Officers sent by Chief Bratton to disciplinary boards for their violent role in the 2007 May Day demonstrations in L.A. will not lose their jobs.
From the Los Angeles Times report:
None of the Los Angeles police officers accused of using excessive force on demonstrators and journalists at a 2007 May Day gathering at MacArthur Park will be fired, officials said Tuesday.
Police Chief William J. Bratton had sought to punish 11 officers and called for the termination of four others by sending them to disciplinary panels for their involvement in the melee, which has cost the city $13 million in legal settlements.
On Tuesday, Bratton said that the internal disciplinary boards had concluded their work and that the maximum penalty imposed was a 20-day suspension for one officer.....
Under the city's charter, the chief lacks the authority to kick an officer off the force. Instead, Bratton must send the officer before a three-person disciplinary panel, called a Board of Rights. After considering the evidence in a case, the panel can find that the officer should be fired, be punished less severely or be vindicated. The chief can accept the panel's recommendation or impose a lesser punishment, but he cannot seek to increase the discipline.
Wikipedia has a detailed history with many links about the events on May Day 2007 and the legal aftermath.
I wrote about the police role in the May Day unrest for Reason magazine back when it happened. Past City of Angels blogging on May Day demonstrations.
Some Fox News footage including a news crew being attacked by police on that day in 2007:
(Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
Subscribe to City of Angles's feed.
Though I do not believe Bratton should have sole authority in deciding whether to fire twenty police officers, it is a shame these men were let off. The obviously racial elements of this conflict leave me wondering if the recent LA Times poll indicating better white and brown relations was polling the wrong people.
How can people still wonder why the LAPD has such a horrible reputation?