD command staff? Where are the names and photos of:
Why is it that these people, more than 100, who had a role in illegal and unconstitutional eviction of the Patriots not on the grill of justice and just the officers we saw? Maybe because that is how they want it. These folks answer to the Chief Charlie Beck and the chief to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. And the mayor to the banksters and Hollywood, yet we go after the 99%ers because of what they did to Patriots. You know what? You are right. You are right to get angry at the officers if you felt you were victimized but do not leave out the people above.
Did you know that the command staff created this hostile work environment on purpose? Why to control the officers. In any company or work environment, you have what they call a package. This package is a record of your conduct, deeds, heroics, and other positive things the supervisor have on you. It looks great when you have a lot of commendation, the atta boy or girl package so when you promote, it looks good. Then there is the Jacket. If you come to work late or you leave early or you fall asleep on the job, the bad stuff is placed in the same package but the slang is called a jacket.
Well, the LAPD has its own package /jacket system and if you have a complaint, regardless of what it is, it goes into their jacket. Or as some officers were to say: I got jacketed. Yes some officers may deserve it and it prevents them from getting promoted. And you know what? If in their Board of Rights hearing they were violating you rights, then they deserve what they get. If not, then they go free. But get this, even if they are found not guilty/innocent/the complaint is unsustained, the complaint is in their jacket. Because of that, they are never to promoted again.
Say that you arrested a person and the person turns out to be mentally ill. You treat the perosn with respect and with Kid Gloves. The next day, you are in roll call and you find out that the mentally ill person filed a 1.81 because your police car just ran over the person's UFO. Huh you're saying? Yes the officer, who may not have been at work at all, was a victim of a complaint. And the 1.81 cannot be removed from their jacket; even if it's as stupid as the complaint as mentioned above.
Now imagine your captain saying Officer So-and-so, I want you to go out and make arrests at the Occupy. Make sure that when you do, you give them an incentive to not wanting to come back. Do as I say, and maybe we will overlook your jacket and that P3/SLO spot you wanted? Well ;) The officer does as told, and later receives multiple 1.81 from Occupier(s). Now with multiple complaints in their jacket, there is no way the officer will get that P3 or SLO promotion. The captain says, "well we did say that we may." and now the officer is mad. He/she can't get mad at the Captain and is now a bitter cop.
But what happens to the captain? He/She gets promoted:
LAPD command staff under fire in wake of $38 million in harassment, discrimination payouts
http://bit.ly/ryOoIH
By C.J. Lin, Daily News Staff Writer
Posted: 11/06/2011 01:00:00 AM PDT
Updated: 11/07/2011 11:54:34 AM PST
After paying out $38 million in internal harassment and discrimination suits over the last three years, the LAPD is coming under fire for a perceived lack of discipline of command staff targeted in the complaints.
Several supervisors have been promoted although they were named as defendants in lawsuits that resulted in six- or seven-figure judgments or settlements, according to a review of city and court documents.
"I have a running joke," said attorney Gregory Smith, who has filed about 50 lawsuits on behalf of officers against the Los Angeles Police Department.
"If I sue a supervisor, they're going to get promoted within the next six months. Why that happens is anybody's guess."
That concern prompted City Councilman Dennis Zine - himself a retired LAPD sergeant - to ask the city's risk management task force to review the LAPD's employment lawsuits and promotions.
In addition, the LAPD last week moved to hire a risk manager to head off more costly lawsuits by identifying internal problems and training supervisors in conflict management.
"What's critical is that the department develops an overall strategy in risk management that focuses on prevention so that we don't get into litigation," said Richard Drooyan, president of the civilian Police Commission, which oversees the department.
In the last five years, cops have filed about 250 suits against the department for claims of harassment, discrimination or retaliation.
The costly point was driven home last Wednesday, when the City Council approved spending $3.2 million to settle a suit filed by an officer who claimed he was fired after testifying in court that officers were forced to put in unpaid overtime by working through their lunch break to respond to calls in South Los Angeles.
But some critics expressed doubts about just how effective a risk manager would be at changing the culture of the LAPD, where some rank-and-file officers complain that command staff rarely face discipline even if they are on the losing end of a lawsuit.
"They walk, and absolutely nothing happens to them," said Officer Paul Waymire, a patrol cop of 23 years who sued the department for discrimination and retaliation in 2008 and won about $600,000. "They just kind of brush it under the carpet and continue to promote them."
Similar concerns have prompted Zine to call for a review of the LAPD to ensure it is holding managers accountable for misconduct.
Millions in costs
The investigation will look at the discipline meted out for supervisors who were the focus of lawsuits in which the city had to pay out judgments or settlements, and whether those managers were promoted, demoted, fired or temporarily suspended, Zine said.
"You cost the city millions of dollars, and you're getting promoted? What the heck is that about?" asked Zine, head of the City Council's Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee.
"We want to support strong supervision, but we also have to be sensitive to those who have cost us millions in mismanagement. You don't want to reward misconduct."
The cases of promotions after lawsuits that the Audits and Governmental Efficiency Committee will likely look at include:
Cmdr. Jorge Villegas. Waymire, a white officer, claimed he was passed over for promotions in favor of Latino or female officers at Mission Division in 2006. Villegas, who was captain of the division at that time and was named in the suit, was later promoted and was recently tapped to head LAPD Valley Bureau, which oversees all San Fernando Valley operations, and is expected to be promoted to deputy chief.
Capt. John Romero. A jury awarded a gay sergeant $1.1 million in May for his lawsuit claiming Romero made derogatory remarks to him and transferred him to a Skid Row assignment in retaliation for complaining. Romero, then a lieutenant at LAPD's Media Relations, was later promoted to captain of Mission Division.
Capt. Nancy Lauer. Two motorcycle officers from West Traffic Division filed a lawsuit claiming they received bad performance reviews from Lauer and were threatened with reassignment for refusing to meet an alleged quota for traffic tickets. A jury awarded the officers $2 million. Lauer was transferred to head the Criminal Gang and Homicide Division, considered a prestigious assignment. Ten more officers from West Traffic Division filed similar suits in August, with claims dating back to when Lauer was still in charge.
Paul Weber, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said it's disheartening to the rank-and-file to see managers being promoted or given coveted assignments, despite being found culpable by a jury.
"(The rank-and-file) definitely don't receive that same treatment," Weber said. "If you get into a high-profile incident and you end up costing the city, either you're severely disciplined or they bury you in the bowels of the Police Department."
Promotions defended
The perception of a double standard could hurt morale and lead to more lawsuits down the line. That's one reason officials hope the risk manager will be able to address concerns of unfair discipline.
"It's a very sensitive culture," Zine said. "If they can't get it right, then you have the consequences and then it's a huge lawsuit."
But police officials defended the promotions, saying that although the city may have settled a case or a jury found a supervisor guilty, the defendant may not have committed misconduct or violated department policy.
"Just because a group of people in the community say somebody did something wrong, doesn't mean they did," said Cmdr. Andy Smith, an LAPD spokesman. "We always look at their history, we always look at what they've accomplished, we look at the best fit for the position out there."
Alan Skobin, a member of the Police Commission, said he looked at two cases - he wouldn't say which - and was satisfied with the promotions.
"We peeled back the onion ... and I did not feel that the promotions were inappropriate," Skobin said. "You can't just look at a snippet ... you have to look at the entire underlying situation."
Gerald Chaleff, special assistant to Police Chief Charlie Beck, acknowledged that the promotions coming on the heels of legal settlements or judgments contributes to a bad perception of the department, but called it a misguided one.
"Sometimes it's apocryphal information," Chaleff said, noting that not everything alleged in a lawsuit is true. "Even if we think we didn't do anything wrong, we may settle the case.
"It's part of what our new risk manager is going to do - make sure we don't repeat our mistakes," Chaleff said. "We're really trying hard to minimize expense to the taxpayers. We want to have a workforce that feels comfortable where they are."
The risk manager will be also identify and prevent behaviors that may lead to lawsuits and disgruntled employees, and work with the City Attorney's Office to come up with lessons learned after a lawsuit and change questionable policy.
The manager will be a civilian who will have a rank on par with a police commander and will report directly to Beck.
The department hopes to have someone in place by the end of the year.
"This position is one that is meaningful with a lot of ability to effect change within the organization," Skobin said. "But it's critical that the person isn't myopic and blame the bad lawyers and bad people training."
And we end up as taxpayers end up getting billed by the lawsuits, officers cannot get promoted and the puppets to the Mayor and Chief are given raises. We look to the officers but not behind the curtain to the manipulators and all of us lose out.
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