March 25--Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck and the independent watchdog tasked with overseeing his agency clashed on Tuesday over whether the LAPD had the proper court authority to remove a former Mexican Mafia shot-caller from custody and take him to a private downtown L.A. event.
The conflicting statements stem from an investigation Inspector General Alex Bustamante conducted into the Jan. 28 lecture featuring Rene "Boxer" Enriquez, a convicted killer the LAPD brought downtown to address an elite group of business executives.
Bustamante's report, released last week, said the court order -- known as a "writ" -- that department officials used to remove Enriquez from a detention center and take him downtown had not been valid since 2012.
Further, the inspector general wrote, the order stipulated that Enriquez be removed from custody to help with the prosecution in a murder case. Instead, Bustamante wrote, Enriquez was removed "for the sole purpose of speaking" at the Jan. 28 event.
Beck told reporters Tuesday that the "legality" under which Enriquez was removed from custody would be examined during a personnel complaint investigation. But the chief said the court order was valid and that Enriquez was a "continuing witness in a case" and that the writ "is being used to secure his cooperation."
"The inspector general isn't privy to all the information that I am regarding this particular writ," Beck said. "But we'll look into all that."
Bustamante said he was "surprised" by the chief's comments. He said his office had spoken with prosecutors and examined court documents -- including the writ on file at the detention center where Enriquez was being held -- to determine that the order was no longer valid.
"If there exists additional authority that justifies the inmate's removal for such an event, neither the detention facility, LAPD personnel who removed the inmate nor the deputy district attorneys involved in the case could provide such documentation," he said.
Bustamante said that if such documentation exists, it should have been turned over to him.
"What has been provided so far does not and cannot justify the removal of this inmate from a detention center so that he could entertain individuals at a private function," Bustamante said.
Bustamante's report and the subsequent LAPD investigation are the latest developments stemming from the controversial lecture, which had already been denounced by police commissioners and Mayor Eric Garcetti's office.
As a result of the findings, the LAPD announced that Beck had initiated a personnel complaint investigation into the event.
"I have said in the past, and I'll continue to say it: I have issue with the way the event was conducted," Beck told reporters on Tuesday.
"There are some issues about the degree of notification that I received, there are some issues about the propriety of the venue and there are some issues about the removal of the inmate. So we'll look at those things," the chief said.
Bustamante's report found that LAPD officials spent weeks -- and $22,000 -- planning the event at the request of the Young Presidents' Organization, an elite group of business executives. It was an event coordinator with the organization who suggested Enriquez as a speaker, the report said.
Enriquez has become a law enforcement darling since he left the notorious prison gang more than a decade ago. He has written books and helped teach (via video) a class at UC Irvine. His life is the subject of a bestselling biography. And he has lectured at law enforcement conferences and training events.
As part of their preparation for the downtown L.A. event, LAPD officials facilitated three meetings between the Young Presidents' Organization and Enriquez so the group could "meet and evaluate him as a potential speaker," according to the inspector general's report.
Young Presidents' Organization members were then invited to a "once in a lifetime event," with an invitation promising attendees would be "amazed, shocked, blown away and maybe even a little scared."
Meanwhile, an LAPD advance team planned multiple routes from the detention facility where Enriquez was being held to the downtown L.A. building where the event was held, the report said. Safe houses along the routes were identified "in case the operation was compromised."
